Meet Yungg Trip

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yungg Trip a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Yungg Trip, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
I think my optimism comes from choosing to recognize the beauty this human existsnce has to offer. It’s so easy to get caught up on how crazy the world is, and how cruel mankind can be, but at some point I just had the realization the love is the dominate force in the universe. And if you do your best to let love carry you, the universe is gonna propel you in your favor. Sometimes I bug out thinking about the billions and billions of years it took for the earth to create life the way we know it and experience it right now. And how we all have literally millions of ancestors that are part of our DNA. And when you really stop and check it, love was always there. The bees were loving on the pollen, the pollen was loving on the plants, and so on and so forth until you have this fertile planet that is sustaining all sorts of life. Same thing with humans, our ancestors were loving on each other and kept creating life, and more life, and on and on. Each generation wanting the experience of the next generation to be better and more fulfilling than their own.
We also have our dark days too, in fact some of us have dark seasons. I think a lot about my Grandmother, and how all four of her grandparents were escaped so-called “slaves”. The type of lives they lived and the hardships they went through are probably too difficult to comprehend for most people today. Even through all that, they were able to summon the courage, strength and smarts to take liberating themselves into their own hands. They didn’t wait on anyone to “free” them, they didn’t ask for permission, they just did what they needed to do. To me, that’s love too, BIG love, BIG self love! And when I realize that’s the type of spirit that’s running through my veins, I know that there’s no excuse for me to get caught up on anything negative for too long.
But that’s just me personally, and only a small bit of how I think on certain things to keep me inspired.
At the end of the day, we all have a choice on if we want to look through the lens of optimism or not. And not every day is looking through that lens going to feel like it’s even possible. But trust me, the cells in your body will start to respond when you’re hopeful, love yourself, and believe in yourself. Then before you know it, the universe and the world around you will start to respond in your favor and keep that same energy.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Most of what I do is centered around music and the creative aspects of the music industry. I began my professional music career a DJ in Washington State. My main love is reggae music, and me and a couple friends formed a DJ crew called Blessed Coast Sound. A typical week for me included DJing 3-4 nights a week anywhere between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.. At the time I was focused on reggae & dancehall, but also doing hip hop & top 40 clubs as well. After becoming a regular DJ in a few circuits, I got to learn about afrobeats, which completely blew my mind. This was pre Wizkid & Burna Boy era, and it had all the electricity of a proper underground scene that only a few clubs and DJ’s were incorporating. Eventually I started being more of an open format DJ that primarily focused on those genres with a splash EDM. I would do lots of remixes that fused these different types of music to capture different crowds when I was out DJing, I would put a reggae acapella on a hip hop beat, I would put a top 40 acapella on a top afrobeats instrumental, and I would put everything on a 90’s dancehall beat!
After a while the remixes lead me to doing studio remixes were I would create custom instrumentals around acapellas so that I always had something exclusive to play live in the clubs. That evolved to the point of me to doing an internship with the production crew Loud City where I got to learn the fundamentals of music production, music theory, and making beats in order to take my sound even further. Simultaneously my crew Blessed Coast Sound was low-key blowing up. We had weekly parties with 500+ people packed in a club every week, we were getting booked to open up for big name reggae and hip hop acts, and starting to fly out to do shows on the regular.
One of my partners form Blessed Coast Sound started booking whole tours for the newer reggae acts that were starting to blow up as well and I would be on the road with them as both tour management and opening act. This allowed me to learn lots about the business side of music, make lots of industry connections, and kind of figure out what I needed to do as an artist myself.
About 6 years ago I decided to make the leap and move to Los Angeles so that I could really be close to the action of the music industry and have way more artists that I could work with and produce for. Since the move, my catalog of music I’ve put out has become extensive, and the network of artists I work with has grown as well.
In addition to music production and DJing, I’ve also found myself in the world of film production. It kind of happened as a side gig, but I ended up falling in love with that too. I had a lot of people see what I could bring to the table creativity wise that put me in position to work on some crazy projects. I’ve worked with artists like Nipsey Hussle, Latto, Coi Leray, Lil Wayne, Nas, Davido, Kevin Gates, and directed lots of videos for other artists that I produce music for as well.
This next year is going to be an insane year of putting out lots of music and working on more film projects. I’ve got a few new singles to release every month with an array of artists, a collaborative album with Blakkamoore that will be coming out, a reggae project that I’ll be releasing towards the beginning of the year, as well as multi genre album that I’m working on to also release this year.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
For me, I’d have to say that he number one most impactful element of my journey has been to never approach any project, live show, or studio session asking myself “what can I get out of this” , but to instead ask the universe to please use me as a vessel for it’s divine will. Second, I’d say that with anything, it’s all about about being a student. You have to be open to new ideas, learning and growing. The only catch is that you have to make sure you’re in the best mind frame possible to receive the gems that the universe is trying to send to you. Don’t let ego and pride get in the way being the best student.
Lastly, do your best to be around people who are better than you in whatever field you’re entering. There’s always going to be some priceless information and tools that you wouldn’t have though about that will inspire you and teach you. Make that network as big as possible and apply whatever resonates with you to your own journey. Keep in good graces with that network, because when it’s you’re time, your net-work will become your net-worth.
As far as advice goes, I think the best thing you can do is to always be your most pure, authentic self, and don’t be afraid to let yourself shine. It’s kind of a life long thing, but you should always be focused on what your soul’s purpose is. Don’t worry about trying to catch up to others, don’t worry about fitting in, just love who you are and be in love with your contributions to the world no matter how big or small you think they are.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
One book that thoroughly blew my mind is “They Came Before Columbus” by Ivan Van Sertima. The book is primarily about how Africans were traveling back and forth to the Americas before colonization. A few things that I found interesting was the comparison of Olmec Heads to Mandinka peoples, and shared spiritual practices such as Day of The Dead and how it correlates to observances in certain West African Cultures that practice the same ceremony of remembering their ancestors.
I guess I like to geek out on ancient history quite a bit already, but this book gave me a profound realization that only half the story has been told, and that you really have to dig deep to find the truth sometimes. It also shows that human nature isn’t all about land grabs, warfare, oppression and greed. There’s a much greater history of mind kind being curious about one another, wanting to learn from each other, having appreciation, love, and respect for each other that a lot of us are just not aware of. I wonder what our current world would be like if we learned about this side of the story just as much if not more than the negative things that we present a being normal human behavior.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,