Yelawolf, whose real name is Michael Atha, was born in Gadsden, Alabama and grew up bouncing around the South in various places in Alabama and Tennessee.[1]
Without being able to specify which denomination he was most influenced by, it's clear that when Yelawolf thinks religion, he thinks of it in Christian terms. But he's certainly got his own take on things. He's skeptical of religion in general, and can be antagonistic at times. He said:
When [Jesus] was around, he was hardcore. He hung around vagabonds, hookers, and thieves, so to me he's just another homie who happened to be ultra-touched… I'm not here to try and change the way people think, I just know what works for me. To me, Jesus rides a Harley.[2]
That's an interesting visual.
Yelawolf doesn't mind if you take biblical stories as metaphors. But he's a believer in evolution and a bit of a rationalist really. He said:
Growing up in the bible belt, it's confusion. It's confusion and mis-education and ignorance… Adam and Eve? C'mon, man. Two naked people in the woods who bite an apple and the world changes. What the fuck, man. Get real… Some of those stories are just ridiculous.[3]
Again, Yelawolf is certainly a skeptic. But notice how the conversation revolves around Christian themes. The ethic and mythology of the American south likely played heavily on his worldview.
Yelawolf in sheep's clothing: politics
Yelawolf will be the first to tell you that he isn't into politics. He doesn't follow it, he doesn't get bent out of shape over it and he's not really prepared to go into depth.[4]
But when directly asked about his opinion of, say, President Obama, he'll give it. He appears to be generally supportive and, while backhandedly bashing the Bush administration, he "takes his hat off" to Obama:
I think Obama's brilliant and he's doing great… There's nothing really bad that anyone should be able to say about Obama… Picking up all the bullshit that Bush left for someone else to clean up.[5]
Yelawolf goes on to articulate how it seems that Obama relates to and respects the working class, blue-collar people that Yelawolf grew up around–which is one reason in particular he's a supporter. And all in all, despite his own designation regarding his political ignorance, he offers a well-considered and consistent–though simplistic–explanation of his political views.
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