Michael Wayne Atha (Yelawolf)is an American rapper. Born in Alabama and raised in Tennessee, he embarked on his career independently in 2005, releasing one extended play (EP) and four mixtapes until 2010. It was not until 2010's Trunk Muzik EP that Yelawolf started to gain mainstream attention, culminating with Yelawolf signing a deal with Interscope Records. His first release on a major label was a reworking of Trunk Muzik, titled Trunk Muzik 0-60 (2010).
In January 2011, Yelawolf signed a recording deal with Eminem's record label Shady Records, and released his second studio album, Radioactive in November 2011. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200. Yelawolf released a sequel to his breakthrough mixtape Trunk Muzik, titled Trunk Muzik Returns, in March 2013. His third album, Love Story, was released in April 2015. His fourth album, Trial by Fire, was released in October 2017. His fifth album, expected to be his last under Shady Records, Trunk Muzik III, was released in March 2019. His sixth studio album, Ghetto Cowboy, and first independent studio album since signing to Eminem's imprint, was released in October 2019.
Early life
Michael Wayne Atha was born on December 30, 1979, in Gadsden, Alabama. He has described himself as "[representing] the people that are the core of America". Yelawolf said his stage name was inspired by his father. Throughout his childhood, Atha moved often. He spent much of his time in Antioch, Tennessee, and attended Carter Lawrence Middle School in Nashville, which was located near housing projects. He says that during that time, "hip hop started making sense to me. That's where hip hop made sense culturally."
Regarding his stage name and persona, Yelawolf has said that his father is Cherokee, but also that he's "always been … just white." He says he constructed the name "Yelawolf" from the word "Yela" (which Atha claims is Cherokee for "sun") and the English word "Wolf" because it "represents the duality between his intellectual 'light' side... and his aggressive, survivalist 'dark' side."
