Exposed Vocals just caught an exclusive with Yotee Franko

21 years old, “Yotee Franko” is an aspiring artist coming out of Atlanta, GA, but originally from Athens,GA. Franko started rapping in high school where he found his passion for not only music but art as a whole. He started off with shooting videos, cover arts, and etc. and then came the music. With influences branching from artists such as Wiz Khalifa, J.Cole, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, T.I. and Gucci Mane, Franko aspires to be an artist with no boundaries for the music he creates. He seeks to brand his sound, art, and the hopes of starting a music/visual production company in the near future.

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

 

Yotee Franko: I grew up in Athens, GA home of the UGA Bulldogs with my Mom and two siblings. Just seeing my Mother work so hard for her kids and the tireless efforts to make sure we were always good really shaped me into the person I am today. Athens is a suburban college town, but not too much to do. While I’m in college now, I moved to Atlanta where the scene is very much up-tempo and a lot of things to do and see. Atlanta is home to the biggest artists in Hip-hop right now, and very much influencing a lot of artists who are not even from here.

I started rapping for fun in high school, and I use to write a lot of poetry and stories.

My boys and I always used to freestyle and rap for hours on instrumentals. People used to tell us that we had talent you’ll should really get on a track. At the time my older cousin “Solo” was rapping and making music, and just listening to him and seeing the whole process was exciting. The attention that he was getting, and supporting him and being his hype man at shows gave me a taste of what it feels like to be on stage in front of crowds and perform. I’m a pretty laid back chill guy so for me to come out of comfort zone and perform in front of people changed my life. It gave me more confidence in myself and opened up to people was a big thing for me. Fast forward 2 years later my other cousin “TaeKyon” started making music also and making moves, to management contracts and so on. Just seeing what it takes, and the attention he was getting motivated me to want to tell my story and create my own music.

I’m self-taught on almost everything I do creatively I can produce my own beats, make my own cover arts, shoot music videos, shoot photos and anything around a creative aspect. I just love art as a whole, and for me to produce my own to show the world me and to tell my story and share my sound is amazing to me.

 

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

 

Yotee Franko: I changed my name so many times it’s ridiculous, but I always wanted my name to have a meaning but abstractly stand out. Franko came from the first piece of jewelry I bought which was a Franco box chain. Jewelry can be a sign of showing wealth and artistic display. It is several reasons why I changed the C to a K in the name. Yotee is short for Coyote, and the spirit animal characteristic of a coyote matches my personality. The extra “E” is just for Flare, so the name describes me and my goals.

 

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

 

Yotee Franko: It is probably one of the best things ever, the chance to share your music, but also listen to others music who can be half way around the world. The networking and connecting with people is a powerful way get out there and display your art to the world. Yes, I do give my music away for free; my first single is on Soundcloud called “Famous” at 11k right now. The response I get motivates me, and makes me proud of my work; I’m not worrying about charging to listen to my music right now. I just want to be able to put it out for people to hear.

 

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

 

Yotee Franko: Never give up and don’t doubt yourself. Something you might think is not good, but thousands of other people might like it. GET OUT AND NETWORK, you have to get on the scene and network with people and share your music. Don’t be afraid or shy; just go for it, you will never know unless you do it. Use social media to your advantage we can connect with people around the world, and you will never know unless you try.

 

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

 

 Yotee Franko: I grab inspiration from a lot of places, but mainly from life experiences or just how I’m feeling. I like to listen to older music and different genres of music to give me a more diverse approach when it comes to making my music.

 

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

I am currently working on a website, but people can stay in tune with me on social media: Soundcloud: (https://soundcloud.com/yoteefranko)

Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/yoteefranko/)

Twitter: (https://twitter.com/YoteeFranko)

 

 

 

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

 

 Yotee Franko: I always wanted to work for myself and have my own Visual production company so that I would invest in that. Any way I can end up with more money than I started would be ideal. I would build my own full-fledged studio, so I can work in the comfort of my own space anytime I want.

 

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

 

Yotee Franko: Social media platforms are one of the best and through my networking social that keeps getting bigger and bigger by the day. All my friends support me and share it with their friends who share it with their friends and so on. Being active in Atlanta as a lot of people know is a Hot Spot for the music scene, and you can meet a lot of people if you’re good enough they rock with you. There are big artist in Atlanta and living here is a promotion in itself, IF you can work some magic and be out on the scene showing your face.

 

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

 

Yotee Franko: Right now I’m working on my first EP called Snow in the Summer that will be dropping before the end of this year. I am also working on another joint mixtape and songs with my boy “Cato1k”. I’m really just making a lot of music building my catalog and playing with my sound, but there will be a lot of music coming before the year ends.

 

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

 

Yotee Franko: If I weren’t making music I would be shooting music videos, and working on being a photographer. I love art period especially visuals and even the editing process I can do for hours. I love making a creative body of work that amazes people and gets them talking. I’m more known for my pictures and videos because my music career is just beginning.

 

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

 

 Yotee Franko: Right now with going to school, working, and my art lets just say sleep is something that I don’t get a lot of. I am a very ambitious person, so it does not bother me because I know that all this work will be worth it. It can be a challenge at times but, watching my mom work so hard it pushes me to work even harder. I know I am just working so hard for myself but for everybody around me, because I’m going to make it one way or another, just watch.

 

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

 

Yotee Franko: Fans should be on the lookout for more singles coming very soon and my first project, my EP called Snow in the summer will be coming out before the end of the year. People should expect to see me rocking the stage very soon so stay tuned.