Yella Beezy has had a meteoric rise to the top of hip-hop. And the bustling Dallas hip-hop scene has been watching their shining star.
The Oak Cliff rapper, known for his hit song "That's On Me," is still in the hospital after being shot while driving in Lewisville. When talking to some members of the Dallas hip-hop community about his impact on the local and national scenes, one word keeps popping up: "hope."
Here's what some of them had to say:
Raw Elementz, 26, artist: "Dallas hasn't had too many upstarts that have made it to national light and stayed there, not this quickly. It showed hope for everybody that's doing it. I hope he pulls through and all. That's like a beacon of hope for everybody on their grind. Especially now that eyes are on the city."
"Dallas has always kind of [been talked about]. There have been some looks, but it's been a come-and-go gaze-over kind of thing. But now more than ever, and not just with Yella Beezy, there's Bobby Sessions, Post Malone, a lot of different things have eyes on Dallas. But on the radio with Drake and Kanye, Yella Beezy, that's really big to be up there with them. That definitely brings more attention."
Chrystian Carroll, aka C-Thru, 34, rapper: Yella Beezy "means a lot; it's the attitude to motivate the artists, the up-and-coming artists. The level of stardom ... I think it's real, real important to the culture of Dallas. Look at the way his fan base has grown up so fast and so huge. His haircut reps Dallas. Everything about Yella Beezy represents Dallas. Dallas is country outside of hip-hop. That's how we dress, that's how we talk. I think it's dope for Dallas to have that look. And plus, he's from Oak Cliff at the same time. It goes back to that whole thing. Dallas has always been different in my eyes. When it's repped right, people on the nationwide scene, they can accept it."
Pikahsso, rapper: "I'm an older cat in hip-hop. A lot of these cats are too young to know ... When DOC got his deal with Dr. Dre, we were like, wow, DOC, he's got a deal, wow Nemesis, they got a deal. So ... I know how these younger cats feel to see Yella Beezy. He's the ray of hope and Dallas needs that hope."
"But it's that real hope that you need for a city like this that's been stifled and been muffled and been muzzled for so many years. Even the fans [feel] we got somebody from my city and it's something this city don't get very often. We don't get that many people that go to that level. He represents the shag. When you see a guy with a shag, we got somebody that really represents Dallas culture. That guy has taken something we didn't even know we had and took it global. And now the whole world is saying 'Oak Cliff.' He's inadvertently a part of all of us that came before. We finally got a young brother on TV looking fly -- you got to look like the music, he's looking like the music, the music from my city. Of course, that means a lot to this city. That's a true symbol of Dallas. What's more Dallas than that, besides Big Tex and Reunion Tower? The shag."
97.9 radio host KiKi J, who is also a producer for the D.L. Hughley Show: "He has been very well-received in the city. I think it's a blow. We have for so long waited for somebody in the city to make it out and be a part of the national dialogue on hip-hop. He is on the cusp, you know. When this happened, it kinda took the wind out of the sails. ... With Beezy, what we saw was somebody just as comparable ... he was on an elevator of success very quickly. There was a sentiment in the industry that Dallas could not produce a star. Beezy has the potential to be a career artist. We've had a stellar scene when it comes to producers; the only thing we have left to do is produce a star. We have to hope that fans don't turn away. Everybody's holding their breath. What is gonna happen now? There will be some criticism. Some people might think he needs to get away from here. Some might think he should stay firmly planted. There are some people out there trying to combat that. We don't know what happened, right? People out there right now trying to desperately keep the tone positive. Hopefully, people don't dwell on the negative so much that he doesn't get another chance. I hope that this doesn't stagnate his success."
Queen Lex Lu, rapper, blogger and online host
: "I think any artist when you see them grind and you see a success for them, I feel like that's a win for the whole city. I think people celebrate it. Anytime you have any Dallas artists -- on the radio, in a video, or mainstream publication -- I remember that record before everybody had it. Those are the things that make us proud to even have an artist out there to represent the city. Especially in hip-hop, especially in rap, because we haven't had a lot of artists to represent us in that way. With Yella Beezy and with Bobby Sessions, there's been like an open door that makes artists feel like people are actively watching, so [their] day could come. It's one of those things, right, like 50 Cent, like Tupac. There are things that have to happen to us, unfortunately, that
part of our journey. Period. Sometimes these are the things that are pivotal to us to make us go even further than even we thought we could do. It'll just push him to a different plateau. Let's hope that he's determined to put out great music now that he knows how valuable his life is, and his music."
