Back in 2019, I came across a video that one of my friends’ cousins shot for a rapper from West Philly. The video was for a song called “Blow” and it starred a kid with a wife beater on and a shirt tied around his head. “Bitch I’m from the deuce but rep the third cuz it’s like home to me,” the kid spat menacingly.
As a hardcore Philly street rap fan, I thought this was the hardest shit I’d ever heard. The kid’s name was Yak Yola, and I got the privilege of seeing that video go from a couple thousand views to a staple of the Philly rap scene. Yola ended up signing to Alamo Records where I would go on to intern a year and a half later.
Fast forward three years later, Yola just delivered his fourth full-length project titled 30 Story and, in my opinion, it’s his best yet.
Sure, the project features some of the biggest names in rap like G Herbo, as well as established up and comers like Veeze, Doeboy, Lil Double 0, and SG Batman. However, Yak steals the show with flows that are leagues better than his past work and instrumentals that really seem to fit his style.
My personal favorites from this project are “Body Count”, “Seeing Red”, and “U Need?”, all of which you need to check out. Tap in.
