Jerold Dwight Ellis III (born October 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Yukmouth, is an American rapper from

East Oakland, Oakland, California East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest port ...

. 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 Thug or THUG may refer to: People * Thug, a common criminal, who treats others violently and roughly, often for hire * Thug, a member of the former Indian cult Thuggee ** Thug Behram (ca 1765–1840), leader of the Thuggee cult Video game * ''To ...

with

C-Bo Shawn Thomas, also known by his stage name C-Bo, is an American rapper. C-Bo, notoriously known for his relationship with law enforcement, was one of the first rappers to be jailed due to his lyrical content, a scathing critique of political off ...

Career

Yukmouth is a member of the rap duo Luniz, along with

Numskull 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 ...

. Luniz recorded the

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

anthem, " I Got 5 on It". Yukmouth signed a solo record deal at J-Prince's

Rap-a-Lot Records Rap-A-Lot is a hip hop record label co-founded by James Prince and Cliff Blodget in 1986. Smoke-a-Lot Records is a subsidiary. Rap-A-Lot was first distributed by A&M Records with the release of Raheem's 1988 debut ''The Vigilante''. The label w ...

, 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 kind ...

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

. The label is home to established artists such as Luniz,

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 th ...

, Thug Lordz (Yukmouth,

and

Spice 1 Robert Lee Greene, Jr. (born July 2, 1970), better known by his stage name Spice 1 (an acronym for "Sex, Pistols, Indo, Cash and Entertainment"), is an American rapper from Hayward, California. He began releasing albums in 1992. Career Jive Re ...

, 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 Kat or KAT may refer to: People * Kat Alano (born 1985), Anglo-Filipino model, actress, and television presenter/VJ in the Philippines * Kat Ashley (c1502–1565), governess to Queen Elizabeth I * Kat Bjelland (born 1963), American musician * Ka ...

(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 prod ...

. 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., 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'' (2008) *''

The West Coast Don ''The West Coast Don'' is the fifth studio album by rapper Yukmouth, released on July 14, 2009 on Smoke-a-Lot Records/Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was ...

'' (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. ...

'' (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 ''Original Gangstas'' is a 1996 action-gangster film filmed and set in urban Gary, Indiana starring Blaxploitation film stars such as Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, and Richard Roundtree. It is the final film directed by Larry Cohen ...

'' (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