Issue #81 – Patiently Waiting: Yung Ro
By admin • Jan 4th, 2010 • Category: Issue #81, Patiently Waiting 135 views
While most sons of a tattoo artist would probably spend their time getting inked up for free, Yung Ro instead used his father’s tattoo shop, Black Pearl, as a springboard for getting into the music industry. Growing up in St. Louis, MO, the home of rappers like Nelly and the St. Lunatics, Chingy, and J-Kwon, Yung Ro received inspiration from rappers that walked in and out of his father’s tattoo shop. Watching them, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life.
“Black Pearl has been here for a good 15 years,” Ro starts. “When I was younger everyone who is anyone came to my father’s shop to get tattoos. Nelly, the St. Lunatics, basically everyone. Just hearing them talk about the business made me want to do it more and more. And now here I am.”
Working with his father’s industry connects as well as his developing his own, Ro created a certified frenzy around his movement and hit song “Donk That.” Produced by the Track Boyz, (who produced Nelly’s “Air Force Ones), “Donk That” already chartered at #3 on the Billboard Single Sales chart, and its catchy lyrics and thumping beat made it a favorite amongst YouTube users looking to prove they know exactly how to “donk that.” With the single still bubbling, Ro has added yet another leg to the project by pulling in Chingy and City Spud on the official remix.
“Donk Dat is really a song for women to dance to and men to enjoy,” claims the young rapper. “Now that I have added Chingy and City Spud to it, the song can only get better.”
To follow up, Yung Ro’s second single, “Runway Chick” from his debut album The Rising Son is yet another ode to women. With multiple pots in the fire, this 18-year-old rapper/CEO and owner of Black Pearl Entertainment, which already has a quality roster in solo artist Nu Money and the duo Mookie and Buddha, plans to take his career and business to a higher level.
“I’m always going to be at the tattoo shop because that’s where it all started,” claims Yung Ro. “But it’s just different now since people come in to see me [too, not] just to get tattoos.”
Words by Lola Sims
Photo by John Hennecke
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GOOD LOOK BRO-BRO! LUV 2 SEE U GETTIN IT