Yonas (hip hop artist)

Yonas (hip hop artist)
Background information
Born (1987-11-21) November 21, 1987
New York, New York, U.S.
Origin New York, New York, U.S.
Genres Hip hop, rap, alternative hip hop, pop
Years active 2009–present
Associated acts Kid Cudi, Macklemore, Kendrick Lamar
Website www.yonasmusic.com

Yonas Mellesse, known under the mononym, YONAS, is an independent hip-hop artist hailing from New York City. Yonas often claims that with his music, he hopes to "bring content back to popular music."

Music career

Yonas began his music career at the early age of 5, when he was enrolled into violin classes by his parents as an attempt to focus some of his otherwise wild energy. He did just that, going on to study classical violin. After putting the violin down, and getting more into the culture of New York City, Yonas became interested in writing Hip Hop music. In 2009 he released his first EP The New Golden Era independently, winning a Billboard Songwriting Award for his single "Banga."[1] In 2010 he followed with his first mixtape produced by Sean Ross entitled I Am Us to the tune of 30,000 downloads. A little over a year later in 2011, he released his first album on iTunes, "The Proven Theory." The music video for his hit single "Shy Kidz" was featured on MTVu and Fuse TV on Demand as the fan-selected winner of an independent artist contest.[2] The Transition which is considered Yonas' breakout mixtape was released in 2012 to the tune of 70,000 downloads in the first 2 months. Yonas was also featured as a Breakout artist in XXL magazine in June 2012.[3] Thanks to The Transition's success, Yonas was able to land a 50 city nationwide tour in the Fall of 2012, opening for musical group AER.[4] Yonas has performed with many notable musicians including Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Wale, Juicy J, Timeflies, Gorilla Zoe, The White Panda, and Logic. Fuse TV caught up with Yonas for a special 1 on 1 interview while on his nationwide tour.[5] Yonas gained major momentum when his hit remix of "Pumped Up Kicks" also produced by Sean Ross went viral on YouTube with 6+ million views, which continues to climb daily. Another major music video which grabbed music viewers attention was "Fall Back" which found its way into the 2013 major motion picture, "The Place Beyond The Pines" starring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper[6] YONAS released his EP The Black Canvas on February 4, 2013 which went #4 on iTunes Hip-Hop/ Rap charts and #25 on the iTunes overall album chart.[7] After the Transition Deluxe, Yonas released a series of free remixes to popular songs titled "Freemix Tuesdays". He released music videos for each of these songs on his Youtube channel. On May 26th he released his EP, "Going Places", a 5 track album available on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play. It reached #22 on Top Hip-Hop/Rap Album Charts on iTunes.[8]

Discography

Albums

EPs

Mixtapes

Songlist (Some songs appear on multiple albums.)

The New Golden Era

I Am Us

The Proven Theory

The Transition and The Transition Deluxe

The Transition 2: Bright Lights, Big City

The Black Canvas

Going Places

Music videos

Title Year Director
"I Could"[9] 2010 Betterdays Media
"Shy Kidz"[10] 2011 Betterdays Media
"Pumped Up Kicks"[11]
"Fall Back"[12]
"The Transition"[13] 2012 Betterdays Media
"Don't Give A Damn"[14]
"Girls of Summer"[15] 2013 Betterdays Media
"Rollercoaster (feat. OCD: Moosh & Twist)"[16] 2013 Betterdays Media
"Leaving You"[17] 2014 Jakob Owens
"4AM"[18] 2015 Nick Marfing & Cory Hammon of Altamira Film Co.
"Blank Space (Remix)"[19] 2015 Jonnie Baker
"Centuries (Remix)"[20] 2015 Nick Marfing & Cory Hammon of Altamira Film Co.
"Take Me To Church (Remix)"[21] 2015 Nick Marfing & Cory Hammon of Altamira Film Co.
"Uptown Funk (Remix)"[22] 2015 Nick Marfing, Cory Hammon & Matt Lohmann of Altamira Film Co.
"Live It Up"[23] 2015 Jakob Owens
"Night Is Young"[24] 2015 Hunter Lyon
"Hello (feat. Living In Fiction)"[25] 2015 Mike Squires

References

  1. ↑ "OURSTAGE ANNOUNCES THE WINNER OF THE RADIO ONE “ROC THE MIC” COMPETITION",Ourstage, 17 June 2009.
  2. ↑ "The Freshmen: You Pick The Video That Gets On Air", mtvU, 18 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "The Break Presents: YONAS", XXL Magazine, 11 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "David Dallas to Tour USA with Aer and Yonas on Aer's 'The Brightside Tour'", New Zealand Music Commission, 18 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "Underground NYC Rapper Yonas Talks Tupac, Making Mom Proud",Fuse TV, 4 October 2012.
  6. ↑ "The Place Beyond the Pines",IMDb, USA, 19 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "YONAS- The Black Canvas", 4 February 2013.
  8. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/going-places-ep/id996569841
  9. ↑ "YONAS- I Could (Official Music Video)". YouTube. Retrieved May 23, 2013
  10. ↑ "YONAS - "Shy Kidz" (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved May 23, 2013
  11. ↑ "YONAS - "Pumped Up Kicks" (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved May 23, 2013
  12. ↑ "YONAS - "Fall Back" (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved May 23, 2013
  13. ↑ "YONAS - "The Transition" (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved May 23, 2013
  14. ↑ "YONAS - "Don't Give A Damn" (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved May 23, 2013
  15. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW4LbiUDvMM
  16. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkxbjLIJFUk
  17. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pFYbSfy5O0
  18. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7G8kUyWM3Q
  19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APCPkySH26Y
  20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ4KpMLchqk
  21. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKHMKM4LwBc
  22. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvGStAFxXfs&feature=youtu.be
  23. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw4v_Uc6y4w
  24. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cojxv5y2oHE
  25. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqnsqYwGxPo

External links


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