Lil Yachty’s Second Act
Five years ago, the rapper garnered the title ‘King of the Teens’ — and a lot of criticism. Today, he’s a mentor and a mogul
Years ago, the rapper garnered criticism. Now, he’s a mentor and a mogul.
Until the pandemic, Lil Yachty never stopped to think about how quickly he became famous. “It was a full year from walking across the stage in high school to then I’m in this penthouse in midtown Atlanta, I got this G-wagon, put my mother in a house,” Yachty explains. “It’s a fast life. You not ever getting the chance to think about a lot of shit.”
Yachty’s 2016 hit “Minnesota,” which had the treacly energy of a nursery rhyme, earned the then-17-year-old the title “King of the Teens.” But since then, he’s become an elder statesman of a certain brand of young superstar — and something like the Gen Z answer to Diddy. He collaborated with brands like Nautica and Target; he appeared in the movie How High 2; he signed an endorsement deal with Sprite. Signees to his new label imprint, Concrete Boys, even get an iced-out chain.
Yachty’s upcoming mixtape, Michigan Boat Boy, is an ode to the state where a new crop of MCs is currently restitching the fabric of modern hiphop. It’s also a testament to one of the 23-year-old rapper’s greatest gifts: his ear for talent. “I started doing my own homework and digging,” Yachty explains. “And just started realizing there are no bad rappers in Michigan. Everyone knows how to rap.” For all of the criticisms of Yachty as a lyricist over the years — rap purists loudly disdained him early on — there’s a clear sense of progression on tracks like “Royal Rumble.” The wordplay is punchier, and the wisecracks are wittier. He fires off lines that fit perfectly alongside the Michigan rappers’ clever bars. He even manages to land a pun about The Grudge.
Yachty tends to describe rapping in terms of how much fun he’s having. “I just do what I want,” he says. “That’s what makes it fun. I’m not aiming for Number One on Billboard.” This attitude may explain why, early in his career, commentators latched onto what they saw as a lack of seriousness on his part. There was Joe Budden accusing Yachty of not understanding his record deal, and the fateful Ebro in the Morning interview in which Yachty fumbled through a freestyle over a Nas beat. In 2016, he told Billboard that he “honestly couldn’t name five songs” by Tupac or the Notorious B.I.G. An errant quote from his Ebro appearance, Yachty saying he was “not a rapper,” followed him for years. Never mind that he said it when he was 18. “I was different, and sometimes when people don’t understand, they turn away from it,” Yachty says. “Back in 2017, every day I woke up, my phone was blowing up from something new. Stupid shit.”
Born Miles Parks McCollum, Yachty embodies many of the ways the music industry has changed in the past decade. He rose to fame on the internet and commands attention with or without new music. Over Zoom in March, he’s calm and reserved, pausing intently before he responds to questions. The youthful exuberance is still there, though. At one point, his mom, who lives nearby, calls to ask what he wants from the grocery store. “I need PopTarts,” he says sweetly. “I really want them cinnamon-bun Pop-Tarts.”
He can afford lots of Pop-Tarts. Yachty reportedly made $13 million on endorsements in 2016 and 2017. (“Work hard, play hard,” he responds when asked about the number.) He spends more than $50,000 a month on various expenses, according to one recent headline. (“If anything I pay a little more. I have many assets and insurance, plus an elaborate payroll.”) He’s working on a Reese’s Puffs cereal collaboration, a film based on the card game Uno, and he was one of the first rappers to hop on the crypto craze, selling something called a “YachtyCoin” last December in an auction on the platform Nifty Gateway. According to a report from Coinbase, the token sold for $16,050. Yachty explains that when he was first discovered by Quality Control records founder Kevin “Coach K” Lee, “one of the biggest things he talked about was being a brand. Being bigger than just an artist — being a mogul.”
Yachty started Concrete Boys last year. One of the first signees was his childhood friend Draft Day, who offers one of the more exciting features on Yachty’s 2020 album, Lil Boat 3, on the cut “Demon Time.” “I feel old sometimes,” Yachty admits. “I feel old as fuck when someone’s popping and I don’t know who they are. Which is rare, because I be on my shit.”
Yachty is also on the forefront of a new realm of social platforms, namely Twitch and Discord, that engender more direct communication within communities. Yachty frequently talks directly to fans on both platforms, and in April he collaborated with Discord on “sound packs,” which allowed users to replace the app’s normal notifications with sounds he created.
Yachty says he’ll often talk on the phone with another young mogul: Tyler, the Creator. It’s important for him to keep that kind of company because “it’ll keep you on the right track.” For now, he’s readying the release of Michigan Boat Boy, which he says will be followed up by a project with the producers Working on Dying, as well as a collaborative project with Lil Tecca. Yachty has also been on something of a psychedelic-rock kick and says he’d like to bring some of these influences to his next album. “I met Andrew from MGMT, and I’ve been talking to a bunch of people. I met Kevin Parker, I’ve been talking to him. It’s just inspiring,” he said. “I got a bunch of side projects I’m going to drop before my next album. But what I’m trying to do on my next album, I’m trying to really take it there sonically.”
I ask Yachty where he sees himself in five years. “Hopefully, a really successful actor,” he responds. “And with a bangin’ eight pack. I’ll probably cut my hair up, maybe a little beard. Real sex-symbol shit, you know what I’m saying?” For Yachty, who opened the door to a new brand of celebrity rapper, it doesn’t register as wishful thinking. His enduring celebrity is proof of what’s possible with a solid flow and internet savvy. “I just want to do everything. Because I’ve realized I can,” Yachty explains. “I’ve learned the power I have. The only thing stopping me is me, for real.”
“I was different,” Yachty says of the barbs that rap purists leveled at him. “Every day my phone blew up from stupid shit.”