IVty 18. 2011
ijîortlanh (Observer
Page A I I
Music
Def Jam contest
winner stays
schooled
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
P ortland rapper Y ung M il pays
attention in class and the lyrics o f
his w inning m usic video, Leaders o f
the N ew School, proves ju st how
serious he is about academ ics and
his hip hop career.
A s the w inner o f the D e f Jam
R apstar G et Schooled V ideo C o m
petition, Y ung M il w hose real nam e
is E zekial “Z ek e” Jones, has earned
a trip to N ew Y ork C ity w here he will
m eet D ef Jam execs Russell Sim mons
and K evin Liles and perform on
B E T ’s 106th and Park.
In his subm ission to D ef Ja m ’s
Leaders o f the N ew School contest,
Jones im pressed viewers with vision
ary lyrics that em pow er young people
to dream big, stay positive, motivated,
and m ost o f all, graduate:
“ W hen I w as young I was told to
dream big and never big enough, life
is w hat you m ake it so I ’m only
trying to live it up, / D iligence should
thrive throughout every single new
soul, d isp lay in g positiv ity w hen
others fail to do so / W e should be
going to school, not ju s t blogging
on youtube, cause it’s up to us to be
the leaders o f the new school.”
W ith a face rem iniscent o f icon
Pharrell W illiam s, the 17-year-old
P arkrose high school student first
arose on the P ortland hip hop scene
as a m em ber o f the form er hip hop,
je rk dance crew, R ipC ity Jerks, where
he and fellow students began bu ild
ing a buzz on Y outube.
N ow the sk in n y -je an -w ea rin g
rap p er perform s solo and ju g g le s a
busy life com parable to som e o f
to d a y ’s rich and fam ous rap stars.
W hen h e ’s not expanding his
vocabulary in E nglish class, th in k
ing up lyrics on the bus ride hom e,
o r p erform ing live at the Parkrose
prom , Jo n es is w riting, rapping,
dancing, netw orking, skating, sin g
ing “a little” and producing his ow n
music.
“ Y ou can com pare m e to other
artists, but I feel like the m usic that
I m ake is personal, and it’s all com e
from m e, inside,” said Jones w ho
w rites songs about grow ing up as a
teen, having fun, and m aking m oney.
“ I feel like I grow w ith each song I
m ake as an artist,” he said.
H isofficial website, yungm il.com ,
along w ith every other social net
w orking o utlet on the w eb is w here
by
Portland rapper Yung Mil is creating noise as a top talent in the
music world.
Jo n es likes to get in touch w ith his interview w ith G et Schooled.
thousands o f fans and follow ers.
Since en terin g the double-digits,
H e is a m em b er o f the LA based Jo n es has been ab sorbing lyrical
p ro d u ctio n team , “ P roject M ay w isdom and hip hop beats from his
h em ,” and w orks w ith sponsors like o ld er b ro th e rs’ rap m usic and old
th e Y o u th V in ta g e M o v e m e n t, school rap artists like B one T huds,
V lado F ootw ear, and A didas.
T upac, N W A , as well as m ore recent
O f c o u rs e , th e y o u n g a rtis t chart toppers like K anye W est, Lupe
couldn ’ t m anage all the upkeep w ith Fiasco, Lil W ayne, C h ris B row n,
out the help and inspiration o f his and U sher.
p aren ts, in clu d in g his d elig h tfu l
Just a few years later in 2011,
m other and m anager, Elie Jones, once Jones p erform ed as the youngest
a p erform ing artist herself.
rap artist at P o rtlan d ’s largest H ip
“M y parents have alw ays e n H op festiv al P o h -H o p . H e has
co u rag ed me to do and be w hatever shared the stage w ith artists like E-
I w ant to be in life w ithout lim ita 4-, M istah Fab, Free w ay, Jake-O ne,
tio n s,” the y o ung rap p er said in an A udio Push, and M ac M iller.
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