Young Menace, born Corey Dennis, on March 6, 1989 in West La, was raised all throughout Los Angeles, California. At the age of 23, Young Menace starts off the 2013 year with a blast! But every journey has a beginning. 

 

 

- So tell me about yourself and how you got started rappin'

 

YM: I’ve been a huge fan of rap since I could remember. I recall myself back in middle school, reading and memorizing rap lyrics, which eventually helped me with my lyrics and helped me understand song structure. I started recording as a freshman while I was at Locke (High School), mainly competing with other rappers at school.  During high school, I stayed with my mom on the eastside and on the weekends I went back to West La to my dad’s house. I spent most of the weekend with my homies making music or just clowning around smoking.  We eventually made a little rap crew (called G-Squad) with my homie E-Fly and his cousin J.Black. While the squad stayed in West La, I was the only person actually reppin’ G-Squad at Locke. I mean, we was actually beefin’ with niggas, making diss records and I was movin’ around campus solo. By the time 11th grade came around, G-Squad turned in YG’s (Young Gangstas) and doubled in members (adding S-Man, Oso & 2 Much). During that period as a group, we had a lot of songs and worked good together, but the situation with people moving, the availability and the quality of the equipment we was using kinda slowed us down a bit. After high school is when I became more focus and took my music more seriously. YG’s eventually became a big extended family, branching off 2 separate crews: The AB’z and The GMC’s.

 

The AB’z is more of E-Fly’s crew and The GMC’s is my crew. So as of now, you got YG’s consisting of 4 main members (S-Man, Young Menace, E-Fly & J.Black.). The GMC’s consist of Tippin, J.Black and myself, plus you still got E-Fly’s squad witta hand full of members aside from YG’s and GMC’s. But at the end of the day, we all consider ourselves Young Gangstas. 

 

 

 

- Who are your influences musically?

 

YM: I’ve been influenced by a lot of artist throughout the years, whether if it’s their lyrics, song style, or overall grind. I’m talking about artists like 2 Pac, Biggie, NWA, Ice Cube’s solo stuff, 50 cent, Jadakiss, The Game, Lloyd Banks, The Old Cash Money with the Big Tymers and the Hot Boys, Eminem, T.I., Beanie Sigel, Mase, JR Writer, State Property, Cassidy, Nipsey Hussle, G-Malone, Ya Boy and the list goes on and on… 

 

 

- What is your favorite song you ever made and why?

 

YM: Damn, that's a tough one, because I record so much and enjoy making every single one of'em. But as far as the 2012 year, one song that stands out the most is "Ricky". The song "Ricky" was actually a G-Mix (Gangsta Mix) of WhoKid Woody's street dance song called "Hit Yo Ricky".

 

I like it because it was done purely off energy and vibe. I only wrote like 2 or 3 bars in attempt to create my own version of the hook. Everything else was thought of on site while recording. I like a lot of tracks like that because you're dealing with genuine vibes and energy instead of a scripted one (like a verse already written). I was feeling the song so much that I threw it on YouTube that same day as recording it. I usually don't do that because I like to test the song out on different speakers to see if I gotta tweak anything mixing wise, since I mix & edit my own tracks.
 
My version of "Ricky" is totally different than the original version. The original version demonstrates the popular hood dance in Watts, called "Ricky". On my version, I flipped it and run with "Hit'em Like Ricky", which is a reference to Ricky in the movie Boyz N Da Hood. I was caught by surprise by how much attention it picked up, the last time I checked it had about 4,000 views on YouTube. To be honest, if it didn't have so many views I would upload another version with it mixed better, but it’s already out, so fuck it. 

 

 

- What do you hope people get from listening to your music?

 

YM: I just hope people enjoy it and get a better understanding of where I come from and what I represent. I mean I understand every song isn’t for everybody, and that’s why I try to create different types of songs for different situations and moods. But every song or verse that you’ll hear from me, you’ll get the perspective of me and my environment. 

 

 

- What do you think of the state of Hip Hop right now?

 

YM: I don’t really listen to too much mainstream hip-hop. I’m big on underground music, and the underground been poppin’ lately. I think it’s in a good state right now for underground music and artists. It gives unsigned and lesser-known artists a chance to be heard and grow their fan base. The reason I like underground so much is because there’s no restraint, it’s the raw and uncut music from an artist. Aside from that, the good collaborations also put Hip-Hop in a good state. You end up getting several artists being introduced to new audiences, which is great for Hip- Hop. 

 

 

- Who would be in your dream collaboration and why?

 

YM: My dream collaboration would probably consist of Jadakiss, Beanie Sigel and The Game. No hook needed, just spitting. I picked them because of their flow, I been a big Sigel and Jada fan since back in the day when they were dissin’ each other. When The Game hit the scene, it was like a breath of fresh air for the West Coast and like I said before I’m all about lyrics so my collaboration track would have to consist of artists who have took wordplay and punch lines to the next level.

 

 

 - Where can people listen/get your music?

 

YM: You can get to my music mainly from my YouTube page (www.youtube.com/ygmenace).

 

I have a few mixtapes on www.HotNewHipHop.com 

 

• Young Menace – G- Mix Vol.2 (Mixtape)

• Young Menace – West Hattninn Vol.1 (Mixtape)

• Young Menace – GMV3: G-Mix Vol.3 (Mixtape)

• Young Menace – I’m Just Being Me

• Young Menace & Young Luchino – East Meets West (Pt.1)

 

Other than that, you can just Google me, “Young Menace, GMC”.

 

 

- What projects and/or shows for you have coming up?

 

YM: I got a lot of stuff in the works, collabs and features. Damn near every 2 or 3 weeks, I try to drop a new track and keep people updated with my music. I’ve been sitting on a lot of music that I recorded in November/December of 2012. From those, I’m packing up two mixtapes, “Savage” and “West Hattninn Vol.2”.

 

Savage, which will drop in the middle in February, will have a street influenced theme with aggressive material to accompany it.

 

West Hattninn Vol.2 drop in late March or early April and will contain a mixture of different styles and song types, including party music, smoking music, street music and more.

 

I’m still setting up new tracks with some of the AB’z (like KS & TG) and GMC’s (J.Black & Tippin). We’re still prepping the Young Gangstas mixtape, with myself, S-Man, J.Black and E-Fly (with features from The AB’z and GMC’s), which will drop by the summer.

 

In the meanwhile, I’ll be releasing songs from both “Savage” and “West Hattninn Vol.2” via YouTube. Before my second tape drop, we gon’ shoot another video also.

 

And you find me at:

 

 

www.YouTube.com/Ygmenace

www.Twitter.com/YGsYoungMenace

IG: GmcMenace

 

 

 

*Interview by: Jan-Michael Smith