He may be under the radar, but Phoenix, Arizona-based MC, Vee Tha Rula can spit. Following-up on the release of his 2017 LP, Level Up, VTR delivers a brand new effort titled, Yet I Smile.
With 14-tracks, Yet I Smile is loaded with slick wordplay, and instructions to get through life’s hardships. For production, Vee called on producers Eriek OTB, Tony Choc, Konshis Pilot, Synesthetic Nation, and TBooze.
After meeting Bookleg Kev, who hosted Vee’s debut mixtape, Rula, back in 2015, Tha Rula has been consistent with releases that include Rula 2, From the Jump, and Level Up. He’s also worked with the likes of Kevin Gates, Kid Ink and Curruen$y.
During an interview with Phoenix New Times,Vee remembers drawing inspiration from Puff Daddy and The Notorious B.I.G.
“I remember being young and when [the Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G. song] ‘It’s All About the Benjamins’ came on and stuff like that, we would be over at my auntie’s house with leather jackets on trying to reenact that,” Vee said the Phoenix New Times. “I remember having my little yellow notepad trying to write rhymes at 8 years old.”
It was after catching a drug charge and spending time in jail that moved Vee to get serious about his rap career, he recalled to the Phoenix New Times.
“I went to jail and, after that, the street life was never the same. It wasn’t as easy to make money as it used to be,” he says. “I just wanted to do this music shit, and I gave up everything. I sacrificed everything. Not eating, you being able to have the things other people my age had, etc., but now that’s all changed.”
Stream Yet I Smile below.