We recently connected with Yuanamilli and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Yuanamilli thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I don’t think I’ll ever fully learn the craft. To say I’ve fully learned the craft is to say there is no more room for growth, and I don’t think that could ever happen. I will always strive to sound better, spit better bars, and just do better in general. I started off with a $30 microphone, and the free program Audacity. Through years of trial and error, years of messaging producers/sound engineers for their advice on what to do with my vocals, and years of just going through every setting, I have learned how to make that $30 mic sound 10x better than it did in 2020. Although I’ll miss it, part of learning the craft is realizing when it’s time for an upgrade. I will say, although I don’t think I’ll ever fully learn this craft, I can see the progress and growth that I’ve made. If I can do it, you can too.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Ever since I was young, I had a creative side to me. Whether it was making board games or making Flash games on the computer as a kid, to learning graphic design and video editing as a teenager, I always seemed to be creating something. Music was a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember, but my first introduction to Hip-Hop was at 8 years old when I heard Jay-Z’s and Linkin Park’s collaborative album, “Collision Course.” It wasn’t long after that my playlist and burned CDs quickly changed genres. A few years later, my sister was gifted a MacBook laptop which came pre-installed with GarageBand, and I fell in love. I spent countless hours and nights making beats and instrumentals, none of which were any good, but that was my first introduction to making my own music. By the time I was 14, I was writing my own raps to show to my friends at school and recorded a single song using an Xbox 360 microphone, which was a remix to Gucci Mane’s “Wasted.” Although I only recorded that single song, I continued writing all throughout high school; after graduating high school in 2016, I had my first son, got a job, and found less and less time for writing anything. That changed in 2018 though. Tragically, my 13-year-old cousin lost her battle with depression, and I had never felt a loss like that before. Not knowing what to do with my grief and having recently moved out on my own with my son and his mom, I started to head into a downward spiral using drugs and alcohol with my friends to cope. One night, they pulled up beats on YouTube and started freestyling to them. Although I didn’t join them, it had re-ignited my want to write again, but something different. When I got home that night, I started to let my pain and sadness out through my first song as yuanamilli, “no suggestions.” In the song, I talked about the unexpectedness of it, the damage it had caused, and continuous damage I was letting it cause through my growing addictions. It felt different than anything I had written before, and it came so much more naturally. I’ve continued making music since then that is based around my life, the things I was or am currently going through, my battles with mental illness and addiction, and on a more positive note, my yearlong sobriety. While the audio quality isn’t the greatest on my first mixtape “moments from blackout,” it truly portrays my grief and my (at the time) losing battle with addiction. My music has since been described to me as “treating it like my public diary,” and when I heard that I honestly couldn’t agree more. I write and make my music for me, I use it as a way to process my emotions and feelings, but I also have fun doing it, especially in my newer tracks.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It’s all rewarding. From finishing a song you’ve worked weeks on, to reading through supportive comments. The process of writing feels rewarding, feeling yourself get better with each song. I’ve met hundreds of incredible people through this journey, and anticipate meeting thousands more. Watching the growth of your music, having people message you telling you how your song made them feel, getting added to people’s everyday playlists, it’s all rewarding.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

4 years ago, I was homeless. I was drinking everyday, doing any drug that was handed to me without question. I had nothing to live for, and I was throwing my life away every single day. I had no money, and no morals. Today. I have my own house, two cars, three beautiful children, and a growing music career. No matter what you’re going through, things can get better.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://soundcloud.com/yuanamilli
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yuan1m/
• Twitter: https://www.threads.net/@yuan1m
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Yuan
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@yuan1m https://allmylinks.com/yuanamilli