Yung Gravy Q&A
By: Tosin Faseemo
Yung Gravy is a Minnesota-born rapper. He initially posted his music online anonymously, but eventually revealed his identity. Keep reading to find out about the origin of his stage name, his writing technique, and more.
Q: How did you think of your stage name?
A: I used to freestyle with friends in high school. I had a few names: Mr. Butter, Lil Steamer, Jimmy Continental. I had a lot of names, but one time, I rapped a line about ‘wavy’ and ‘gravy,’ and it just kind of stuck. I went with that spelling because I was inspired by Yung Lean.
Q: Why did you keep your identity a secret when you started making music?
A: I was going to the University of Wisconsin and I had a job working for a startup accelerator, and I didn’t think they’d be super into hearing what I rapped about. There were probably six months to a year where I didn’t show my face at all.
Q: Who inspired you to start making music?
A: I had a really good friend who went to high school with Lil Yatchy, and he had just put out “1 Night.” I remember him showing me the song when it had 60,000 plays on Soundcloud. I just watched it blow up within a month. That inspired me because he just used Soundcloud.
Q: Was “Gasanova” entirely made in quarantine?
A: I started this project in January or February when I was in LA. In March, I flew back to my mom’s house in Minnesota, where I grew up. I spent like three months getting it all together. I figured, if I can’t do anything else, I might as well make an album. I think it’s a little different from any other work I’ve made because I didn’t have a lot of people working on it with me. It’s just coming straight from me.
Q: How would you describe your sound?
A: Fun music, happy music, mom music… there are a lot of ways to describe it.
Q: What’s been the biggest change in your writing style over time?
A: I’ve been doing a lot more toplining. I’ll go in the studio, freestyle, create different flows, then go back to build lyrics off of that. I’ve found that I like going in the studio and BSing for a while, then figuring out what I like.
Q: What’s the coolest fan interaction you’ve had?
A: At a meet and greet in Dallas, this guy was taking a picture with his girlfriend, and he got down on his knee and proposed to her. She said yes and they got engaged, then they invited me to the wedding. I couldn’t go because my flight got delayed, but they sent me pictures and it was really cute. That’s easily my favorite one.
Q: You have very distinct cover art for your music. How important are visuals to your creative process?
A: I feel like visuals are more important than people think. To me, if an album has a really dope cover, I’ll be more drawn to it. I think it’s really important, so I’ve always put a lot of effort into that. It takes a lot to find the right person to put that stuff together, but it’s awesome to be able to connect with artists and see them in action.
Yung Gravy’s latest album, Gasanova is out now.