Enigmatic and unpredictable, Yung Gleesh was built to thrive in the Internet age. In strong command of his image and flow—he calls the latter "Shitbag Music"—Gleesh has the kind of public presence that's already outpaced the person it represents. His Twitter is pages and pages of RTs from enamored fans, his collaborations (Yung Lean, Fredo Santana) youthful and noteworthy, his out-of-stock GleeshWater merch already legendary. IRL, Gleesh is a simple dude. He loves weed, he loves his son, he loves to just lie on the couch and watch shit—just like everyone else. A self-described "house cat," who hates leaving his home, Gleesh treasures his low profile as something he's rightfully earned; "I'm so innovative in my mind," he tells me, "and so creative, I can afford to be lazy." Here's how he lives.
Weed
I'm a functional weedhead. I don't want it to sound like I'm promoting that; I'm not. It's just how different people deal with life. Some people read books. I wake up and I have to get high. That's my daily ritual, and I can't function without it. I only use Backwoods sweet aromatic. On the low, I'm really boring. I'm 25, I'm grown. I done lived it, I done did it. I 've already been around the world, seen a bunch of shit and I know what's out there. A day for me is just getting high and chilling. I don't like to be outside, I'm like a house cat.
Home
From the outside you might think my character is jumping off the wall, wild and crazy, but I live my life very organized. If I'm leaving the house, I already knew that I was leaving the house from a few days ago. If I knew I was running out of weed two days ago, I know I'll have to go get more in a couple days. That being said, if I do have to leave I make my errands around that day. I'm not spontaneous, I don't just pick up and do shit. I have a bunch of friends that just pick up and they'll be like 'I'm in Las Vegas where you at?' and I'm like 'what the fuck are you doing in Vegas?' I could not live like that. When I leave the house, I already know it's about to be some bullshit. The amount of mistakes you can run into outside...I'm done being in jail cells and shit, all I want to do is go home. If it were up to me I would spend the rest of my life sitting in the house, watching movies, smoking weed. If I had enough money to buy food for the rest of my life I'd just sit in the house and smoke weed. That's the only time I go out—money. I don't like to go to the club unless the club paying, I'm one of those cats.
Family
I'm a father, I have my son every weekend. When he comes over to my place, he has the whole living room to himself and a PS4 to himself. I let him go there and play because I know he doesn't have that much space over at his mother's. We went ice-skating last Saturday. I take him to putt putt and shit, go to the movies; simple shit. I'm trying to get a private jet and take his ass to Disneyland for like a whole summer. I want him to get to Disneyland or Disneyworld. Disneyworld is big as shit, it takes two days to experience the whole park. I want him to get tired of that park. I'll go up to his school, if he's wiling out—he's just like me—but he ain't as bad as me. I used to get way more phone calls from the school than he gets now. I gotta give it up to him, I love his little ass. He'll be alright.
Style
Back in the day, when I was 15, my mom didn't buy me Jordans. I wasn't one of those kids that had the fresh Jordans—I never really cared about fashion. I was on some other shit. I was a wild young nigga, anyway. Doing stupid shit, fucking my shoes up, I didn't care. I started making my own money around the time Gucci Mane came out, like 2008. That's when I started buying clothes for myself—wearing Gucci and Prada and shit like that—when I was 18, 19. Now motherfuckers send me clothes and shit. Diamond Supply, Huf, Supreme: all of them are really heavily integrated in the rap industry. Gucci and Versace don't give a fuck who buys their shit. I like 10.Deep more than other peoples' shit. I'm not really a fashion guy, I wear the same shirt for three days. I got long johns on right now. Ain't nothing flashy about that.
Merch
Gleesh Water
At the @GoodCompany97
@yung_gleesh pic.twitter.com/fLNxp4ZMg5
— Q (@3rdConcept) July 21, 2014
I ain't signed. I'm with no label and in no way affiliated with any type of group; I'm just Yung Gleesh, I'm just me. We're booking shows now for the next few months, like I said, I'm organized. We're booked up for the next two months. Plus we're working on a whole other clothing line for a new song. That's what we're working on, under the books. We not telling nobody about that shit. A lot of other artists' merch—they just throw their name on a shirt with the name of their song and try to promote. I'm dead ass lazy, but I'm so innovative in my mind and so creative I can afford to by lazy. I was told one time, work smart don't work hard. I took that shit and ran with it. I use brains instead of brawn: I figure out how things work, so I can pick that shit up for me. I make moves. I can afford to sit still and smoke weed for four days straight. Believe me, there's money coming in.
All images courtesy Yung Gleesh