There's a common misconception about hustler's ambition. Many assume that it's a hunger for success acquired and strengthened over time. But contrary to popular belief, it isn't something you learn. It's something you're born with. And with two self-produced mixtapes and a number of regional hits to his credit, it's clear that 18-year-old rapper/ producer Yung Bleu has hustler's ambition coursing through his veins. In just seven short years, the Mobile, Alabama native has managed to sharpen an incomparable set of lyrical and music production skills that will serve to crush the competition. His recent alliance with Grammy-nominated multi-platinum producer Drumma Boy, one of the industry's most in-demand sound architects, further serves as a testament to a talent that is destined to take the music industry by storm. "Mobile is a small town," admits Yung Bleu. "We don't have a lot of artists that hit mainstream, so we're not that known as a music city. But I'm about to change that." Though Mobile's last claim to hip-hop fame came in the form of Interscope recording artist Rich Boy's 2007 top 10 Billboard hit "Throw Some D's," Yung Bleu's impressive mash up of swag rap and trap beats are poised to make him the city's next major export. Yung Bleu fell in love with hip-hop at the age of 11 as an impressionable pre-teen recording rhymes at home on the culture's most time-tested format: the cassette tape. "That's all I had access to," he recalls. "I was just experimenting, doing music the best way I could." These first attempts at lyrical wordplay were spurred on when he began tagging along with his older brother on trips to a local recording studio.

"While he was in the booth recording, I was in the control room freestyling. They used to say I was good, but they never let me get on any of the songs." After two years of perfecting the craft of song structure and the art of the rhyme, serendipity struck during his freshman year in high school via his sister's fiancé. "He had a studio and let me record for free one day. He liked the song I recorded so much that he kept letting me come back to the studio." The eager young emcee soon uploaded that initial song, "A Long Night," to his MySpace page. The ensuing response was overwhelming. "A Long Night" soon racked up more than 3,000 listens and became a local favorite. "They used to play it at pep rallies. Sports teams used to run out to it at games. I didn't expect to get that much attention off of that song. That was a breakthrough for me."

Inspired by the indie gusto of hip-hop artists Lil' Boosie and Do Or Die, Yung Bleu decided to go the autonomous route when he was gifted a microphone for Christmas. Crafting beats and recording new tunes with digital audio programs like Fruity Loops and Pro Tools, Yung Bleu had effectively transformed himself into a masterful one-man-band. By late 2010, he accumulated enough tracks to compile his first mixtape, Anticipated. The growing buzz surrounding Yung Bleu and Anticipated soon caught the attention of Mobile-based Young Boss Entertainment. Joining forces, Yung Bleu and Young Boss Ent. reupped and released The Movement mixtape in 2011. The music video for the mixtape's single "Little Secret" went on to rack up in excess of 9,000 views on YouTube. The remix of the track has garnered more than 5,000 views on YouTube.

That same year, Yung Bleu also caught the attention of Memphis-based multi-platinum producer Drumma Boy. Famous for his work with chartbusting icons such as Chris Brown, T.I., and Wiz Khalifa, Drumma Boy quickly recognized Yung Bleu's potential and included him on his 2011 Labor Day Weekend Playlist mixtape. In the company of songs with features by such stars as Trey Songz, Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka, and 2Chains, Yung Bleu's Drumma Boy-produced cut "Go Head" garnered nearly 4,000 views on YouTube and soon became a Mobile hit.

Yung Bleu continued making his rounds on the local live performance circuit, igniting a trend amongst Mobile rappers in the process. "I started rapping a capella. That kind of started a trend down here for rappers to start putting a capella songs in their shows." To celebrate his soaring momentum, Young Boss Ent. bowed in 2012 with Yung Bleu's Happy Bleu Year's mixtape on January 1st of this year. At present, Young Boss is prepping the release Yung Bleu's upcoming 4th mixtape Hello World. Due August 21st, Hello World was recorded between Yung Bleu's home studio in Mobile and the hit factories of the esteemed Patchwork Studios (Atlanta) and House Of Blues Studios (Memphis). A joint venture with Drumma Boy's own Drum Squad, the mixtape finds Yung Bleu sharing production duties with Drumma Boy and boasts features from the likes of hip-hop artists Rocko, Papa Duck, and Allie Baby.

Under the tutelage of Drumma Boy, Yung Bleu is currently working on his official debut album – a trunk-rattling effort certain to please his die-hard fan base while delivering a host of surprises sure to draw the hip-hop masses. But Yung Bleu is confident that his robust lyrical growth exemplified on Hello World will suffice in the meantime. "After you rhyme for a while, you find your own style," he says. "I really brought my artistic side to Hello World. It has stories about me and what I've been through. Stories that'll get your blood flowing in the club. Just all around good music. It's a good project."