Straight Outta the 831
Watsonville does not get talked about much in hip hop, but Young Dinero is out to change that. His family’s roots trace back to Michoacan, Mexico, and before he ever touched a mic he was already putting in work in the strawberry fields around Watsonville, the same city that produced DJ Pumba, the producer behind Snow Tha Product’s biggest records who XMG profiled earlier this month. That work ethic carried straight into the studio. Dinero got into music at five years old after his family put him on to 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me, and he started recording years later in the neighborhood with his boy Mr. C, who showed him the basics. The real jump came when he linked up with DJ Pumba, who put him on to the real process, engineering, producing, mixing and mastering, and turned him from a kid freestyling for fun into an artist who takes the craft seriously. His sound pulls from Payroll Giovanni, Doughboyz Cashout, MacDre, 50 Cent and G-Unit, a mix that comes through in the West Coast trap he makes now.
The New Music
Dinero’s Westside Player album is the project that put his name on the map, and the title track’s official video above is still the clearest look at who he is as an artist. Since then he has kept moving, most recently with “Fire In My Eyes” alongside 22GFAY, right on the heels of “Don’t Stop” with G-Perico and “Dollaz,” the track that gave him one of his sharpest lines yet: “Invest in yo self and invest in your grind.” He says a new project is already in the works, so this is just the setup.
Who’s Backing Him
The Westside Player album is not a solo effort. Dinero shares the tracklist with OverLord Scooch, G-Perico and Black-C from RBL Posse, and he has also put in work with Bo-Bundy, Lucky Luciano and Peso Peso. Up next is a collab with Ralfy the Plug.
Watsonville raised him. DJ Pumba put him on. Now Young Dinero is putting the 831 on the map one record at a time.
Follow Young Dinero on Instagram and TikTok at @youngdinero831.