Rashad Muhammad (Shod Young) was born in Lubbock, Texas and raised in Lexington, Kentucky with his father and mother. He is signed to Louisville based label FPR Music Group and has collaborated with Vory, Lightskin Kiesha, TrellGotWings and many more artists and producers. He currently lives in Atlanta and is working on his upcoming project TOPOFTHEFOODCHAIN. Check out his full interview below and be sure to follow Jukebox Culture on Instagram.
Where are you from and how was life growing up? I was originally born in Texas but I grew up in Kentucky. I moved around a lot until I finally settled in Lexington. Since I moved around so much I always had to change schools and leave old friends behind and make new ones so it was kind of hard to keep on starting over so much. I’ve always felt like an outcast from everyone around me I was just always thinking bigger than most.
How did the rap name come to be? Shod is just a short version of my first name, I’ve always had a nick name no one ever called me by my real name so I just used one of them, and “Young” is a tribute to my grandfather who I haven’t seen since I was a kid but we were huge Texas fans and we always used to watch Vince young and cheer him on. That really played a big part in my childhood.
Where does the inspiration come from for creating music? The person who I want to be. I’m big on manifestation and the words that come out of my mouth because I feel like everything you say and think is a direct reflection of ones self. I feel like with words you shake your reality. My music is about having fun and being your best self and always thinking higher and not lower. The feeling my music has is happy and energetic. My music is supposed to be played when your having fun and being happy.
What artists inspired you the most and who do you currently listening to? In the beginning Rae Sremmurd inspired me a lot. I listen to everyone and have a new favorite rapper everyday but I don’t necessarily look up to any of them until I meet them because you never know ones character. If your a jerk I don’t support you. Simple.
What kind of support do you get from your home town/state? My home city is what helped build my confidence to rap in the first place. I get a lot of love and inspire people and that’s all I could ever ask for. I want people to think bigger.
If you wasn’t rapping, what would you be doing right now? I’d definitely be in school studying marine biology or working with the ocean hopefully on an island or something, playing video games and just chilling probably would have a girlfriend and would just be having fun and learning.
What makes you stand out and different from other artists? I feel like I’m myself and that will always be my uniqueness. Like I said I don’t look up to anyone and I really look up to myself if we are being all the way honest, I’m exactly the person I want to be I will continue to aspire to be a better person and actually contribute progressively towards the world and humanity, I feel like the world needs it.
Tell us your craziest life story: My craziest life story is a social worker coming and picking me up one day and taking me half way across the United States to a new family, changing my name, and blocking out my very own self history, I love my life but I got to admit it’s weird.
What’s your biggest goal in the music industry? My biggest goal in the music industry is to make people happy again, the world is sad right now and I can’t relate to pain even tho I have been through a lot but I feel like you always have to look towards the brighter side. I wanna uplift the youth and anyone in general in learning what real life is, what they don’t teach you in school.
What advice would you give to inspiring artists? The advice I would give to anyone would be to simply direct your thinking towards what matters in your eyes. Set a goal and always have it on your mind and your actions will naturally follow, don’t give up, and have fun in the process of growing, your gonna look back and be proud of yourself.
Follow Shod Young on Instagram.
