Gettin' It

Young Dre the Truth is an L.A. rapper endorsed by Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte who was a featured artist on the EA Sports NFL Tour and video game soundtracks. He’s got a plan to change hip-hop ― and it all started with third grade poetry.

THAT’S MY JAM: Talk to me a little bit about what kind of got you into music.
YOUNG DRE THE TRUTH: Ah, man, to be honest with you, man, it’s a deep ― one of those crazy sounding stories, man. I went through a rough childhood, I was in foster care and everything else. I went to a school where a teacher motivated me to do poetry, so I started writing poetry. I didn’t know I was good at it, and she told me I was good, so I started writing hooks at an early age. So after I did that it motivated me naturally to go straight into hip-hop, you know what I mean? Hip-hop was, of course, around me and it was of my community and of my neighborhood, so it was a natural progression, but poetry definitely started in third grade and that got me wanting to rap. Fourth, fifth, sixth grade I was already rapping. I knew what I wanted to do.

Now who were you listening to at a young age that got you into all that?
Ah man, of course Run DMC, Rakim, I mean before N.W.A., all the greats, KRS-One ― I’m doing a record with KRS-One, “Self-Destruction II,” next week, so I love them, you know what I mean? Before the West and East Coast, the so-called dramatics, I grew up on the greats, you know what I mean? And I am a future great!

Hey, hold on to that.
Feel me.

Now we want to know what is your jam? What have you bought in the last year that has been hot, that keeps you going?
To be honest with you, man, besides the music we’re making, I’ve been having my ear open to more rock music. I’ve been working with Good Charlotte a lot, so I’ve been open to what Good Charlotte’s been doing. It’s got my ear somewhere else now where I hear things differently, so I’ve been listening to Good Charlotte records, you know what I mean? I’m open to that because I’m making a lot of records with them, so I had to get into what they were doing, now my ears’ are tuned in to a whole other page now, you feel me?

Yeah. Who’s your dream collaboration besides working with them?
Damn, man, it’s hard to say ― [whoever] I vibe with. I would think, of course, a great singer, someone old-school like Lionel Richie. I was just around him the other day, so, maybe somebody like that. I’m not really trippin’ too much on anybody else. If we meet and we kick it, that’s cool, but other than that, I’m pretty self-sufficient with who I’m working with right now. I’m happy with it and we’re going to change hip-hop ― and [a shout out to] THAT’S MY JAM RADIO!

www.myspace.com/youngdrethetruth

Gettin' It