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Artist
Yonas Michael
12+ albums
underground hip-hopHip-Hopraphip hopCalifornia
about
It’s common knowledge that the cornerstone of great art is freedom of expression. An unimpeded autonomy to use any and every medium to flex one’s creative intuition. Yet even when that autonomy is perceivably impeded, the great artists of our time have defiantly traversed those hurdles, irrespective of rules and convention, unabashedly marching to the beat of their own drum. Basquiat figured it out. So did Byrne. Likewise, for singer/ songwriter/ rapper Yonas Michael, the agency to exercise the full, dynamic range of his artistry is paramount. It is also fully evident on his brilliant and daring upcoming sophomore solo album Blvck Swan Theory. Featuring production from Mainframe (Gonjasufi), Klutch, Double-0 (one half of Chicago hip-hop group Kidz In The Hall), Faahz, and Ro Blvd, the album finds Yonas Michael delving further into uncharted musical territory with glints from galaxies past. Yet as brave as this may seem, this sense of fearlessness wasn’t always second nature for the California-based Seattle native. With a love for music that was equally fostered by his maternal grandmother’s soulful vinyl collection and his father’s Ethiopian roots, Yonas Michael’s arrival at this space and time in music was all but predestined. His relocation to the Inglewood suburb of Los Angeles as a teen marked a turning point in his young musical trajectory when he became enamored with hip-hop. Intently watching his uncle tweak knobs on a pre production set up engendered inquisitiveness
