Young Moe Talks Working With Fat Trel And Chief Keef

The past few years have seen the D.M.V. (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, for those who don't know) gain recognition as a hotbed of raw hip-hop talent. One young MC from Virginia has quietly gained a reputation as one of the region's best rising artists. Young Moe hails from Alexandria, a city which has flown under hip-hop's radar for years. At just 19 years old, he possesses lyricism and an understanding of the world that rivals the skills of a veteran. His latest mixtape, Humble Hustle 2 (which features the likes of Fat Trel, Freeway and Chief Keef) has received major praise from hip-hop fans and critics alike. XXL recently got the chance to sit down with Young Moe, who spoke on everything from his musical inspirations to his experiences as a rising star in his city.—Chisom Uzosike

On what drew him to Hip Hop:

When I was listening to people’s music, and how much of an effect it had on me...I used to listen to Lyfe Jennings and all that good stuff...when I was struggling, listening to their music, it brought me peace and gave me motivation. Then, like with me, anything I catch a hold of that I like, I just...I got a talent for it. I thank God every day for that. Music is something that caught on to me. Standing outside 50 deep, people freestyling, and I’m freestyling against the old heads and everybody laughing, like “Damn! Lil’ youngin’ just said that!” And then...by the way people in my own hood love me, they were going to other hoods and letting them know like, “Man, listen...shorty serious.” So that’s what really pushed me and motivated me, and turned things from street ties to business minds, you know what I’m saying?

On how he got the name “Young Moe”:

My name is Mohammed. Then it went from...I wasn’t gonna be in the streets calling myself Mohammed and getting caught up at every corner, so they was callin’ me Lil’ Moe. Then, you know what I’m saying, it went from Lil’ Moe—I ain’t little no more—then it went to Young Moe. I ain’t gonna be 30 years old calling myself Young Moe. (Laughs) But damn, I ain’t tryna let go of that, man. It’ll probably just be Moe.

On his fans and building his fan base:

I hate handouts, and I work as much as I can to get the real fan base that I’ve got. It’s not super crazy yet, but for each fan, I really work for that shit. Just before I came to New York, I was supposed to be asleep cause we were supposed to get up early in the morning, 4 or 5 in the morning. A girl tweeting me from—there’s like six hoods in Alexandria—she a young girl tweeting me from the projects, telling me—'cause I was around the projects, passing out CDs—so she’s like “Oh my God, I’ve been out here for two hours, I didn’t see you.” So she’s crying, she’s tweeting pictures, she’s in tears, her mother go on her page and tell me, “Yeah, Moe, like you said, “T.I.N.O.,” trust in no one. I told her school comes first.” Man, I got up, I don’t know, one  in the morning and went straight to the projects, found out that girl’s door, knocked on the door at like one in the morning and lit the whole house up, and brought smiles to everybody. I really dig for each fan and let them know that this is more than music. I really feel for everybody who struggles. For real. Cause I done been through it.

On the artists he listens to on a daily basis:

My big homie Fat Trel. Chris Bow, he from DC, Southeast. I grew up listening to Lyfe Jennings, man. He just tweeted somebody the other day and told them—It’s on my Instagram, I took a picture of it—he said he loved that song “Letter to Amarie.” One of my fans sent it to him, and he tweeted them back like, “Oh my God, I love it. I love the real.” I fuck with Meek Mill, Lil’ Boosie...my bro Chief Keef, I fuck with his shit. I listen to a lot of artists in the DMV, there’s a lot of talent in the DMV. I won’t say I’ve got favorite artists, but I listen to a lot of people’s music and I like it. I know y’all heard of David Coy. Of course, Wale, Fat Trel, Chris Bow. Pusha T—he’s from Virginia, that’s the DMV.

On working with the likes of Fat Trel and Chief Keef:

It’s beautiful, man. It’s like playing basketball, like who would you love to play basketball with? And y’all have fun doing it, he knows when to pass you the ball—it just be fun. Me and Fat Trel, we always make music together. Me and Sosa, it don’t be that easy since he’s all the way in Chiraq, and I’m all the way down here. So when we do get the chance, we link up and we do what it do. The Chief Keef situation happened, of course, through Trel. Him and Trel linked up, and that’s what started it.

On the good and bad aspects about his growing fame:

The good...I done seen little kids crying, really seeing me out. And they really love my son, I gotta keep him away, I gotta do something, cause they in love with Amarie. They’re always like “Where’s Amarie, where’s Amarie?” And they see me...like it’s crazy, I’m not used to this...you want an autograph from me? I just make good music, I’m just like y’all, you know what I’m saying? I’m sure you know about the bad—shooting, fighting, all that goes down, man.

On his upcoming ventures/projects:

I ain’t really focusing on labels too much, cause I ain’t gonna lie, it ain’t all out there crazy like, “Oh, we want Young Moe.” It ain’t like that yet. I got a lot of new music that the fans ain’t even hear yet. But I’ve got videos I’m about to drop. I’ve got real nice story, movie-like videos I’m about to drop. The next one I’m about to drop is “T.I.N.O.”—Trust In No One. That video, we really put that together. I utilized all my men—somebody played the police in the story, somebody played the snitch, somebody played Tino...July 3^rd...that’s 7/03, that’s where I’m from, the 703.

Just remember me, man. I don’t just rap to rhyme “coke” with “boat.” I got a story in every song. I would never sit myself in front of a microphone and talk bullshit. That’s not what I would ever do. Remember me, and we gon’ take it to the top—Virginia.