Somewhere amidst the dance rap and hip-hop projects in North Texas, there stands an isolated voice.
Not concerned with "reppin' his city" or inventing the newest dancefloor craze, Denton's Colby McCartney, aka Yung God, has created a blend of heartfelt expression, humor, individuality and impressive skill, all underpinned by a message of "based" positivity.
"We spread the 'based' message," McCartney says, "which is being positive and being yourself and not wanting to fit in to society's view of normal."
The term "based" itself, coined by notorious rapper Lil B, refers to a concept that has now grown in scope and meaning beyond what the Bay Area rapper originally intended, resulting in an entire culture of avant garde, abstract and forward-thinking rappers who don't fall neatly into any major hip-hop categorization.
McCartney, who started listening to Lil B's work in 2007, did not himself start making music until about six months ago. Since then, though, he has created hundreds of songs, most of which can be found on YouTube.
"I've made about 400 songs since then," McCartney says. "I would say about 350 of them are freestyles."
The freestyles he refers to cover topics from bullying to anti-racism to professional athletes, and they've since earned him a substantial Internet cult following.
"I probably should start writing stuff down if I want to be in the industry," McCartney says.
At this point, though, it seems unlikely that he wants to be a part of the commercial rap world. The fact that he has a tattoo of the word "God" on his forehead probably isn't helping matters.
"I got the tattoo last October, and I knew a lot of people would judge me off it," he says. "But it's just a way of saying that, even though I say a lot of stuff, I do love God and I'm not a devil worshiper."
Others are starting to worship Yung God, though. McCartney now considers himself an affiliate of Ocean Gang, a group of artists from the American South who make based music.
"Ocean Gang is a group started by my brother — but not my blood brother — Cartier God," McCartney says. "It's a family of a whole bunch of different artists that don't make regular music."
And it's catching on: Earlier this summer, Soulja Boy posted a video of himself enjoying a blunt and dancing in front of his computer while listening to the Yung God song "Perfect" (produced by Dallas' Galaxy Beats). The Atlanta rapper then asked to collaborate with McCartney. The result is a whole lot of attention, as well as Yung God's inclusion in Soulja Boy's group and label, SODMG, and a forthcoming mixtape with Soulja Boy, too.
