Gabriel Amaya – Regalado David (Yoppa) was raised in a pentecostal household in Annapolis, Maryland where he attended church daily and followed his family’s strict beliefs. He found solace in learning to play instruments and continues to play them today. Yoppa often hid his listening habits from his mother as he was passionate about artists like Kanye West, Fallout Boy and Outkast, which were forbidden in his home at the time. Suffering from bouts of depression due to lack of attention, Yoppa began spending time with the wrong crowd. With his new friends inviting him to party and partake in youth filled debauchery, he felt the freedom and attention he was craving at home.

While attending Broadneck High School, the situation at home motivated Yoppa to move out and seek refuge with close friends. Soon he missed his family and the stability their love brought him. He quickly realized that the friends in his life weren’t always the best influence for him and the lessons his parents were trying to teach him suddenly made sense. Yoppa set out on a mission to find what made him happy, he started replacing popular song lyrics with his own and eventually created his own studio set up. Upon watching an endless amount of videos, Yoppa taught himself how to mix, edit and engineer his music.

He and YFA Maze collaborated on a track called “Cook it Right” and the duo amassed over 14,000 video views. Soon after his best friend introduced him to Frank Moyne and his artist vision became clear. Frank recognized Yoppa’s raw talent and was instantly intrigued by his style. Frank and Yoppa’s meeting would be his first step to becoming the artist he now dreams to be. With Moye’s guidance, Yoppa’s focus is to combine his love of hip hop with rock to create a unique sound and own the rockstar he is inside.