DJ Yella, one of the original members of pioneering gangsta rap group N.W.A, recently shared what appeared to be a life-changing moment on Instagram.
On Monday (December 2), the Compton native posted a video with the caption: “A demon comes out of DJ Yella when the pastor says the word ‘manifest.’”
In the clip, DJ Yella is standing next to the pastor, who is commending the Hip-Hop legend for coming to Christ. All of sudden, the pastor says “uh oh” as Yella appears to enter some kind of trance. With a hand on his shoulder, the pastor begins to pray over DJ Yella. Moments later, Yella stiffens his entire body and starts to grunt while the pastor commands him to “release him.” The spectacle lasts for several seconds until he’s screaming at full volume. He eventually comes out of it and returns to a normal state.
DJ Yella wrote in the caption: “You’re Now About To Witness Something Real: And The Power Of GOD!!!” a play on N.W.A’s famous line from 1988’s “Straight Outta Compton.”
Reactions to DJ Yella’s video were mixed. Comments ranged from “Lol are we serious right now?” and “Man stop the shenanigan” to “That’s beautiful Yella!! I know you must have felt a change after that!” and “May God continue to bless you and work on you for he has plans for you! It takes a lot to show and share God’s work, so sad many are mocking and laughing about the situation.”
One person had a much more complex theory, writing, “Ok I believe this could be a deliverance.. N.W.A was one of the 1st rap groups to sell their souls to the devil; they literally shifted rap music to talk about drugs and the disrespect of women and on a deeper level this perpetuated and glorified the issues within our community, issues purposely placed here via the Caucasian colonizers.
“On a deeper level, the C.I.A. shifted drug culture/addiction shifted from rock and roll to rap hip hop with the initiation of N.W.A, a large part because of Nicaragua, the Contras and Russian influence within Nicaragua military influence. It’s too deep for a IG post but Do YOUR RESEARCH. These things are all connected, trust and believe the God within.”
Whatever the case, DJ Yella has clearly turned his life around and is drastically different from the person he was in N.W.A. Women, in particular, was his drug of choice.
In 2021, he published a memoir called Straight Outta Compton: My Untold Story. The 326-page book took an intimate look at the origins of N.W.A, the death of Ruthless Records founder Eazy-E and DJ Yella’s transformation from notorious womanizer and adult film director to faithful, god-fearing husband.
According to the book, DJ Yella directed and produced over 300 pornographic films, including H.W.A: Ho’s With Attitude, I Candy, West Side Stories and Str8 Outta Compton 1 and 2, but he claimed it wasn’t because he was some sexual deviant.
“Women was my thing,” he told AllHipHop at the time. “It wasn’t drugs, it wasn’t alcohol—it was women. I loved women. But this was all business. It wasn’t like I got excited. No, it was just business. It was nothing but that—just like music.” But the self-described “sinner’s” life began to change in 2010.
“I’d never look to God,” he said. “I never thought about God. I didn’t know nothing about it, and he still came and got me when I was homeless in my darkest times at the bottom of my life ever and pulled me out.”
In May 2012, DJ Yella said “God came and got me. He still wanted me, even though I was at the bottom. The world and the devil didn’t even want me no more. When the devil’s done with you, you’re done.” That was the beginning of a new life for Yella, one he evidently takes seriously.
“Ever since I got saved, I never looked back,” he said. “I’m in church twice a week, everything. I’m a deacon now in the church, everything. I didn’t make the book for money. I made it to show how good God was. He even got me, this horrible, terrible sinner — he even got me. If he can get me, he can get anybody. I mean, I didn’t make it for the money. I never was a money person. Never was.”
