Born Djuan Hart in the nefarious Bankhead Court housing project, Young Dro grew up the second oldest of his mothers five boys and somewhere amongst the middle seven of his fathers 21 children. Although his mother did the best that she could to keep a roof over their heads, Young Dro spent much of his childhood drifting from one housing complex to the next.
Im from every project, shawty, he remembers. We kept getting evicted. Them folks kept putting us out. I done lived in Perry Homes, Herndon Homes, Bowen Homes, Bankhead, Summerhill, Adamsville. You can drop me off in all the spots barefoot, and Im at home.
It was during these many moves in his teen years that he befriended the now Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist T.I. Neither of the two took music seriously at the time. Young Dro didnt even consider a career in music until another one of his friends, Chris Daddy Mack Smith, scored platinum success as one half of early 90s duo Kris Kross.
I always loved hip hop, Young Dro confesses. I would just stand on the block and everybody telling me Boy, that was tight. But after I saw Kris Kross, thats what really made me want to start doing music.
To make his dream a reality, he first hooked up with pioneering southern rapper Raheem the Dream in the late 90s, who at the time had Drama and D4L front man Fabo signed to his local label. By the end of 2002, Young Dro had the city ablaze with his independent hit single Yes Sir and regional hit album I Got That Dro.
Around the same time, T.I. was prepping his debut album IM SERIOUS. While the King of the South was promoting the album during a radio interview, Young Dro called the station and asked to talk to the fellow rapper.
I was like, That sounds like my homeboy, Dro realls. He was like, You the one who sings Yes Sir? Man, meet me at the Bounce. We went up there and performed.
That reuniting of two longtime friends evolved into Young Dro signing with Grand Hustle. His major label debut, BEST THANG SMOKIN, reveals other sides of Young Dro, like the melodic, feel good vibes of Sittin High, the playful sexcapade My Girl Got A Girl (Feat. T.I.) and the funk-driven She Tired Of Me, which showases electric guitar plucks, old school claps and bass lines.
Just puff on the smoking lead single Shoulder Lean (Feat. T.I.). Atop a mid-tempo groove and hypnotic piano loop, Young Dro boasts on the rewards for his sacrifice and determination. In a confident swagger, he chants: Suicide doors, brown Rover look like pork and beans/ Everybody knows me in the club cause theyre smoking me.
Its a lean that playas do, says Young Dro, explaining the songs accompanying two-step. Since everybody is dancing, Ima show them that everybody aint trying to dance. I be a little fresh in the club; I might have on Purple Label or something. I aint trying to do too much but lean. Plus, its something that playas can do. I aint asking you to do too much or get out of character.
BEST THANG SMOKIN also features the pimped-out, Jazze Pha-produced Fresh, where Young Dro pops his collar over laid-back production, breezy guitar strums and Sunday morning organs. He spits: Body full of Polo clothes, fresher than a bitch now/ A-1 status make my hoes get at your bitch now/ Cartiers on; oh man, Im the shit now/ Big bank roll- I think I hit a lick now.
And on the up-tempo anthem Presidential, Young Dro flips flamboyant phrases of his thirst for extravagance on a driving drum track assisted by a Spanish guitar and simmering sonesta.
There a lot of songs on the album thatll let a person know who I am, says Young Dro.
