Shunned by XXL, yet praised by everyone from Slim Thug, Juelz Santana, Raekwon, Bun B and Big Boi, Yelawolf has been on a mission this year to make sure every lover of Hip-Hop knows his name. And he’s doing it one city, cypher and performance at a time. A few days ago I had the opportunity chop it up with Yela. We touched on a variety of topics including his upcoming tape with Big K.R.I.T., dropping on the same day as Kanye West and Jay-Z, why not being one of XXL’s “10 Freshmen” was a blessing in disguise and more.

Can you give us some insight on your upcoming mixtape with Big K.R.I.T.? Will he be producing the whole thing? Will it drop before or after your album?

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As of now, it’ll probably be after. My project comes out on the 23rd of November and I’m on tour until the middle of November. I wanted to be able to get in the studio. We got like four in the bag already and we’re tossing back and forth a few records off each others’ mixtape. So he’s going to get on “Stage Lights,” he wants to get on “Love Is Not Enough.” So basically I’ll just shoot him the instrumentals and he’ll do whatever he wants to.

I’m going to jump on “Country Shit” and “Touched Down” and do my version of those records. Then we’ll do some original shit on there also. But yeah, K.R.I.T. will definitely be producing a lot of the records and [my producer] Supahotbeats is going to have some music on there. From there, I couldn’t even tell you who’s stepping in, but anybody who’s coming in is going to have to bring it cause it’s a cold ass team as it is. K.R.I.T. is one of the dopest up and coming producers – not only just a rapper – his beat game is ridiculous. I’m not sure if they’ll be room to fit anybody else on this.

You said your album is dropping November 23rd. With Kanye, Banks, Nicki and now Jay-Z dropping something on that day, how confident you in your project? You’re going up against some heavy hitters.

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I mean, I’m not really going up against any of them. I just happen to have a record dropping on the same date. Really, the thing is, when people walk in that store to get Jay-Z, Kanye and my shit is on the shelf, they’ll have an option to snatch it up. I’m just getting started, man. This tour that I’m on [with Wiz Khalifa] is letting me know everyday of all the work I have to do. There are still million of people who haven’t heard my music before. And after doing the BET Awards and seeing all the tweets after the awards seeing all the people saying they had never heard of me until the cypher or before seeing me with Big Boi, there is still a lot of work to do. The thing is, just having something on the shelf, they’ll have the chance to go get it for themselves if they like it. Because right now, I don’t have anything on the shelf.As far as going against Jay-Z, Kanye, nahh, fuck that. I’m not even on that level yet.

You mention the BET Awards with the cypher and the performance. What was that feeling like to actually see it on TV?

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At the time of recording it and being on stage, I just kind of put my blinders on and treated it like how I would treat a show in front of 30 people in Lenox Bar. It was just going back to the roots of what I do and not getting caught up on Puffy standing in front of me, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Nicki Minaj and everybody who was there obviously and just do me. And then after, I kind of just lost it. I didn’t pay attention to where I was at and when it aired, that’s when I got really nervous. That’s when I felt it, when it went out to the world. I just felt proud. I felt proud for Alabama, proud for my family, my team, everybody who pretty much worked to help me get to where I’m at. I think the reception was good and people were really feeling it. It’s a good feeling. I feel like I’m starting to make traction. My energy is crazy right now.

You’ve been seen with Big Boi a lot lately. What does his co-sign mean to you and can we expect any more collaborations between you two in the future?

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Co-signs are just part of the culture. Hip-Hop is that way, period. For a white rapper, it is what it is. I’ve been putting in work for a long time, but when I got on a record with Slim Thug for “I Run,” heads start turning. When I made a feature with Juelz Santana and got in the video, heads started turning. Bun B, Raekwon and then Big Boi giving me the biggest look yet.Allowing me to share the stage with him at the BET Awards was like some mic shit. To me, that’s bigger than a co-sign. That’s like a wingman shit. He really, really looked out. And I’ll hold him down for the rest of my career for that. It’s an honor, man.

I treat my music like it’s my life. I don’t approach a record like it’s a joke. I approached records like my life depends on this verse right now. If I don’t stand up on this mothafuckin’ record, I’m not going to win. I think there is a mutual respect with the elder MC’s, the legends. They feel my passion and not only that, they understand the culture that I’m trying to bring to this shit because they’ve been around the world and been around these small towns and seen kids like me. It’s all about respecting the skill level of the MC and that’s why I have co-signs from Bun B and Raekwon. They understand that I really am trying to rap. I’m trying to get on there and snap.

Was it important to you to NOT be apart of the whole XXL “Freshmen 10?” Do you think that kind of helped you to stand out not being grouped in that category?

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I’ve always been an underdog. The people who like my shit are trendsetters. I don’t know why they didn’t pick me to be on the Freshmen cover. But when they didn’t me and my team looked at each other like, “Shiiiiit!! Man, fuck it. Cool. Bet.” We just got to moving and it gave us a sense of pride about our shit because we knew what we had. It did help out honestly because the fans start to say shit like why wasn’t I? It was a gift and a curse for some of those MC’s. Wiz Khalifa came out fuckin’ banging. He came out that bitch swinging. But some of the other MC’s, not so much. It helped some of them and hurt some other ones. But I’m good.

Amazon.com listed your project coming out under Shady. A day later they said it was an accident. Do you want to clear that up? Is there any truth to that or is it just Interscope?

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Yeah, that was a mistake. Amazon made that mistake. I don’t know what that was about. Rumors are crazy.

Can we expect a record from you & Em?

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Nah, man. We met and he gave me his blessings and now we’re good. There’s no records, no nothing. It was a meet and greet. Dude is super busy and I’m out here on tour and that just was it.