Lil Boat Sets Sail
By Teddy Soprano
The evolution of Rap music in the Millennial age is perhaps the perfect antidote
to launch the music career of Atlanta based rapper Lil Yachty. Polarizing and popular,
the rapper(19), born Miles McCollum, has become an unexpected voice of the youth.
The self-proclaimed, “King of the Teens”,
rocks cherry red braided hair with beads and
extravagant jewelry. In 2015 the rapper scored hits with the viral sensation,”One Night”,
and “Minnesota” off his EP Summer Songs. Followed by his debut Mixtape Lil Boat, in
march 2016. He is featured on the song, “Broccoli” by D.R.A.M, which has gone on to
sell over two million copies and secure the rapper his first number one hit. Yachty is a
very different rapper than we’ve seen in recent years. Maybe it is his signature
character like ab-lib, “Lil Boat!”, his sporadic auto-tune tendencies, or catchy cartoon
samples. Yachty writes about the typical desires of youth, the ultimate party, making it
through to the top, flexing on his haters, an over indulgence of groupies, status, etc. But
what is separating yachty from the pack of current rap creators is an unlikely persona,
that of a young man unconcerned with anyone’s opinion. In an interview with Baltimore's
92Q.com Yatchy expressed his view on external opinions, “I promote positivity, a lot of
people don't know that, because a lot of people don't know nothing about me, a lot of
people just assume”. In a field of artificial,beef starting, status- quo rappers, Yachty is a
direct counterpoint. He doesn't do drugs, or drink, openly talks about his struggle with
bullies, rejects the cling to classic rap, and promotes individuality. The young artist told
HOT 97’s Ebro, “I’m tryna be that someone to look up to, you know what I’m saying, that
role model”. It appears he is both representing something current and filling the void of
something missing in Hip-hop. The rapper signed a joint deal early this year with Quality
control studios capitol records and Motown records. He cites both Tyler the creator and
Kanye West as major influences, two artist who have mastered the art of being both
controversial and creatively bold. Could Lil Yachty be the Kesha of hip-hop? If in fact the
Millennial demographic is truly striving for a new image of hip-hop, free of social
constraints and political correctness, Yachty’s role as a positivity- boasting, champion of
the “weirdos”, is helping to usher that in. If the rapper continues to bark up the tree as a
representative for those angsty youths unheard, his boat just might sail for quite some
time.
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