YFLRJ, Youngg Fly Lyfe, YungKing4x | “Never 2 Youngg” & “Blue Friday II”
YFLRJ is a musician, artist, audio engineer, and entrepreneur hailing from Dallas, Texas. In a city with a thriving and diverse creative culture, YFLRJ finds success in his personal music career, collaborations with local artists in the Texan scene, in addition to being the leader and face of his own independent "Youngg Fly Lyfe Ent." record label, fashion, management, and promotion business.
YFL, alternatively branded as Y4L and Youngg 4 Lyfe, claims representation for nearly 10 artists in the Dallas underground. These include YungKing4x, a frequent collaborator and cousin of YFLRJ, alongside his brother, YFL Suave, YFLJAYY, and more. The company's tagline encompasses a message of financial freedom through artwork; "We Sell Fashion Not Drugs".
The 21-year-old YFLRJ and 24-year-old YungKing4x recently released their collaborative project "Never 2 Youngg" on June 27th, 2024. The 14-track album from the cousins features a strong and diverse discography, featuring verses from various YFL affiliates like LuhPorkFrmThaWood, TreyShay, YFLJAYY, and Menace.
This entire "Never 2 Youngg" Project far surpasses the initial expectations set by the equipment used. The album was recorded by the artists on a $60 Samson USB mic using the BandLab DAW.
YFLRJ's initial sparks of musical dreams in his youth stems from following in the footsteps of his older brother Suave. This strong network of creativity within his family with his brother and cousin, alongside inspiration from peers, pushes YFLRJ to continue along his artistic journey. His lifelong love of music has led to him comparing himself with the artists he listens to, and will often find himself hearing a track and thinking, "wow they’re really good, I want to be as good as that some day... Other times I hear a song and I think, I can definitely do better than that."
His strong work ethic manifests in hard drives filled with unfinished projects, experimental files, and scrapped songs; all helping to evolve RJ into the artist he is today and will become with future projects.
"Blue Friday" is one of YFLRJ's signature musical collections, with the first edition, a 9-track project spanning nearly 22 minutes, being released in early December of 2023. What began as a one-time "throwaway EP' quickly turned into an annual compilation mixtape. Its upcoming 2nd installment, "Blue Friday II" is scheduled for release less than a year later, on Black Friday of 2024.
Also in the works is YFLRJ's sophomore album "Hi I Make Music", which was initially delayed following the heavy focus of the "Never 2 Youngg" album with YungKing4x, but has now taken center-stage of RJ's primary creative focus.
While YFLRJ has developed and demonstrated the skills to mix and master his own tracks with his recent releases, fans may be surprised and inspired to hear that he has yet to have any professional training with the technical aspects of music production. Set with plans to begin his formal music education this August while pursuing his degree in Audio Engineering, we are excited to see how RJ's skillset continues to develop and evolve his signature creative sounds.
In an exclusive interview with RSO Underground, YFLRJ speaks on his artistic journey, recent and upcoming artistic projects, and his family's influence on his musical passions.
RSO Underground Interview with YFLRJ
Who are you?
I am YFLRJ…
Where are you from? (How is the music scene there?)
…and I’m from Dallas Texas
The music scene out here is honestly great, it’s diverse and you can find pretty much any sound you’re looking glee out here
Why did you get into the music/creative industry??
I started releasing music honestly to be like my older brother Suave, he started making music first and I followed in his footsteps
He still makes music now, he just in the joint rn
Who and what inspires you?
To be honestly my peers inspire me a lot, sometimes I hear an artist and I think, wow they’re really good, I want to be as good as that some day
Other times I hear a song and I think, I can definitely do better than that.
It depends honestly
Do you have any stories of your artistic journey to share?
My artistic journey has been bumpy to say the least. Long hours testing to find my sound, countless scrapped songs, and unfinished projects.
I wouldn’t take bacc a single second though
What song/project are you currently promoting and what is the story behind it?
I’m currently promoting the album me and my cousin made called “Never 2 Youngg” We released that June 27th so it’s fresh
I’m also getting ready to drop the second edition in my “Blue Friday” collection, releasing on Black Friday 2024
The story of Blue Friday is honestly complicated. It originally started as a throwaway EP to give to my fans before I dropped my Sophomore album “Hi I Make Music” but we ended up releasing Never 2 Youngg instead and… I never stopped making music though, so instead of letting these songs sit on my computer forever, I decided to start releasing them as a compilation mixtape every year. Keep feeding the Youngg Fly Family
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Something that might surprise people about me is that I mix and master everything myself, I’ve never even been formally taught how to use an EQ, but that changes this August as I’ll be attending school in order to pursue a degree in audio engineering
Where can we find your music and art?
You can find everything Y4L related at http://www.yflent.com/ (don’t forget the “www”)
Check out YFLRJ & Y4L Everywhere!