Yel is the type of artist that'll have you vibing and dancing instantly upon hearing her unique sound. Born and raised in Washington state, Yel comes from a family of musicians and has been rapping since her early ages.
After receiving a full scholarship to play basketball in college, Yel decided to pursue music to the fullest after her mother passed away. Her musical talent and sheer grind has since led her to perform with Buzzfeed live and accumulate over 32 thousand loyal followers on Instagram.
What is the most important thing you want the world to know about you as an artist/rapper?
The most important thing I want the world to know is that I stopped listening to the world and its views on me, and I found my voice, my sound, and strength in being myself. I found myself loving me more.
Imagine yourself at your highest point in your musical career, explain how you plan to give back to the LGBT community through your success?
No matter where I'm at in my career I will use my music to speak on what I’ve been through which has made me the woman I am today. No matter what, the LGBT community takes pride in loving ourselves out loud. I’ll always represent who I am and who we are as the LGBT community to the world. We have a message and I’ll always make sure to get that out to the world to the best of my abilities.
In what ways would you like for the music industry to be more inclusive?
I would want the music industry to bring more women in of all races, shapes, and sizes, and actually support us for who we are.
Who are your musical inspirations? How have they influenced your artistry?
My musical inspirations growing up were artist like Llauren Hill, Missy Elliott, Outkast, Kanye West and J. Cole. These artist stood out to me because of the way they all chose to express themselves in there art but also the message they stood by in their music. My goal as [an] artist is to continue to stay true to who I am but to also touch and change people's lives the same way these artist did for me growing up.
For new listeners, what is a song or video everyone should check out first to be introduced to you properly?
For a new listener I'd say check out my single “How Many Days” and go check out my new music video “Its That” which are both on my recently released EP “The Life I Live”.