While ‘Box Chevy V’s bouncing, hook heavy “ in my Chevrolet, My Box Chevrolet / got that Glock laid in my lap in case you want to play,” an animated fifth recount in Yelawolf’s Box Chevy series proved that it is indeed possible to write a super catchy rap about the exact same concept. Yelawolf projected an unfaltered flow on fast paced Eminem reminiscent ‘Catfish Billy’, a track detailing an alter ego Eminem’s infamous Slim Shady style, who signed Yelawolf under his own label Shady records in 2011.

It wasn’t before pressing open a can, pouring it into his bass players mouth and proceeding to lunge said now-empty-can an impressively deep stretch into the vast ocean of fans wavering near the venues rear that the show officially begun, with the rapper proclaiming wickedly: “It’s party time NZ.” The energy on the floor, 4000 capacity in tow was quickly infective, but Yelawolf’s fan bases dedication was evident long before his stage arrival. Opening with the extraterrestrial first track from Yela’ s 2015 album Love Story, ‘Outer Space’ lived up generously to its title. Self described in his twitter bio as an ‘ alien redneck mastermind’, Yelawolf is the real deal. Due to overwhelming ticket demand after both initial shows at Auckland’s The Studio sold out within 30 minutes, Yelawolf scrapped both shows and moved the entire escapade to a much larger venue – I had no idea New Zealand went so hard for Yelawolf, but it’s apparent that the country loves this guy, and after his live show it’s not too difficult to figure out why. Fast forward four years and, although I’d heard little of Yelawolf’s material since, the buzz surrounding the 35 year o ld Alabama born rapper here in NZ was enough to heavily hype me up for the R18 show. I was understandably disappointed to have never heard of a ‘Yelawolf’ before, but his distinct sound projected on the Slumdon Bridge EP was sharp, menacingly captivating and quick wittedly piercing. Four years back, before his career really took off, I was deep into an obsession with Ed Sheeran and everything that surrounded him, so naturally when Ed announced that he was working o n a collaborative ep with a US rapper there was me eagerly reaching for an Ed x Drake project (14 year old me was really tryin it).

When my friend sco red free passes to Yelawolf’s sold out Auckland show at The Trust Arena last night, I immediately felt an odd sense of nostalgia washing over me – odd considering Yela (born Michael Wayne Atha) is an artist who I’ve never been significantly into.

Yelawolf arena rap ep