Can you please introduce your self and tell us what you do?
Yeah I’m Yung Ranma, mainly go by Ranma now a days.
Musician, artist, rapper.
Thank you for the interview.
What genre would you consider your self? And what other genres are you involved in?
Underground for sure, I’d even go as far as to call it “fusion” music. I yell and scream over purposely hard beats, on top of rapping normally. A lot of my new music is strictly harsh vocals, which come extremely natural to me because of my background in hardcore/metal. I’ve always been obsessed with rap music, especially the musicianship behind producing and “beats” It’s cool because I’ve met a lot of other artists in Arizona who also do the whole punk thing, like the shooters in Doom Division. Those cats are on one. I’m still active in the hardcore scene, but I haven’t fronted for a band in over two years.
What’s your local scene like? Popping venues? Pros? Cons?
The local scene here is huge, and is a big mix of underground stuff mixed with every day stuff. Ive met a lot of hardworking artists in the 2 years since I started rapping and moving solo, away from all the bands. I definitely fall in the underground scene side of things. Not everyone likes hearing a dude scream over a beat. The venues we have here are good, for all genres. I have to give Doom Division a huge shoutout for opening and managing their own warehouse so they can throw their own events. Most of the shows I have played are with them, at their warehouse. That is a huge pro. The cons here in our scene are just dealing with promoters who don’t exactly know how to throw a show, at least in my opinion and based of my experience.
Very interesting. I didn’t know this.
Who are you inspired by the most in rap / hip hop?
Keith Ape inspired me the most and really threw my ass into gear to start moving solo and start working on myself as an artist. Back when he was rapping strictly in Korean alongside “The Cohort” with fellow rappers such as Okasian, Kohh, Bryan Chase and JayAllDay. As soon as I heard “It-G-Ma” and saw the visual, I was hooked. I’ve always been a fan of hip-hop & rap, but this was something fresh I saw in the underground. Before Keith Ape, I was inspired by Yung Lean, and he was doing whatever the fuck he felt like, which was really cool in my eyes.. Slug Christ and the awful records guys also played a part in the inspiration, as well as Denzel Curry and the rest of Raider Klan at that time. Also wu-tang and ThreeSix Mafia.
Gaaang!!! Who gets bragging rights for helping you get to the point you are at now? Who always been there pushing you forward?
My big homie Kevin aka Pinchin Pennies, and my shooter Grayshade were there with me since the Jump. My homie Troy of Easy Money gave me a lot of constructive criticism I needed last year when I first started hitting it. He’s had my back for years. A lot of people in the hardcore and metal scene as well, too many people to name. The Doom Division shooters helped me put everything into perspective when I started linking up with them the final part of this year, and once I saw all of their talent, it naturally started pushing me harder than before.
Thats awesome. This makes me excited to be back on Phoenix. If you could go on tour with anyone in the wolrd, who would be on the bill? What’s your dream tour?
This question is tight. My dream tour would be with Keith Ape, Slugger, KirbLaGoop, Okasian, Bryan Chase, Yung Lean and Robbanks.
Its one of my favorite questions to ask. And what cities would your tour hit?
Definitely all over California (it’s all about planned strikes) east coast stuff like NYC and Boston, Atlanta ect. It’s also my dream to tour Japan and South Korea.
What are your plans for 2019? New releases? Music videos?
2019 I plan on going to Tokyo to shoot a visual for one of my new singles off my upcoming album. Working on a tape currently, and working with producers in the game I respect for another Tape. 2019 is gonna be the year of the Tapes. Also planning on playing shows in every city I can in 2019. New music, new music videos, new merch drops. 2019 will be exciting for me.
I’m already getting stoked. How did you come up with your name. Whats the back story on that?
“Ranma 1/2” was the first anime and manga series I really got into as a kid, besides Dragon Ball and Pokémon. I was watching it on VHS tapes with English subtitles maybe when I was 6? I figured since I’ve loved it since that age, might as well name myself “Yung Ranma”
it helps that Ranma is a boy as well.
I did go by Yung Gold which is my Instagram name as of 2012 but only for a little while, then I changed it to Yung Ranma.
I like Yung Ranma. As we wrap this up is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you for the interview. Thankful to the fans and supporters in state and out of state that I have. Special shout out to OrngKush & Lil Snorlax from LA, and special thanks to Easy Money & Doom Division.
I’m the type of artist that’s wants all my other homies to win. There’s no competition here solely out of the passion for music. We all have to get out of the mud together.
