Currently promoting his single “Hit Em With a Jimmy (Shorty What It Is),” 22-year-old Young T has several local DALLAS hits under his belt. Having collaborated with Treal Lee on “Work Dat Lumba,” Young T is also getting a buzz with the new party record “2 Da Flo.” With 3 songs in rotation simultaneously throughout Texas, Young T is on the verge of signing a major deal. We sat down with the Dallas All Star to find out how he got to this point. How did you come up on the Dallas rap scene? I know you have a few hits out there already. Me and Treal Lee went to school together at West Mesquite and I heard he had a song in the clubs called “Bad Lil Braud.” He had some exposure so me and him did a song together called “Work Dat Lumba.” It starting gettin’ hot real quick. He went on to do “Mr. Hit Dat Hoe” and he got on. I went on to do “Hit Em With A Jimmy” by myself. I just been hitting the clubs, grinding every day, anything the radio had going on I was there pushin’ my single. So you were definitely taking things seriously at a young age? Oh yeah, I’ve been serious since I was 16. That’s how long I’ve been rappin’ – about 6 years. I just been practicing my craft and I’m very serious about it. Is “Hit Em With a Jimmy” the same song people call “Shorty What It Is”? Yeah, it’s the same thing. We had to kinda change the name from “Shorty What It Is” to “Hit Em With a Jimmy” for radio. What other songs do you have that people are familiar with? “Work Dat Lumba” came first. It’s still in rotation in Houston. Then I got “Hit Em With a Jimmy,” and I got another song called “2 Da Flo” featuring Double R. We ain’t even been pushin’ that one, and it’s already spread to Tennessee. We had one DJ push it in Level 5, that’s like the biggest club in Dallas, and it spread out from there. It’s on the radio in Tyler right now. So I got three different songs on radio, not just in Dallas. Did 2Much produce all of those songs? Yeah he produced all of ‘em.
You’ve had a lot of success working with the producer 2Much and BTP. What’s your history with them? Yeah, me and him have been working together for a good 6 years now. We went to school together too. I remember rappin’ in the studio with a sock over the microphone. We’ve been doing this forever. You make dance music, but do you actually dance yourself? Or is it more for other people’s enjoyment? I mean, I make the music for the people to dance to. I call it party music. If that’s how they gon’ categorize me, that’s how I want to be categorized – party music. How did you know when you had hits people would like? Were you testing your music in the clubs first? We have the Definition DJs here so I go to their meetings. I play the music for them and then they’ll rate it and give feedback. Once I played “Hit Em With a Jimmy” they said, “Yeah, we need this.” So they started pushing it. The radio got a hold of it and it’s been a wrap since then. What do you think it’ll take to get some of your music a little bit more known nationwide? I’ve already been talking to different labels that have called. We’re just waiting to see who’s gonna give me the better deal and who’s gonna promote me the best. It’ll happen any minute now. If they promote me right it’s gonna go. Are you promoting any mixtapes right now? Yeah, I got a free mixtape right now called Sex, Drank, Money on Myspace.com/YoungTBTP. I’m on Twitter too @YoungTBTP. I have 27 tracks on the mixtape. Most of ‘em are produced by 2Much, and a couple of ‘em are radio beats. It’s jammin’. People are liking it. I been promoting it as best as I can by myself. My grind is paying off right now. For people just now hearing about you and your music, what do you want people to know about you? From my sound, you’d think I’m the crunkest, loudest person in the club. But that ain’t me. I’m a real laid back, chill type of dude, but when it comes to rappin’, that’s my thang. //
OZONE MAG // 19