Interview by Edwin Keeble

Since the release of his 2017 EP Kids of the 6, Yung Mal has been climbing the ranks of Atlanta’s highly renowned trap scene. Last week, he added to his consistently growing discography with his newest album, 1.5 Way or No Way with big-name features from Pooh Sheisty and some of his frequent collaborators such as Lil Quil and G Herbo. We got a chance to sit down with the budding trap star to discuss his new album and the transition to the next phase of his career establishing the 1.5 Da Label.

So the album dropped yesterday, how are we feeling?

I’m feeling good, it’s doing really good. I’m feeling real sweet about it.

How long has this project been in the making?

We probably started recording on this maybe like…. oh, I know when back when quarantine was still just starting. We first started recording at the house back in the spring of last year so it must have been like a year or something.

When did you really decide you wanted to start a label?

Probably in the past year or so also. I realized that I kinda wanted my own thing, I kinda wanted my own label and coming in with the whole Gucci Mane situation, it all just kinda came together.

You call Gucci Mane one of your mentors, how has he inspired you to keep pushing your career forward?

The whole thing is just like… I mean Gucci Mane helped me from the jump where I was from. I was just learning how to do it all and he was kind of teaching me stuff. Like I learned a lot from him you know what I’m saying, without him just telling me “do it like this” or “do it like that” so it’s good.

So now that you are starting your own label, what are you looking for in artists?

Right now, I’m just working with the artists in my neighborhood where I’m from. Like all my little bros. But like in a while, I’ll probably start opening up and looking at artists from different states and countries and stuff. And I want artists who are always hungry, always working like me or more than me, always shooting videos, doing this, and doing that and they need to be like a real person.

How are you involved with your projects other than just making the music? Walk me through the process.

I mean I do just about everything you know like even if I’m not the one doing it, I’m always making sure everything gets done, you know what I’m saying? So it’s like certain things I’m like, I don’t know, checking in on and making sure things are on track. I mean most of the time they might be are already on top of it, but I just gotta keep checking in and making sure everything is straight. But I’ve been hands-on with my whole career making this happen, you know?

So tell me a little more about this album in particular. What’s the inspiration and the message behind it?

I came up with the album name from my brother who passed away. It was just kind of a little slogan we would use around the neighborhood like “we gon get it, way or no way.”. But the message I’m trying to get out with it is that you just gotta keep on grinding. Like it might take a long time to get there, it might not get there as fast as you want it to, but you just gotta keep at it, gotta keep on grinding, know what I’m saying? Like a lot of people probably counted me out, a lot of people probably thought I wouldn’t be able to stand on my own, but with that being said, I’m here.

So now that your ready to transition into this new role and taking charge of the label, what are you most excited about?

Man, I don’t even know I’m not gonna lie to you. I don’t know what I’m most excited about here. I don’t know, I just know I’m gonna do it and I’m out here going about my business you know what I’m saying? Making sure everything I’m doing is like more than just rap you know?

So where do you see this label and yourself as an artist three years from now?

Well, right now it all starts with this album I just dropped. We gotta keep pushing it and I think it will get up there to like top five, maybe number one. So in five years, I see myself being like a real CEO and a real artist all over the world. It’s just the mentality, I just gotta keep pushing it right now.