Jerold Dwight Ellis III (born October 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Yukmouth, is an American rapper from East Oakland, Oakland, California. He is the founder of

The Regime ''The Regime: Evil Advances/Before They Were Left Behind'' is the second prequel novel in the ''Left Behind'' series, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It was released on Tuesday, November 15, 2005. This book covers more events lea ...

Smoke-A-Lot Records Smoke-a-Lot Records, distributed by Rap-a-Lot Records, is a record label founded and owned by rapper Yukmouth and manager Kat Gaynor. The name comes from Yukmouth's Luniz nickname, "Smoke-a-Lot". The label itself is home to artists including Luni ...

and

Godzilla Entertainment Jerold Dwight Ellis III (born October 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Yukmouth, is an American rapper from East Oakland, Oakland, California. He is the founder of The Regime (group), The Regime, Smoke-A-Lot Records and Godzilla Entert ...

. He is a member of Thug Lordz with C-Bo.

Career

Yukmouth is a member of the rap duo

Luniz Luniz (formerly the LuniTunes) is an American hip hop duo from Oakland, California, formed by Yukmouth and Numskull. They were signed to Virgin Records, Noo Trybe Records, and C-Note Records. They were the flagship act for C-Note Records. The g ...

, along with Numskull. Luniz recorded the weed anthem, " I Got 5 on It". Yukmouth signed a solo record deal at J-Prince's Rap-a-Lot Records, releasing four albums. His double album debut on the label, entitled '' Thugged Out: The Albulation'', went gold. Under his own label,

Smoke-a-Lot Records Smoke-a-Lot Records, distributed by Rap-a-Lot Records, is a record label founded and owned by rapper Yukmouth and manager Kat Gaynor. The name comes from Yukmouth's Luniz nickname, "Smoke-a-Lot". The label itself is home to artists including Luni ...

, he has released

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

s and

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s, such as the ''

United Ghettos of America ''United Ghettos of America'' is a soundtrack to accompany the DVD Documentary by the same name released by rapper Yukmouth in 2002 on Smoke-a-Lot/Rap-A-Lot Records Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blo ...

'' series.

Smoke-A-Lot

Yukmouth is CEO of Smoke-A-Lot, which is distributed by Rap-a-Lot Records. The label is home to established artists such as

Dru Down Danyel Robinson (born September 14, 1971), better known by his stage name Dru Down, is an American rapper and actor from Oakland, California.allmusic - Dru Down biography/ref> He is currently a member of The Regime, a collective of rappers that ...

, Thug Lordz (Yukmouth, C-Bo and Spice 1),

, and Yukmouth himself.

Godzilla Entertainment

Godzilla Entertainment was an American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

founded and owned by rapper Yukmouth of the popular 1990s rap group

The Luniz Luniz (formerly the LuniTunes) is an American hip hop duo from Oakland, California, formed by Yukmouth and Numskull. They were signed to Virgin Records, Noo Trybe Records, and C-Note Records. They were the flagship act for C-Note Records. The g ...

, and operated by both Yukmouth and Kat Gaynor (who also acts as Yukmouth and

's manager). The name comes from Yukmouth's popular 2003 album,

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

. It was initially created to serve as an independent record distribution company for official mixtapes released on

. The first few releases through Godzilla was the heavily popular ''All Out War'' mixtape series which were done as a joint venture with the Cali Untouchable DJs and Rapbay.com. The initial logo featured an edited version of the

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

logo which was later replaced by a more independent logo which features the

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

logo encircled by the words "''Godzilla Ent.''". In May 2007 Yukmouth closed down the label and merged all of its duties with the parent Smoke-A-Lot Records after pressure from

Toho Co. Ltd. is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer a ...

, the owners of the name ''Godzilla''.

Closure

Upon receiving pressure from the owners of the copyright to the name Godzilla, Yukmouth closed down the Godzilla subset label and now releases projects solely on the Smoke-A-Lot Records imprint. All media pertaining to the name Godzilla, including logos, t-shirts and other media were removed from the official Smoke-A-Lot website shortly after.

Releases

- ''All Out War Vol. 1'' *The Regime - ''All Out War Vol. 2'' *The Regime - ''All Out War Vol. 3'' *Ampichino - AK-47 Soundtrack to the Street *Young Skrilla - ''Superheroes: Hot az a Heata Vol. 2'' *Yukmouth - ''Million Dollar Mixtape'' *Yukmouth - ''The City of Dope Vol. 1''

Discography

;Studio albums *'' Thugged Out: The Albulation'' (1998) *'' Thug Lord: The New Testament'' (2001) *''

'' (2003) *''

Million Dollar Mouthpiece ''Million Dollar Mouthpiece'' is the fourth studio album by rapper Yukmouth, released February 12, 2008 on Rap-A-Lot, Smoke-A-Lot Records, Asylum Records and Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an ...

'' (2008) *'' The West Coast Don'' (2009) *'' Free at Last'' (2010) *'' The Tonite Show: Thuggin' & Mobbin''' (2011) *''

Half Baked ''Half Baked'' is a 1998 American stoner comedy film starring Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, Harland Williams, and Guillermo Díaz. The film was directed by Tamra Davis, co-written by Chappelle and Neal Brennan and produced by Robert Simonds. The ...

'' (2012) *''GAS (Grow and Sale)'' (2014) *''JJ Based on a Vill Story'' (2017) *''JJ Based on a Vill Story Two'' (2017) *''JJ Based on a Vill Story Three'' (2018)

Filmography

* '' Original Gangstas'' (1996) * ''Mexican Blow'' (also released as ''Warrior'') (2002) - The Midnight Sun * ''United Ghettos of America vol. 1'' (2002) * ''United Ghettos of America vol. 2'' (2004) * ''T9X: The Tech N9ne Experience'' (2004) * ''United Ghettos of America: Eye Candy'' (2007) * ''Yukmouth Uncut'' (2007) * ''Million Dollar DVD'' (2007)

Awards

Grammy Award nominations

References

External links

Official website
* *

{{Authority control 1974 births Living people West Coast hip hop musicians Rappers from Oakland, California Gangsta rappers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians