Today we’d like to introduce you to YASIN
Yasin, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started making music during my senior year of high school– roughly around two years ago. In the beginning, I worked with local producers from my high school (Bay Area) and eventually opened up for bigger artists such as Adrian Marcel and Yung Pinch at local venues. When I moved to LA and began attending USC in the Fall of 2018, I realized how passionate about music I was and decided to take my craft much more seriously. My mindset previous to this transition was “let me make this song and drop it ASAP”, where as now its more like “let make fifty songs and only drop the best ones”.
The competitive environment at USC made me feel much more motivated to become the best in what I do, as everyone around me was working for the same reasons– both in and outside of the music realm. Being on campus also made it much easier to garner a fanbase and develop relationship with other USC talent. This eventually led me to meeting my good friend “24kGoldn” and making our school’s anthem “B**** I Go To USC”. Before we knew it, the song blew up around campus and we began getting booked to perform at frat parties & local clubs/ bars. I still need more development as an artist and have a lot to learn but I couldn’t be any happier with where I am!
Has it been a smooth road?
Pursing music professionally while attending such a prestigious university is not at all easy. When I dedicate too much time to music, I begin to slip in school (and vice versa). Through trial and error, I’ve learned that time management is the most important skill I need if I want this to work successfully.
I am paying for my tuition at USC entirely on financial aid and student loans, so funding towards my music can be extremely difficult at times. The process that goes into producing and releasing a record isn’t cheap. Because of this, I occasionally am forced to delay the release of a song so I can save money to shoot a video/ advertise it correctly. there are times where anything I do music-related takes such a long time because I have to map out my expenses/budget. Sometimes this looks bad on my end because my fans don’t know this. To them, it looks like I’m just being lazy and not dropping music, where in reality I’m just struggling with finances.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I am an 18-year-old Hip-Hop/ Rap Artist & Songwriter from the Bay Area. Before I began making music I was a full-time student-athlete. Being an athlete my whole life has taught me a lot about discipline and perseverance in terms of pursuing goals, giving me a work ethic that separates me from a lot of artists my age– something that anyone following my constant and drastic improvement can confirm. As anyone else who starts, my music was not the best as first but my eagerness and constant improvement with each song have allowed me to gain a lot of true supporters. Both my parents are Moroccan immigrants, so I incorporate my heritage whenever I can.
My merchandise that I just received, as mentioned before, has “More Than Rap” written in Arabic all over it. This is my slogan that I always talk about when describing my career as an artist as it encompasses the fact that I want to do much more than music. Growing up in a poor immigrant household, I’ve always strived for success so I could give back and provide to not only my parents but my community. Once I have gained a big enough platform through my music, I want to branch out and do a ton of philanthropy work, open up businesses both in and out of the music industry, invest in real estate, and much more– hence the slogan “More Than Rap”.
I’m most proud of how far I’ve come by myself in such a short period of time. Though I haven’t done any crazy numbers yet, I am truly happy with my personal growth in terms of music quality and confidence in myself. Last week I performed at a showcase (FYGU Fest) at the Shrine, a venue right next to USC, against four other student-rappers in front of judges for a chance to win a $600 Amazon Prime Gift Card and to come back and open up for Playboi Carti that same night.
I was victorious and did just that– the amount of people who came out to support me truly had me shocked, I couldn’t have been more happier. I brought out 24k and performed the USC song in front of a couple of thousand people later that night and the energy was INSANE. Seeing the same faces I see in my classes chant our song word for word is nothing less than surreal. I only want more.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Los Angeles is a very collaborative centric environment, at least at USC. Since I moved here, I’ve collaborated with so many different photographers, bloggers, producers/artists, and clothing designers. Being in this city alone makes me feel so confident about chasing my dreams as an artist because I know everyone around me (for the most part) is also chasing their dreams just as seriously as I am, whether that be in music or now. This environment motivates me to strive to be the best of the best, it keeps me productive, and most importantly it keeps me hungry because local success stories always appear out of nowhere– it truly feels like it could happen at any moment and you MUST be ready for it.
One thing I dislike about LA is how flashy it is. I remember going to a party with a few friends and being turned down because we didn’t have a “blue check” on our Instagrams. Sometimes it feels like all anyone cares about is their followers or likes on social media, which is cool sometimes but it gets old really fast. As an artist, there have been many scenarios where photographers or producers who I am trying to work with won’t even give me a chance or take me serious because I don’t have as much “clout” as the next artist. In the rare instances that these established people do work with me, they half-ass my product and take forever to complete it just because they know I have a small following and can’t really do anything to impact them in a negative way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/UC_ ISphB65nkbW7iZ4a0A2og?view_as= subscriber - Phone: 5107344039
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/yasinb26/?hl=en - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
yasinb26 - Other: https://soundcloud.com/
yasinb26
Image Credit:
Ryan Simmons, @ryann.simmons – Nonperformance photos
Gabriella Robinson, @gabriellearobinson– Concert photos
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