The Breaks: Yung Reno (Interview)

Check out the first installment of 25’s unsigned and undiscovered series, “The Breaks” featuring Yung Reno.

New York is not only the birth place of many music industry legends such as KRS-One, Jay-Z, Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kid Capri, but it is also the birth place of the music, the culture and the lifestyle that we know today as hip hop. Even with the title of being the birth place of hip hop, New York has lately fallen off the map and is constantly being replaced by the emerging hip hop scenes in Houston, Tallahassee and the Bay Area in California, but new up and coming artist and Queens native Nick “Yung Reno” Hamilton is determined to change that.

A reserved junior political science major at Howard University by day and a flashy emcee by night, Yung Reno shows the versatility of any successful artist on his mixtape, The City is Mine released in April 2009. On the track “Bars” he freestyles at a local radio station shouting out Howard University and the DC community, and shows his softer side with his track “Cupid,” a classic boy meets girl love story. With only his first mixtape under his belt, Yung Reno has a lot of work to do if he wants to put New York City back on the map and take his career to the next level, but with a heart full of determination, he doesn’t seem to mind.

25: Where did you draw inspiration from when recording The City is Mine?

I had the idea for the mixtape before I even got to Howard. The inspiration just came up basically from listening to a lot of different artists and by personal experiences from back home in New York and all around the city so that’s why I named it that.

25: Who is the person that inspired you to pick up the mic and start rhyming? How did you feel when you heard this person perform?

I would say Jay-Z being the New Yorker that I am and also UGK as a group. And Jay-Z being a New York dude and just seeing what he’s done. He started out like making himself as his own song like his own brand and you know who wouldn’t wanna do that?  And I just wonder if a little fella like me can do that. And UGK, they were just something different from what I was used to. They’re from Houston, Texas and I’m from New York and they had a different type of slang and different stories. I really think they kept it real on a regular. It was just what they said and how they put things together. Pimp C being more socially conscience. He’s more of the environmentally charged part of the group. They’re just really different from what I’m used to.

25: What sets you apart from the rest of the rappers that are out today? What is it about your lyrics or flow?

Well it’s the fact that I don’t have one type of sound. You know, some come out here gangster, some people be doing the social conscience rap. I feel like I’m good enough to be all around and talk about a little bit of everything and not just have one preference.

25: How different is Nick Hamilton the student and Yung Reno the artist? How do you balance both identities?

Well Nick is more reserved while the artist is more out there. Yung Reno the artist is the flashier one, not that it’s an act or anything, it’s just different kinds for different people. You can’t be Yung Reno in intro to political science or political science 101 or nothing like that. I guess I’m good at balancing both. Maybe because I’m not faking in either one of them. It’s all work and dedication.

25: Where do you see yourself musically in five years? What do hope to achieve?

Well I’ll be 25 then, and my sex appeal will probably be starting to fade, but in five years I see myself on top of the charts and a few million in. You know, I can see myself with a brand name because I started out early. I see myself in the upper echelon. As far as what I hope to achieve, I hope to change lives. Hopefully someone can hear what I’m doing and they can see themselves doing it. Just listening to my music and taking away from it whether its advice or just something to get through the day. That’s better than success.

You can find The City is Mine as well as new tracks from Yung Reno at myspace.com/yungrenosce

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 1:05 am and is filed under The Breaks and tagged with album, breaks, howard student, interview, New, new york, rap, reno, ugk, unsigned, yung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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