Yukmouth is one of Hip-Hop's most gifted rhymers. The Oakland product has earned his reputation on a string of albums, guest spots, and battle raps/beefs that have proven he's not one to take lightly on the mic ever. In the late 1990s, Yuk partnered with the Houston-based Rap-A-Lot for what would be a remarkable solo run.
He co-founded the Luniz with Numskull and the duo broke through big in the mid-1990s with the stoner anthem "I Got 5 On It;" but Yuk's creativity sparked a solo career that's run for more than 20 years. Projects like Godzilla and The West Coast Don have cemented his legacy, but just in case you were sleepin,' we picked some of our favorite showcases of the Bay Area legend's rhyme writing.
Yukmouth definitely got bars.
"Do Ya Thug Thang" feat. Da Outlawz (Thugged Out: The Abulation, 1998)
Yuk and the Outlawz all shine here on an underrated track from his debut album. His Pac respect and affiliation runs deep, and he gets to go off here, while also standing strong alongside the legendary Shakur's crew, less than two years after Pac was gunned down.
CLASSIC VERSE:
"Niggas used to hit me up
Till they see that fuckin' Regime
Stick me up, up in the sky
Firebreatin' dragon
Niggas bout to die
Niggas feel like Armageddon
When I be headin'
And wait niggas up at they own wedding
With they own weapons
Counterfessons
Ghetto lesson number one:
Never try to go to war without your gun..."
"Game Ova"
Yuk and Game had bad blood ever since Game was still down with G-Unit. After Yukmouth made it clear he was no fan of 50 Cent, Game took aim at the Bay rhymer to rep for his crew. Yuk fired back with this heat rock after Game dropped "I Got A Mil On It" dissing the rapper.
CLASSIC VERSE:
"You ain't a Compton blood, M.O.B. mobbed out
How you got a million when you living at your mom's house?
On the Interscope DVD at your mom's house
See me on my DVD drop coupe, rocked out!
This nigga faker than Eminem on Wash house
Come down South to get knocked out, popped out!
Watch Out! Make strategic movements, J Prince already ran
The G-Unit outta Houston
Y'all niggas music, I peeped the blueprint
Suge Knight slapped that nigga, he didn't do shit!
Got slapped two different times, he didn't do shit!
Disrespect the Eazy tattoo, you ain't Ruthless!
Dropped the album with JT, that didn't do shit!
Now he mister hard body since he with the Unit
Wanna beat my ass? Then prove it! What you gon' do?
Sucker punch me and run, and D'mack for da gun?
I don't play that!
I'll put you in da coffin with nuns, prayin' for you, you ain't Eazy-E's son..."
"It's In My Blood, Pt. II" (Thugged Out: The Abulation, 1998)
Yuk's street sensibility was always obvious; his hustler tales come from a real place. In case you needed affirmation, he gave it to you on this classic from his first solo album. Nuff said.
CLASSIC VERSE:
"See my fam is hungry
Eat a can of phony emcees, then dump they ass in San Antoni
Cuz niggas bologney like Oscar Myers
Mobb attire
Makin cops retire the way I, hurdle over barber wire
Fence this
I pimp shit
Relentless
The Guinness Book World Record holder, for fuckin over the most bitches
Regime shit, the thug preachable
Individual-ly, put niggas faces up on the obituals
I was taught to get the doe
It's In My Blood since I was crawlin on the rug
And pops was in the kitchen rockin up drugs
Yes sir!
Back then, I knew who I was, a thug
And still a thug until they make me feel the slugs, nigga..."
"Still Ballin'" (Thugged Out: The Abulation, 1998)
The murder of Tupac Shakur shocked Hip-Hop and the world, but no one felt it harder than the Bay Area. Yukmouth dropped this dedication to the fallen soldier, and while there was no shortage of Pac tributes in the late 1990s, this has to rank amongst the very best.
CLASSIC VERSE
"Hey 'Pac we still ballin, congregate the bloodz and cuz
Vice Lords and Disciples, I got luv for thugs
Even the hoodrats and scrugs that we duck in the club
Sucka for love, I introduce bustin dem slugs
Hustlas and drugs, we all lust for money and fast cars
The life of a rap star, floatin in jaguars
Ball with a rappa,learn how to stack tall
Money longer then Shaq y'all..."
"Kalifornia G'z" feat. E-40, Crooked I, Nate Da Nut (United Ghettos Of America, Vol. 2, 2004)
A semi-compilation of excellent hardcore rhyme shit, UGOA, Vol. 2 also happens to include a scorcher of a Yuk verse on this underrated track. If you love West Coast lyricism, this is where you go. All about that Bay.
CLASSIC VERSE:
"I'm the boss, so the bottles pop, models jock, flips cars off the lot
That transform like Autobots
Push a button and the top'll drop
Another button, I pop the glock,
with bricks for the block to cop
I rep the Bay-Bay
Kids move that pay-pay
Grab the mic, it's payday
Dynamite, like J.J.
Fuck a say-say, Imma do it the Bay way
Imma swing the AK
Drama king like Kay Slay
And Imma a outlaw
LIke dude from Jersey
2:30 move birdies
LIke I'm found in Jersey
And I step with the Desi on the waist
Cuz the Presi got a 10K Bezzi on the face
Oakland raider like Jerry Rice
Heavy ice, sideways through every light
Let you know my Chevy tight
712, 510, 310
From Crenshaw to E one-fo'..."
"So Ignorant" feat. Kurupt, Nate Dogg, Kokane (Thug Lord: The New Testament, 2001)
Another showcase for straight up Cali rhyming, this is one of Yuk's best bars, hands-down. Spitting alongside a rhyme animal like Kurupt is no easy task, but the two emcees bring out the best in each other. And Yuk goes awf.
CLASSIC VERSE:
"And to spit at a few clicks, rob motherfuckers who move bricks
Pop motherfuckers wit loose lips
Bitches who snitch out's finna get hit, get put in a ditch
Yukmouth runnin, livin this shit
"Ice Cream Man," I invented this shit
Ain't no gimmicks to this, my shit is rugged and hardcore
Give Killa Cali niggas what they starve for
Bring y'all war like, "What's the issue?"
I shoot up everybody, even an ugly fat bitch too
If I get you another shit on you ridiculous
Give that nigga some tissue, let that bitch know, I'm ig'nant..."
"Do My Thang" (Godzilla, 2003)
Yuk's third album was, in many ways, his definitive showcase as a rhymer. And this super underrated track features some of his most impeccable lyricism, as he makes sure he lets you know nobody flosses quite like he can. Another highlight that features Kurupt (and Roscoe, doing his thing).
CLASSIC VERSE:
"They call me Godzilla
Gargantua, tarantula, venom -- hot and handler
Flip cakes like spatulas
The Westside master. Diss me? You die faster
I have the South and West Coast blasting nines at cha
The spectacular -- Peter Parker
The heater sparker
Beef starter, reefer sparker, who team is harder?
I go hard in the paint like Vince Carter
Harder than a dick in a strip parlor
I spit lava
I make it drip harder than sherm sticks in water
And get my dick licked by chicks in Prada
Get them dollaz
Bounce like a six Imapala
Drink Cris til I piss the water
With J. Prince the father
Of the South
Yukmouth, the Don
Roscoe, Kurupt, Saddam
Taliban, Holy Quran
Imma show you how the WEst Coast rock
When you can't leave your house without a vest and a glock..."
"Thug Lord" (Thug Lord: The New Testament, 2001)
Every artist has industry battle stories. Yuk has no love for shady industry cats and on this track, he unloads his frustrations with flossing would-be "moguls" who are pimping artists for their talent.
CLASSIC VERSE:
"Niggas ridin' Bentley's, your artist stuck in the house, starvin'
Broke as fuck in the apartment, stuck in the south
I'm weighed out, niggas somewhere in Germany, burnin' weed
Learnin' these foreign languages, tourin'
Allways performin' like Laryn Hill, my shit's sore as steel
I'm real, like Slim Shady, bitch quit ignorin' skills
I kill, niggas better stop smokin fry, and poppin' pills, I drill
But all you muthafuckaz, I'm the illest nigga, I feel..."
"Godzilla" (Godzilla, 2003)
Yukmouth came blasting with both barrels on this one. He stomps through his verse, crushing lesser rhymers under his feet with every bar. He makes sure to call out fakers who try to ride his jock, and it announced his third album in style.
CLASSIC VERSE:
"The thug lord ayatollah ran wit' twelve disciples
One hand held the Bible
One hand held the rifle *gunshot*
All hail my arrival
From VL's Disciples
To Crips and Piru's and rivals
Run for survival
It's murder and mayhem
Them birds on the Greyhound
From the curb in they town
Get served and sprayed down *gunshots*
Pounds of herb to break down
The cops run a search and shake down
Ever since I signed with my niggas from H-Town
Prince J and stayed down
Made me put them cakes down..."