J Young MDK is “Mr. Nice Guy,” and his new single with that name was released in perfect timing with Valentine’s Day being this month. The song is a bop in itself, reminding audiences all around the world that men are worthy too, and can stand their ground in relationships just as females do.
Born in Fresno but based in Atlanta, J Young MDK is the definition of a multi-hyphenate. From rapping to singing to songwriting to acting to even directing, J Young MDK is constantly working, creating, and living life to the fullest.
J Young MDK has been creating buzz in the industry since 2019 when he released his solo album titled Now Or Never, executive produced by the legendary Jamie Foxx. Since then, he’s also been diving into the film world, most known for his role as Hussein Fatal in the Tupac biopic, All Eyez on Me.
AllHipHop spoke with J Young MDK in downtown Los Angeles, hours before his headlining show at Adults Only in Hollywood.
AllHipHop: Talk about your show tonight at Adults Only. How are you feeling?
J Young MDK: First of all, I love love love L.A. Every time I’m in LA, it’s the best city. The best vibe. California in the whole, just in general, it’s Cali! But the one thing I wasn’t expecting was it to be cold. I wasn’t expecting that, I got this jacket on today. But besides that, what? The vibes!
AllHipHop: How cold is it in Atlanta right now?
J Young MDK: Well, I was in New York. This is hot compared to that, but I thought I was gonna get here and have a t-shirt on. Nope, bring your jacket out. [laughs]
AllHipHop: You have “Mr. Nice Guy” going crazy. What inspired that record?
J Young MDK: You know, you’ve been in those relationships before? A lot of times, it gets told on the women’s side. But I know on the men’s side too, sometimes you get tired of somebody’s s###. You’re trying to be good, you’re trying to do certain things or whatever. It’s a song about feeling unappreciated. It’s no more Mr. Nice Guy, go f### with somebody else, I’m over this b.s., we get tired of that s### too.
AllHipHop: Do nice guys finish last though?
J Young MDK: Hell yeah, always. Don’t they? What do you think?
AllHipHop: I’m a believer in karma, so if you put good into the world, you get good back.
J Young MDK: I agree with that. I’m just saying, some people take nice guys for granted. Or kindness for weakness, whatever you want to call it. That’s when I will say we finish last.
AllHipHop: Did a certain female inspire the record?
J Young MDK: A few. [laughs] It was a collective, but at the same time, it’s still contradictory. When you listen to the song, it’s a ‘I’m talking s###, but I still want you back’ type of thing. Because sometimes we don’t know what we want. Sometimes we want you to be nice, then sometimes you’re too nice. We want some drama. Sometimes you like toxicity, sometimes you don’t. It just depends.
AllHipHop: Talk about doing the movie, Lola.
J Young MDK: Shout to Monica Floyd, who is a dope producer over the movie. She’s the person that got me involved with it. It’s a boxing movie, it’s part two. Lola part 1 is out. I’m excited to be a part of it, it’s a super dope project. It’ll be coming out, I want to say April? So I’m excited about that.
AllHipHop: What other projects can we look forward to?
J Young MDK: Right now I got Mr. Nice Guy out. We also got the Dayshift movie soundtrack song with me, Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, and Sam Harmonix, that’s already out. But next, I got a record that I’ma drop with Jacquees, that’s pretty fire.
AllHipHop: I was just texting his manager! He has a show in LA on Tuesday.
J Young MDK: Damn, I leave Tuesday. I might have to push it back. I’m supposed to go to New York, and then Miami.
AllHipHop: You be jet setting! You love that?
J Young MDK: I just be going. [makes plane noise] Sometimes it’s tiring, but not really. I love it. I love to switch up the environment, meet with your people and just do your thing. Enjoy it, enjoy the city.
AllHipHop: How’d you and Jacquees tap in?
J Young MDK: Well, Jacquees is from Atlanta of course. How do we tap in? It’s crazy, because we had a lot of mutual people. I had the record called “Vibe With Me.” I already released a record, I thought damn, I want to do a remix. Who could I put on it that’s hot with R&B. I like Tory [Lanez] too, then all that other stuff happened. I’m like damn! ‘Cause that’s my guy, musically. I don’t know him personally.
Who else is a super dope, that could sing? Jacquees. Alright, let’s go get Jacquees on it. Reached out to his team, reached out to his people and they agreed to do it. Went to the studio, knocked it out. It’s crazy, he went in. He went crazy.
AllHipHop: I saw you talk to students for Black History Month. How was that?
J Young MDK: That was great. Especially, just all minorities, period. A lot of times, we’re underprivileged and underserved. We have role models, but it’s not a million people we could look up to. I’m not saying I’m a role model, but I wish I had somebody when I was younger. Just come and talk to me about different things like “yo, you don’t gotta be a rapper. You don’t gotta be an NFL player.” When I was growing up, that’s all we knew. You’re either going to play basketball, football, or sell drugs. Either one.
But it’s cool to be able to talk to kids. These kids, the careers that they say they want, it was ridiculous. Damn, I don’t even know about that! They know what they want, it’s crazy. They really knew what they wanted, and they knew what it takes to get it. That inspired me at the same time. This little 13-year-old, 14-year-old, 15-year-old knows what they want, and they’re going for it? That’s crazy. That’s great.
AllHipHop: What can we look forward to next?
J Young MDK: More music. More film stuff, just entertainment in general. More entrepreneurship moves. Opening a lot of things, I got a food truck that I’m opening in Atlanta. It’s gonna be burgers, we’re going to have vegan burgers. It’s outta here.
AllHipHop: What about music-wise?
J Young MDK: Music-wise, working on the album called Forever Young. Still seeing who I’m gonna get more features involved. Got Jacquees on that one, already did the record with Foxx and Snoop. Who else? RMR, we got a dope record. Working on that, I’m definitely gonna be on another tour at some point this year. Last year, we went on tour with Latto.
AllHipHop: What was the highlight from Latto’s tour?
J Young MDK: There were a lot of them. That was my first full tour. I’ve been on tours before where I did two or three dates, or five days. But that was my first, from A to Z tour. Did 30-something venues in the whole United States, so that was super dope. That was a highlight. I mean, look at Latto now. She was already big, but damn. From there, it catapulted her. It catapulted everyone, super dope.
Keep up with him at @jyoungmdk
