Official Bio: "Born and raised in Compton, California Keenon Jackson aka YG (Young Gansta) started rapping at the end of his sophomore year of high school at Paramount when he found out someone (who didn’t like him) had recorded a diss song and posted it on Myspace. He found it funny and amusing that one person disliked him that much to go that far. He decided to respond as best as he could through music. He was 16 turning 17, so like most he was working with the bare-essentials. His initial recording equipment consisted of his laptop, his bedroom, and a home microphone. Since that day, he has been writing and recording music. It became a passionate and productive way for him to spend his time versus in the streets where his fate could possibly be death or jail. “It really happened out of the blue to me, but since then I found out this is something I really love doing”- YG
Months after the discovery, he was still recording non-stop on his laptop. Locally the buzz from his songs began spreading at his high school and other local schools. The buzz from began spreading regionally; at the same time it reached teenage clubs and parties, with the most popular songs finding their way into the popular “Twenty-One and Over” clubs. He then began developing his marketing skills releasing a series of mix tapes with his partner DJ Mustard skyrocketing his music into a highly popular category. “I use to tell my momma how big I was in the streets, she use to be like ‘Yea Right, Ima Have To See For Myself’; and that she did, she started seeing a lot of fans around me and her friend’s kids always ask if YG is really her son.”
YG’s life experiences growing up in the inner-city and struggle to evolve into something bigger and greater is a story not new but timeless.YG was once involved with the gang lifestyle, but claims to have swapped gang life for music considering his potential success sans radio play or mainstream attention. While making his share of mistakes and overcoming his share of personal battles; even amidst his legal battles, YG has remained a positive influence to those around him. “I had a couple of ups and down, but it only made me stronger”- YG
His Myspace page was the basis for him to promote his music and brand. Receiving thousands of plays for his songs per day, over a million page views, and posting two songs which have received over a million plays to date and counting YG is definitely making himself known in the digital domain. Sept 2nd, 2008 is the day YG and two of his closet friends “Ace and PC” started a promotion group called Pu$haz Ink. Pu$haz Ink quickly grew beyond a 3-man operation into a local movement fueling the spread of YG’s music to another level. This laid the groundwork for major labels to pay attention to the young and budding artist eventually leading to a record deal with historic hip-hop powerhouse Def Jam in September 2009.
YG’s personal quote “Stay true to my people and friends; start driving down the road of success; But I did go through some rough times, and I Thank God he got me out of them and put me in this spot I’m in today”
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