West Las Vegas rapper hoping to sign recording contract soon
When thinking about hip-hop music, most people don’t think of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Local rapper Yung Tat the Prince would like to change that.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, the 29-year-old rapper, whose given name is Jonas Romero, was raised in Las Vegas by his father, Juan “Johnny B-Like” Romero. Tat says his father moved him and his siblings to Vegas to give them a better life.
“My family has just always been in and out of jail,” Tat said. “My family doesn’t come from the best neighborhood over there. My dad was a Marine, and as soon as he had me, he brought all of us five kids down here.”
At times, the transition from San Antonio to Las Vegas was difficult.
“It was hard for me to be over here because the way I walked, talked, dressed, moved. It’s just different,” he said. “I’m wearing Nike Air shoes and Timberlands, and I’m going to school with people wearing Wranglers and cowboy boots. It was just completely different. I got made fun of a lot.”
Tat didn’t let it bother him, however, and he says he’s not angry with anyone.
“I have never held no grudges with anybody,” he said. “I’ve never put the town down.”
In fact, Tat has a lot of love for Las Vegas. Many of his lyrics and music videos pay tribute to the Meadow City, such as the video for his song “Stay the Same” (viewable by visiting bit.ly/YTstaysame), which features notable area landmarks like the Plaza, the Amtrak station and Storrie Lake.
“We have so much history and people don’t even know about this place, and that’s the sad part. That’s honestly what makes me go so hard. When people ask me where I’m from, I say, ‘Las Vegas, New Mexico.’ I don’t tell them San Antonio,” he said. “I try to go hard for all New Mexico period, but Vegas in general.”
Tat has been rapping since he was in high school, though music has been a part of his life for as long as he can remember. His late grandfather Gilbert “Foxy” Garcia was a singer and accordionist whose work earned a nomination for a Latin Grammy Award.
“He helped teach Flaco Jiménez how to play the accordion in San Antonio,” Tat said. “Flaco Jiménez’s dad and my grandpa were best friends from the neighborhood. So my dad, naturally, came up listening to music. It was more Spanish, but my dad always loved hip-hop.”
Tat’s father became a deejay in San Antonio and Tat would accompany him at performances where, in private during setup, Tat would sing along to music his father created. While his father encouraged him to showcase his talents publicly, Tat says he was put off by the idea of singing in front of people.
“I was like, ‘No, I can’t do that. There’s too many people,’” he said. “As time went on, I started (hip-hop) dancing in high school. So I got comfortable doing that, and as I got comfortable doing that I was like, I want to get comfortable doing music.”
And as Tat became more comfortable with the musical aspects, he turned his attention to writing lyrics. It didn’t come as easily as his understanding of music, though. Because Tat was born prematurely, some believed he would never be able to read and write. He admits he struggled with reading, but he credits West Las Vegas English teacher Juan Gonzalez for helping him overcome those struggles.
“He’s actually the one that pushed me to the whole poetry thing,” Tat said. “I was kind of being a little knucklehead and I wasn’t really listening. He kind of pulled me to the side and was like, ‘Look, I’m going to make you start coming to my class and do this.’ And he actually changed our whole class structure around so that way it was all presented around poetry.”
Tat combined his musical talent with his newfound love of words and began writing his own songs. He’s since recorded over 100 songs, compiled multiple albums and has filmed several music videos (to hear his music, visit: bit.ly/YTTPsongs). And it seems the hard work has paid off because, according to Tat, he’s now on the verge of signing a record deal with Capitol Records.
“That’s the move right now,” Tat said. “I’m just waiting on the contracts and paperwork and everything to be read through. But right now, looks like the lock that we’re going to have right now is 2019 or 2020, for sure, Capitol Records.”
Tat also has ambitions beyond his own music career. Through his business F.L.I.P. BOYZ Entertainment, Tat is attempting to bring big name hip-hop artists to the Las Vegas area.
“My biggest thing is, the bigger the artist we bring, the more people come to the town,” Tat said. “All the local restaurants get packed up. All the hotels get packed up. Everything gets packed up.”
Tat points to the November performance of legendary rapper Ice Cube as an example of the impact a big-name act can have on Vegas’ economy.
“Look how packed the hotels got,” Tat said. “Look how packed the restaurants got. Look how busy Vegas was. Vegas looked like Santa Fe for a minute. It was busy. I love seeing my town like that.”
