Michael Wayne Atha aka Yelawolf is an underrated American rapper. Born in Gadsden, Alabama, Yelawolf was introduced to hip hop during his elementary and middle school years. Due to his early childhood moving from house to house, Yelawolf turned to hip hop as self expression.

Yelawolf got his shirt big break during an appearance on the UPN Network reality series The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott in 2005. Despite his elimination, it led to him releasing his debut independent Creekwater later that year. Yelawolf briefly signed in with Columbia Records, releasing the single Kickin before being dropped months later, before signing on with Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment.

During his work with Ghet-O-Vision, Yelawolf released his extended play Arena Rap and breakout mixtape Trunk Muzik, which gained attention online. A later re-release of Trunk Muzik with Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment and Interscope Records gained him enough attention to work with other rappers in the scene like Big Boi, Paul Wall, Tech N9ne, Travis Barker, and more. His eventual partnership with Eminem and Slim Shady Productions thrusted him towards numerous new connections.