As a child, rapper Yelawolf spent much of his time shuttling between 15 different elementary schools. It was on one of those sojourns that the 31-year-old first connected with rap: "When I lived in Antioch, they’d bus us down to the projects in Nashville to go to school and everything just started clicking with me with rap music and in life...I felt the connection, these kids had the same problems that I had at home." And although he'd live in many more cities, work odd jobs and attempt a career as a professional skater before dedicating himself to music, the seed was planted.

In 2005 Yelawolf (real name: Michael Wayne Atha) appeared on the reality series, The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott, and it was during that show that he declared Outkast's André 300 as his biggest inspiration. He signed to Colombia Records in 2007 but his debut album was never released and he was dropped by the label after producer Rick Rubin came on board. "I was like, 'You don’t get it, cool? Then I guess I must be extra special.' I had to be arrogant because I could've been messed up thinking that if he didn't want me, I must have nothing to offer," he says.

Yelawolf's vibe doesn't veer remotely in the direction of glam. Instead the half-Cherokee, half-white rapper has focused his lyrical lens on creating biting critiques that talk more about the decay he sees around him – whether as a kid growing up in the south or as an adult who has weathered more jobs and more cities than most. “I can go any direction – arena rap or even the bluegrass hip-hop shit,” he says. “I would never sign myself down to any style.” His blend of hip-hop and classic rock, what he calls his “dirty Southern sound” caught lyricist Eminem’s attention late last year.

His mixtape, Trunk Muzik, was his first project with a major label, and became an underground hit after it was released in January 2010 under Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment and Interscope Records. In January 2011, Eminem revived his Shady Records project, signing Yelawolf and underground group Slaughterhouse to the label. "Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse, it's kinda phase two of Shady," Eminem said at the time. "It's the new generation of Shady Records, and as we're trying to rebuild our label, it's exciting for hip-hop....” Yelawolf's debut album, Radioactive, which Eminem is producing, will be released Nov. 21.