Meet Yelly, Sacramento’s Queen of R&B

Emerging from the city of Sacramento, rising R&B singer-songwriter Yelly is walking us through her journey over soul-infused beats. Her music basks in nurturing warmth as she reflects on past experiences that would soon shape the 18-year-old artistry into a top-tier songstress. On Yelly’s latest offering, Don’t Drown, she explores the ups and downs of love and experiences growing up. The 5-track effort stands out immensely through elements of classic R&B and lyrics that come from the heart.

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Yelly initially splashed onto the scene with her 2017 debut, “Don’t Take My Voice.” Poetry has always been a passion that she effortlessly delivers, making herself a voice for the community she resides in. Months back, the Sacramento-native went viral via Twitter for her remarkably candid work, garnering over 300K views. In due time, you can expect the singer to be on top with the likes of her idols. Check out the interview below.

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Can you talk about how your life was while developing as an artist? How do you manage school and growing as a musical figure?

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I’m so thankful for my journey because I feel like I let went exactly how it was supposed to go. I really got to experience childhood so I was able to find myself before my name was in the limelight in my city. Going to school and doing music definitely forced me to stay focused because I was juggling all of the responsibilities but it taught me to be able to make things happen at once.

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What obstacles have you faced thus far that really defined you as a musician?

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Believing in myself was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Once I started doing that and letting go of energy that was negative or stagnant, I started to flourish.

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You’re very creative when it comes to music videos, what’s your process when coming up with video ideas and which video has been your favorite so far?

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Creating for me can be me at the park sitting in the car smoking and brainstorming different concepts or being in the middle of doing something and a whole movie plot just comes to my head. It really just depends on the video. My favorite video of mine is “Love N Drugs” because of its deepness.

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How would you describe your latest effort, Don’t Drown?

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Don’t Drown is really a compilation of everything I was going through in the summer of 2019. It’s a glimpse of what I was going through in my love life and personal life.

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In comparison to your previous works, what would you say has been the biggest change in your sound?

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I would say I’ve incorporated a lot more rapping into my style and not just my usual slow vibe.

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Do you tend to get comparisons to any other R&B singers? If so, who and why do you think so?

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I would say Summer Walker is someone I’m compared to a lot. That’s likely because of the type of beats I tend to gravitate to. I love her and her music so it’s a compliment but as I grow as an artist I can’t wait to create my own distinct sound.

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If it weren’t for music, where do you see yourself right now?

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I would probably have a 9-5 and be going to school to work with the youth somehow. I’m really big in community work so I would be doing something with the people.

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What can we expect to see or hear from Yelly in the future?

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You can expect to see the unexpected. There are so many people that don’t know about me or my music yet. I’m so eager to put into everything I create.

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