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First Look: Lil Yachty x Air Force 1

The current rap game's biggest sneakerhead receives his own collab. Releasing in 2024.

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Update November 15th, 2023:  Lil Yachty’s upcoming Air Force 1 Low collaboration has surfaced in first-look imagery.

Lil Yachty may be well within his rights to be self-appointed as the rap industry’s biggest sneakerhead. Having shown off his vastly expansive sneaker closet(s) on a number of occasions, the two-time Grammy nominee is taking one step closer to cementing his top status with a reported Nike Air Force 1 collaboration in the works.

As Yachty walked through the aisles of Cool Kicks LA, he picked up Travis Scott’s recent AF1 Low “Utopia” and mentioned that he has his own version of the iconic circa 1982 silhouette on the way. While Darnell Boat quickly swerved any and all follow-ups knowing he had already shared too much, it was later revealed that Yachty has been pushing to collaborate on his own shoe for seven years.

The Atlanta-born artist previously signed with Reebok as a brand ambassador in 2017 but as of recently, Yachty has been sporting swoosh-exclusive footwear; from snacking on a box of Fruity Pebbles at the Nike World Basketball Festival in NYC to recently showing off a pair of the CPFM x Nike Flea 2 alongside the Nike ACG Air Pumori Snowboard Boots.

In the midst of November, Yachty revealed a first look at his upcoming collaboration via the Close Friends feature on his Instagram. Showing off the upcoming collaboration while at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, the low top trim bears a supple tumbled white leather upper with dark navy contrasts that adorn the tread and inner lining. Shout outs to his Concrete Boys label are found throughout the box and along the heel overlay’s stickman figure while Yachty’s signature adlib “It’s Us” adorns both the cobranded tongue tabs and photo blue insoles.

The Lil Yachty x Nike Air Force 1 Low “Concrete Boys” is currently expected to release in 2024. Could there be a potential initial drop at ComplexCon? Stay tuned for future details.

Initial Info: lilyachty / coolkicksla

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Lil Yachty Previews His Nike Air Force 1 ‘Concrete Boys’ Collaboration

Ian servantes.

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Lil Yachty took to his Instagram “Close Friends” list Wednesday to reveal his forthcoming Nike Air Force 1 collaboration. Naturally, the images didn’t remain within his green list for long.

These alterations are only slight but are similar to Fat Joe’s Air Force 1 Low “Terror Squad” releases from earlier this year. Related Stories Teens Might Be Getting Tired of Nike Too: New Balance and Hoka Are Stealing Their Attention The Best Sneakers Releasing in April

Lil Yachty first revealed the existence of his own AF1 in a video from the sneaker resale shop Cool Kicks’ YouTube channel. There have been conflicting reports on if the sneaker will actually release to the public, with Complex saying it’ll be a friends and family exclusive and the reliable leak account @Ovrnunder saying it’ll drop in 2024.

The truth could be somewhere in the middle, with this version being F&F only and another variant designated for a wider release. More information should arrive in the coming months, but it wouldn’t be a surprise for Nike to release a Yachty collaboration based on how big of a year he’s had in 2023. He also played a major role in the rollout for Cactus Plant Flea Market’s recently released Nike Air Flea 2.

About the Author:

Ian Servantes is a Senior Trending News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.

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Lil Yachty’s Top 10 Sneaker Moments

• 24th August 2020

If you’d of said that SoundCloud rap would become its own genre, popularised by artists with names such as Lil Yachty ten years ago, you’d have probably been laughed at. However, the rap landscape has changed, with rappers becoming famous overnight if they’ve got a good following. We’ve seen in recent years just how popular SoundCloud rap has become, with a few leaders being at the forefront of it, one of which is the aforementioned artist, Lil Yachty.

Having turned 23-years-old just yesterday, Lil Yachty (real name Miles Parks McCollum) is without a doubt one of the new rap scenes golden boys. In five short years, Lil Yachty has gone from a relatively unknown SoundCloud rapper to working with the likes of Drake, DaBaby and A$AP Rocky. Whilst still being extremely young, it’s safe to say that Lil Yachty has already garnered a lot of fans from all over the world. In that time, he’s also built up a serious sneaker collection.

We’re going to take a look at ten of Lil Yachty’s best sneaker moments . You’ll see some shoes that even the biggest of footwear fans would struggle to get hold of, showing off Lil Yachty’s commitment to sneakers. Without further delay, let’s take a look at Lil Yachty’s best sneakers .

There is no denying that the Nike MAG is one of the most iconic sneakers in history. Having been shown during the 1985 classic Back to the Future II , the Nike MAG has remained a grail for sneakerheads for nearly 40 years. Designed by Tinker Hatfield, the futuristic silhouette was one of the standout moments in the film after Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, put his foot in the shoe and was amazed by its auto-lacing capability. Of course, Lil Yachty has got his pair.

Seen pictured above wearing the Nike MAG as well as a Supreme Gucci box logo T-shirt, you’d almost expect Lil Yachty to have a pair of these. Made using a special neoprene foam, the Nike MAG have all the details that the original pair did. Light up elements on the midsole, strap and heel tab all work together to make this as close a replica as the real deal. Most sneakerheads will know that these released in 2011 and 2016 as normal and auto-lacing versions respectively. This is definitely one of Lil Yachty’s best shoes.

Undefeated x Air Jordan 4

Few Jordans, let alone sneakers, on the planet are as coveted as the Undefeated x Air Jordan 4. Originally released in 2005, the Undefeated Air Jordan 4 has remained a grail for almost every sneakerhead on the planet. Limited to just 72 pairs, the Undefeated 4s have a story as good as the shoe itself. Auctioned off in limited sizes exclusively on the Undefeated site, these AJ4s have remained one of the most elusive pairs for sneakerheads to track down. When you’re Lil Yachty, that doesn’t apply to you.

Crafted in a premium olive suede and using black accents, the Undefeated Jordan 4 is one of the finest AJ4s ever made. Orange detailing behind the tongue, as well as a velcro tongue tag, set these apart from any other Jordan 4 collab. With a very limited retro back in 2017, many thought they’d finally get a chance to own a pair. However, it wasn’t to be. Over the past few years, the price of these has skyrocketed with some pairs selling for well over €20,000. That didn’t put Lil Yachty off from getting his pair though.

Supreme x Nike Uptempo “Red/White”

Supreme and Nike have one of the strongest relationships in sneakers. Since first joining forces back in 2002, the two have gone on to make more than 30 collaborations. Always known for choosing silhouettes that you might not think about, Supreme put its spin on the Uptempo back in 2017. As with any Supreme x Nike collab, it was an instant sellout. With Lil Yachty being a big fan of Supreme, it didn’t take long for him to get a pair.

Pictured above in the “Red/White” Supreme Uptempo , Lil Yachty shows off his love of the brand. Updated details include “Supreme” wrapped around the midsection, replacing the traditional “AIR.” Other subtle branding included “Supreme” across the insoles. Prices on these have skyrocketed in recent years, with the sneakers going from €300 to €1800 in just a few years. When you’re worth an estimated $11 million like Lil Yachty, you’re probably not checking the price tags.

Air Jordan V “Tokyo”

As one of the largest sports labels on the planet, Jordan has stores all over the world. Whenever it launches a new store, Jordan Brand will tend to create an exclusive shoe. From limited Jordan 1s in Paris to exclusive Air Jordan 3s in Seoul, Jordan Brand knows how to commemorate a new store. However, there are some sneakers which are more sought after than others. One of those is the Air Jordan 5 “Tokyo,” seen here on Lil Yachty’s feet.

The  Tokyo  Jordan 5, which was released back in 2011, is one of the most exclusive Jordan 5s on the planet. Released during the opening of a brand new Jordan store in Tokyo, the sneaker quickly sold out and hit the resell market. Featuring premium yellow suede, the Tokyo 5s include a “23” on the heel designed to look like a traditional  Japanese  character. Nowadays, the Tokyo 5s can sell for upwards of €5,000, making them a serious pair for Lil Yachty to have in his rotation.

Off-White™ x Nike Air Max 90 OG The Ten

Off-White™ and Nike truly changed the sneaker world when it was launched back in 2017. It helped cement Virgil Abloh as one of the most respected designers on the planet, securing him a job at Louis Vuitton and becoming a key figure in streetwear. Taking ten classic Nike silhouettes, Abloh applied his signature deconstructed across the range. There were some clear winners, from the Air Jordan 1 to the Air Presto, but one of our favourites was the Air Max 90 .

Constructed in a simple white colourway, the Off-White™ x Air Max 90 features an icy sole as well as some unique additions. An exposed foam tongue played off Abloh’s love of taking something apart to show the hidden details. This can also be seen on the heel tab which lifts up to show the style code of the shoe. Of course, it was the writing on the medial side, shoelaces and midsole that gave this shoe added edge, as well as the zip tag. These have remained one of the most sought after Off-White™ Air Max sneakers of all time.

Nike Air Force 1 VLONE

As one of A$AP Mob’s key figures, A$AP Bari had pushed VLONE at the time A$AP Rocky was making a name for himself. The organic growth, limited releases and highly popular VLONE label led to good things for Bari. When Nike announced it would be working with VLONE founder and fellow A$AP Mob member, A$AP Bari, the streetwear community was interested. After a lot of hype and constant teasers, the world finally got a look at the VLONE Nike Air Force 1 .

Made in a black tumbled leather, this premium take on the AF1 was a big hit. Contrasting orange detailing can be seen on the Swoosh as well as throughout the shoe. Messages such as “Every Living Creative Dies Alone” across the heels made these a statement sneaker. Of course, the devil was really in the detail on this shoe. A “V” tongue tag replaced the traditional Nike Air, as well as custom lace dubraes. Spotted on both Lil Yachty and Drake above, this is one of the best AF1s ever made.

adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 “Beluga”

When Kanye West announced he was leaving Nike, the sneaker world was truly in shock. After revealing plans to join adidas, the sneaker community was sceptical about how successful it would be. However, following on from two successful seasons in 2015, the scepticism faded away. In 2016, Kanye announced he would be debuting Yeezy Season 3 as well as organising a listening party for his album The Life of Pablo. Lil Yachty was in attendance, rocking an unseen adidas Yeezy sneaker.

Dubbed the adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 , the sneaker was one of the standout moments of the show. Sporting a grey Primeknit upper with a large orange stripe across the midsection, it was a perfectly balanced shoe. Wearing a set of Yeezy Season 3 cargos and a heavy-duty sweater, this look drew a lot of attention at Madison Square Garden. Lil Yachty’s Yeezy love hasn’t changed either, with the rapper sporting a number of exclusive pairs.

Off-White™ x Air Jordan 1 “Chicago”

When news of a collaboration between Off-White™ and Nike began circulating in 2017, the fashion world was interested. Though it would take nearly a year for us to get an official look at the collab, it was certainly worth the wait. Taking ten iconic Nike silhouettes, Virgil Abloh created something entirely new altogether. Of course, there were some standout models, but few sneakers were and still are as coveted as the Off-White™ x Air Jordan 1 “Chicago.”

Made famous by Peter C. Moore’s 1985 design, the “Chicago” colourway of the Air Jordan 1 is one of the most important sneakers in history. Abloh’s take on the sneaker saw him deconstruct the silhouette to its bare bones. However, it was the subtle details that made the Off-White™ Jordan 1 such a hit. Text across the medial side, shoelaces and midsole was something that had never been done before. Exposed foam around the collar, as well as a zip tie attached the laces, were unique features the sneaker world was not used to.

As you can imagine, these sold out almost instantly on release day. Over the past three years, the Off-White™ x Air Jordan 1 “Chicago” has become a grail for many. Now selling for nearly 30 times its original retail price, these are a serious pair for any collector.

Travis Scott x Air Jordan 4 “Olive”

Over the past few years, Travis Scott and Nike have created some of the most sought after sneakers in history. Back in 2018, La Flame revealed that he would be launching his own Air Jordan 4 inspired by his beloved Houston Oilers. However, after the launch, there were Travis Scott x Air Jordan 4 samples that many wanted to release. One of those was the “Olive.” As a friend of Travis Scott, Lil Yachty managed to secure his pair relatively easily.

Draped in a premium olive suede throughout, this 1 of 25 sample is one of the rarest on the planet. Waxed laces, as well as a translucent set of ankle straps and midsole, only add to the allure of this AJ4 . On the back, “Cactus Jack” and “Nike Air” branding can be seen. Even the insoles and tongue feature “Travis Scott” branding. Pairs rarely come up and when they do, they carry a high price tag. The last pair of these Jordan 4s sold for an eye-watering €35,000. We hope you’ve got deep pockets if you’re going after these.

Kanye West x A BATHING APE BAPESTA

There is no denying just how influential Kanye West is in the sneaker community. However, before creating sneakers with Nike, Louis Vuitton and adidas, he was a huge fan of BAPE. Founded by Nigo in 1993, BAPE has remained one of the most important brands in streetwear. As West’s fame grew, so did his love of all things BAPE. After wearing and owning nearly every single BAPESTA on the planet, Kanye finally got to design his own in 2007.

Taking inspiration from his College Dropout album, Kanye created one of the best BAPESTAs of all time. The clever combination of brown and sail with splashes of hot pink made this sneaker irresistible. However, it was the large bear across the rear panel that made these distinctly Kanye West. Over the past few years, these BAPE sneakers have gotten harder to track down in good condition. For Lil Yachty, however, he’s managed to get his pair secured.

Final Thoughts

So, guys, that concludes this piece on Lil Yachty’s sneakers and our favourite moments! As you can see, Lil Yachty’s sneaker collection is very diverse. Over the past few years, we’ve seen him in everything from rare Nike’s to OG Air Jordans. With the rapper only getting more and more famous, his collection is only growing. He may have just turned 23 but Lil Yachty’s shoe game is not to be underestimated. With age on his side, we can only guess that his collection is going to grow even more.

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Lil Yachty Is Big Mouth 's Biggest Fan

By Alex Shultz

Photography by Matteo Mobilio

Back in March, Lil Yachty bought a house—perhaps more aptly described as a mansion, since it easily fits ten of his friends—and then, in his words, he very much “didn’t do shit.” He was waiting to shoot How High 2 , the sequel to the 2001 stoner comedy featuring Redman and Method Man in which he’d nabbed a starring role. The wait dragged on, which meant far less touring than normal: two handfuls worth of shows in the last year or so, by Yachty’s estimate. In his defense, everyone deserves some downtime. Besides, “didn’t do shit” isn’t exactly accurate: the rapper dropped Lil Boat 2 in March, followed by Nuthin 2 Prove in October.

But after that comparatively restful period, Lil Yachty is back to the schedule that made him rich and famous and also sometimes exhausted. The self-appointed King of the Teens—who, after turning 20 last summer, wisely amended that title to King of the Youth—is running on two hours of sleep on this particular Friday afternoon. A day earlier, he was in New York. Then he flew back to Atlanta, where he performed at the Boiler Room until the wee hours of the morning, before taking a flight back to New York.

With that travel itinerary in mind (including a trip in which Yachty sat next to Samuel L. Jackson), it’s easy to understand why he needs a snack—some Haribo gummies today—while he chats with me. And it makes his decision to crank Tame Impala and Bon Iver louder and louder in between some subtle accessory changes for his GQ photoshoot slightly more defensible. Whatever it takes to keep Lil Boat afloat, which, as it turns out, also includes talking about Big Mouth , pizza, acting, politics, and yes, hip hop.

GQ: Did Samuel L. Jackson know who you were when you sat next to him on that flight? Lil Yachty: I don’t know. I didn’t look at him. I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, you know? I sat next to him for two hours and I just pretended like I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t make any faces or anything.

You got high for How High 2 after not smoking since high school. Did you have to smoke in preparation for being high while acting? Only one time.

So you were pretty much just going to set saying, “We’ll see what happens here.” Yeah, it was a bad idea. We couldn’t record because I was so goofy. I was laughing, I couldn’t say my lines right. I was a fool. Everything was so funny. I was crying.

What did you do to fill your days when you were waiting for production to start? Look for something to watch on Netflix and go to the studio. That’s all I do. I don’t do shit. I be trying to find shit to do.

On the Netflix front: You like Big Mouth , right? I love Big Mouth .

Who’s your favorite character on that show? That’s the best question I’ve ever been asked. I think from the second season, that protégé hormone monster, the baby one that’s always fucking up. Or, I can’t remember her name, but the white chick who was dating [Andrew Glouberman, voiced by John Mulaney].

What did you think of Coach Steve’s character arc this season? Coach Steve! I love Coach Steve. Yo, Coach Steve’s hormone monster is so good too. There are so many good characters. I love when he says, “You got it, you’re the man Coach Steve.”

Where does that show rank for you in terms of comedies? It’s up there. I loved the second season. So, so, so funny. I’m about to go watch it again. So many personalities and characters. But it wasn’t like that for me. I wasn’t horny growing up. I didn’t get those feelings until I was about to graduate.

It wasn’t relatable for you? Because for a lot of people, that show is very relatable. I didn’t start feeling those type of ways until like 11th grade.

So you weren’t chasing after girls at all in middle school? Noooo. I was playing video games and watching wrestling.

They also introduced the Shame Monster in season two. Did you ever experience that festering level of shame that teenagers feel? No, not really. I wasn’t doing those type of things. I didn’t care about kissing or looking at boobs until high school. I wasn’t watching porn or any of that stuff in middle school.

I watched the Complex video of your shoe collection . Two stuck out to me—you have the “Air Seinfelds” and then you have Special Edition Scrubs Nikes. Did you watch both of those shows or did you just like the shoes? Seinfeld used to be my favorite show. But I’ve never seen Scrubs . Is that a funny show?

Yeah, I’d say so. So why’d you get the Scrubs shoes? I mean, they were rare.

I know you’ve become a little more outspoken about politics and shouted out Stacey Abrams on Instagram a few times. When did you start looking more into her candidacy? My father and my manager introduced me to her and what she’s about.

What was it about her that stuck out to you? Well I mean, the other side [Republican candidate Brian Kemp], that nigga is weird. That dude is crazy.

You live with a bunch of your friends now. Did you have to make tough decisions about who got into your house? Nah, there was room for all my friends. It seems like every time I’ve moved places, I’ve added more people. At first it was four of us, and by the end of that penthouse it became five, then I moved to another penthouse and it became six, then seven, then eight, and then I bought a house. And then it became nine, ten, and at one point it was 11. Somebody left so now it’s ten.

What sort of house rules do you enforce? At first I was enforcing a house rule that I didn’t want any girls there. But I used to have girls over so I couldn’t really enforce that. I mostly just want them to take out the trash and shit. I’ll pay for everything, just take out the trash. That’s about it. Don’t have a dirty kitchen. Clean up after yourself.

You just turned 21, but I understand for your 18th birthday you had a party at Cicis. Take me through the Lil Yachty buffet situation at Cicis, a place I have very fond memories of from my high school days in Texas. Pepperoni, macaroni and cheese pizza, and then I’m going straight to the brownies with the icing on top, that pizza with the chocolate drizzle and shit all over it. Then some cinnamon buns.

You tried out a pizza popup. Would you buy a Cicis? I need to. I gotta look into that. I want to open my own pizza place. I got to get into that stuff. I want to do a lot of things that I always say I want to do. I’ve just got to start doing them.

On a different subject: There’s adjusting to being in the public eye, and then there’s the press tour adjustment, where, especially in hip hop, you’ve gotta do the radio show appearances. Ugh, so many.

I know armchair analysis can be annoying, but I saw you on the Angie Martinez show recently, and you looked comfortable, like you were genuinely having a good time. It’s not that you looked uncomfortable back in 2016, but some of those interviews were obviously a little more contentious. It’s all about the interviewer, though. That makes or breaks the interview.

For sure. But on Summer Songs 2 in 2016 you had “For Hot 97.” You were engaging with that back-and-forth a little more. You just put out an album called Nuthin 2 Prove , so it seems like you’re trying to indicate you’re in a different place. Am I wrong? I don’t give a fuck no more. I’ve just been through so fucking much, man. I got over it and fed up with it. I stopped giving a fuck, to be honest. There are a lot of radio personalities that I don’t care to go see. But then there are ones that I do like. I love Angie Martinez. She’s a sweetheart.

You also told Angie that your mom talked to you all the time about having a plan for the future. You’re obviously only 21, but are you thinking about the next step? Do you already have that mapped out? Acting is where I want to be, so I’m going to try to make that my thing like I made rapping my thing. Everything takes work and time, but we’re going to get there.

Does that mean you’re giving up on music right now? No, no, of course not. But acting was so fun when I shot this movie, and I really want to see if I can flourish. It’s been a dream of mine.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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With his debut mixtape, ‘Lil Boat,’ Lil Yachty fully shed the mumble rap label, transitioning from SoundCloud sensation to major label star.

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Lil Yachty’s debut mixtape, Lil Boat , is one of the pre-eminent releases of the SoundCloud era. Released on March 9, 2016, it made Lil Yachty a star, spawned multiple hits, and further legitimized the DIY-style rap that emerged at the beginning of the decade.

The Atlanta MC entered the crowded rapper-singer fray with a work that’s split into two distinct sides, seeing him grapple with dueling elements of his personality and career. The first half of Lil Boat sees Yachty flex his flow, while the second half finds him crooning in AutoTune. That may be a slightly reductive way to look at the collection (in reality, he does both throughout), but there’s certainly a kind of TI vs TIP split-personality concept to the whole affair. Yachty uses his style to demarcate who is who, and, despite his glee throughout, Lil Boat is a surprisingly subtle work for the chaotic time it represents.

Listen to the best of Lil Yachty on Apple Music and Spotify.

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Keith leblanc, drummer and nine inch nails producer, dies at 70, a standout work.

Yachty’s debut mixtape is a standout work for the usual reasons – great name, great cover, and two singles that will forever be associated with Yachty and the era from which he emerged: “One Night” and “Minnesota.”

As a title, Lil Boat was perfect. Serving two purposes at once, it created a fitting alt.moniker for the MC while helping a lot of people to pronounce his name (did you actually say it like “yacht”?). Nautical luxury isn’t the most commonly-evoked lifestyle in hip-hop (outside of Puffy), so that theme alone was enough to put Yachty in his own lane. And then there’s the artwork: not a yacht, barely even a boat; it’s basically a little wooden dinghy. Beautifully composed, the image looks like a classical painting, bordered in a red that matches Yachty’s hair. It’s almost Americana in tone – though Yachty’s music is anything but.

All hail “King Of The Youth”

Yachty may be poised and confident on that cover, but he’s also lost in the gloom at sea – an apt metaphor for the musical style he was leading. While not traditional in any sense, Yachty is honest with his emotions in a way that younger generations have always been, and Lil Boat found him attempting to navigate his way through the emotionally turbulent years of his late youth. Shortly after his breakout, Yachty would declare himself “King Of Teens” or, alternatively, “King Of The Youth.” This might have sounded ridiculous to adults who weren’t even sure how to pronounce his name, but those adults were no longer in charge. Lil Yachty was not part of some hip-hop assembly line; like other DIY pioneers before him, Yachty and his crew were making these songs at home, often in a matter of minutes.

Outside of the Vikings football team and Ice Cube ’s “What Can I Do?,” Minnesota doesn’t get name-checked very often in hip-hop. Simply naming a track after a state was seemingly in line with the aforementioned “half-Americana, half trolling” theme of Lil Boat – but, of course, the song isn’t actually about Minnesota. It’s more of a celebration of Lil Yachty’s arrival on the scene. The draw and significance of having both Quavo and Young Thug on a song in 2016 is hard to overstate, and their guest appearances turned “Minnesota” into a certified-gold hit. At the time, Quavo was just months away from releasing “Bad And Boujee,” while Thug was fresh off Barter 6 and in the middle of his Slime Season run. Together, he and Yachty appeared at Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 3 fashion show, on February 11, where The Life Of Pablo received its public unveiling. Just two days after releasing his debut mixtape, Yachty was at the epicenter of one of hip-hop’s biggest cultural shifts.

Unprecedented moves

Lil Boat was big enough that Burberry Perry – Yachty’s right-hand man at the time and the producer behind most of the mixtape – came under pressure from the fashion label Burberry and was forced to change his name. That wasn’t exactly an unprecedented move, but the speed with which it happened certainly was. It’s not often that an internationally renowned fashion house serves a cease-and-desist to a kid who got famous on the internet and was barely old enough to vote.

Perry’s production on Lil Boat ’s lead single, “One Night’ (Yachty’s best-known song to date), guided the way for the rest of the collection. Even the beats he didn’t produce fall right in line, all cascading bells, and whistles alongside keys that let you hear Yachty’s grin throughout.

Lil Yachty’s emergence closely resembles that of the Odd Future collective, who, years earlier, more or less launched DIY rap on the internet (depending on how you view Lil B’s rise to fame). Seemingly overnight, Yachty was partnering with Urban Outfitters and the aptly titled Nautica clothing brand. His rapid ascent would have sounded like fan fiction just a few years earlier but, after his breakout, many artists began following his path to fame on a regular basis.

Having hit it big in such a short space of time, Yachty wasn’t about to slow down. He went on to guest (and absolutely steal the show) on “Broccoli,” a DRAM song with a Yachty-perfect beat. As one of the stars in Quality Control ’s shining roster, Yachty was operating alongside some of the biggest acts in hip-hop. With Lil Boat, he fully shed the “mumble rap” label, completing the transition from SoundCloud sensation to major label star.

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Lil Yachty Is Out to Claim What He Rightfully Deserves Ahead of Lil Boat 3 Album

Respect My Conglomerate Four years in the school of hard knocks has taught Lil Yachty that credit isn’t always given where it’s due. Now the Atlanta rapper is out to claim what he rightfully deserves. Words: Georgette Cline Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of XXL Magazine, on stands now.

Based on the quarter-sized 10.5 carat diamond sailboat earrings dangling from Lil Yachty ’s ears on this February morning in New York City, diamonds aren’t just a girl’s best friend. The $98,000 jewelry the Atlanta rapper copped from jeweler Wafi is certainly on brand for Yachty, who is at a yoga studio around the corner from the Big Apple’s famed Diamond District. But today, instead of dropping racks on racks on racks on another iced-out chain or bracelet, Yachty is sweating his ass off down the street. He’s inside an 80-degree heated room at AtthenaYoga learning how to be a yogi.

“I feel like I’m begging for mercy,” the 22-year-old artist exclaims while he’s positioned on a red (his favorite color) mat with his arms out in front of him on the floor, head down and legs tucked under his body. Atthena Breitton, his instructor for the private class, informs Yachty, dressed in black Nike Pro workout gear, that she’ll be getting him into “a lot of fun shapes that are different.”

The “One Night” rhymer’s commentary as he goes from sinking his belly (“You giving me arch lessons right now”) to engaging his core while lifting his knees (“I’m shaking, what the fuck?”) to trying a plank pose (“This some punishment shit”) is comical, yet endearing. Don’t underestimate Lil Boat’s abilities. For a guy who eats pizza daily and never consumes fruits or vegetables, hot yoga is pushing himself to the limit, but he’s holding it down. “You’re pulling me apart like pizza dough,” says Yachty, a fitting response as he likens his favorite food to Breitton maneuvering his limbs into yoga poses.

Downward-Facing Dog is up next. “Think of a dog making a little mountain pose with its body,” instructs Breitton. “Why would a dog do that?” Yachty utters, seemingly irked at the thought. The groans grow louder, the poses get more technical and the heat is stifling. “Are you stressed about your upcoming album?” the instructor inquires, to which Yachty can’t even concentrate to give a valid response. “I don’t know right now,” he replies. “It’s a lot.”

Two hours later after picking up $12,000 worth of Jean Paul Gaultier, Yohji Yamamoto and Walter Van Beirendonck clothing at Middleman Instagram boutique, Yachty is seated inside the lounge area at Capital Records Midtown Manhattan offices. Domino’s pizza, assistant Maddy, videographer Ari and manager Kevin “Coach K” Lee, cofounder of Quality Control Music to which Yachty is signed, surround him. He’s no longer sweaty from his hot yoga adventure, and confesses it did nothing to relax him.

Yachty’s about to play “Oprah’s Bank Account” featuring Drake and DaBaby , the official first single from his upcoming fourth studio album, Lil Boat 3 , due this spring. The project’s cover will feature a black-and-white photo of a 2-year-old little Yachty that his father snapped. The album is scheduled to officially culminate the LB series.

Four years ago, Yachty, born Miles McCollum, was an 18-year-old neophyte just entering the rap game with his debut mixtape, Lil Boat . He crafted colorful, convivial bops like his platinum-selling “One Night” and gold-certified “Minnesota,” became a poster child for mumble rap—though he’ll argue against the designation when applied to him—introduced the masses to the motley crew known as the Sailing Team and reigned as the “King of Teens” with his succinct, monotonous delivery and straight-edge tendencies. Whether it was online, in a Sprite commercial or a Target ad on TV, his signature red hair and beaded braids were seemingly everywhere.

And the music kept flooding in, as constant as the crimson on his head. 2016 also welcomed Yachty’s Summer Songs 2 mixtape , plus projects Big Boat and The Lost Files with Digital Nas . The following year ushered in his debut album, Teenage Emotions , Yachty’s earnest attempt at a commercial project and highest-charting effort, coming in at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. In 2018, he was busy with his sophomore LP, Lil Boat 2 , the Birthday Mix 3.0 , his stellar writing credits on City Girls’ platinum-selling, Earl on the Beat-produced banger “Act Up” and his Nuthin’ 2 Prove opus, the latter of which kicked off with the minacious ode “Gimmie My Respect”: “Niggas gon’ keep forgetting about who goddamn started this muhfuckin’ new wave shit, bruh/Come on, man, gimme my respect, bitch.”

Despite the work put in and the accolades, there are still people that think Lil Yachty can’t rap. His personal statement for the last two years has been apparent across social media: he’s been vocal about his ability to out-rap 75 percent of the new generation, feels slept-on but has nothing to prove. For his own benefit, last year, he took a step back from the spotlight and releasing music except for the SoundCloud freestyle “Go Krazy, Go Stupid” and his collaborative work on the Quality Control: Control the Streets, Vol. 2 compilation. Caliginous Boat, as he describes himself, was in full effect. “I didn’t put any music out,” recalls Yachty, who cites Lil B, Kid Cudi, Soulja Boy and Kanye West as artists who made him want to rap on the come up while Coldplay is his favorite band. “I just was real low-key. So, it’s just like being real low-key, just under the radar, you know what I mean? That’s what I meant by that.” Like a senior in high school preparing to head into his first year of college, Yachty hunkered down.

The last year was the longest stretch of time he’s gone without dropping consistent music, an occurrence he promises won’t happen again. Relevancy is key. Though time spent out of the public eye didn’t mean he was sitting idle. For roughly two years, Yachty was perfecting Lil Boat 3 , an album he recorded four times over before submitting the final effort to the label in early 2020. “I kept going through so many different phases of creativity,” Yachty admits. Black Hair Boat being one of them. Gone is the bright-red head full of hair he was once synonymous with; now bloodshot tips are all that remain.

The new ’do is reflective of taking it back to the basics. No so-called gimmicks, so the focus is strictly on the bars. His recent feature run is indicative of this: Sada Baby’s 30 Roc-produced “SB5,” Duke Deuce’s “Crunk Ain’t Dead Mob” with Lil Thad, Tadoe’s “Get It Bussin” and “Speed Me Up” with Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign and Sueco The Child, to name a few. Each track reflects Yachty’s punchy brand of lyrical wizardry, clever couplets included.

“Give me my credit,” demands Yachty, referring to both his rhymes and his ’fits. “I feel like I’m slept-on in general, just period. I’m not saying I’m the best, you know, I never can say I’m the best rapper, or even if I was best-dressed. But I do this shit. For real. It don’t break me. I’m still here… That’s ’cause I’m really a fly nigga. I don’t get enough credit for it. I feel like I’m one of the best-dressed rappers in the rap game. And no one gives me any credit. And it upsets me. Not even upsetting, but it upsets me. It’s like, yeah, y’all just playing with me right now. I don’t have no stylist for real.”

As he leans back on the couch in the Capitol Records lounge, (Capitol is QC’s parent company) dressed in a vintage hunter green and mustard Nike letterman jacket decorated with The Beverly Hillbillies logo, vintage Evisu denim jeans stitched with dice, chocolate brown Air Force 2s and a green-and-white trucker hat, it’s clear Yachty’s style is fresh, but his new music is what’s on the agenda right now. Yachty’s new single “Oprah’s Bank Account,” produced by his childhood friend Earl on the Beat, is bittersweet as it signals the beginning of the end of the Lil Boat series. Once Yachty presses play on the melodic, uptempo track, it’s apparent how the song got its title. “Diamond in the rough, you look as good as Oprah’s bank account,” he raps.

Drake hopped on the beat after Yachty previewed the song on his Finsta page (Boat's secondary private Instagram account) late last year. DaBaby linked with Lil Boat in an Atlanta studio last October to add his signature sound. “It was fire,” Earl on the Beat remembers of DaBaby’s studio session. “They got in. We were there, we was chillin’. DaBaby came in, he was cool. Had a blunt. The blunt started going, started recording.”

According to Earl, he has roughly nine songs he produced on Yachty’s new album, which will feature throwback 2016 melodies the rapper built his career on. Overall, Yachty describes Lil Boat 3 as an uptempo experience featuring further production from Pi’erre Bourne, 30 Roc and MitchGoneMad. “I just hope it provides good tunes for the youth,” Yachty says. After the album's spring release, Yachty already has another project lined up to release around his birthday, Aug. 23. “ End of the Summer ,” he reveals of the tentative title. “And just make it a summer feel.” And then there’s a string of collab projects he has hopes for with three producers he knows all too well: 30 Roc, Earl and Pi’erre, the latter of whom Yachty would like to join forces with as an artist, too. “I’m a big fan of his music,” Yachty affirms.

2020 isn’t just solely about witnessing Lil Yachty on the mic either. He’s got goals outside the booth. “I love acting,” he admits. “It’s really cool.” With six official projects ranging from mixtapes to albums currently under his belt, Yachty sees a future in which he graduates from hip-hop. “I don’t plan on being a rapper forever.” He’s already landed roles as the voice of Green Lantern in the 2018 animated film Teen Titans! Go to the Movies and the 2019 comedy How High 2 , in which he plays a teen stoner named Roger who discovers a secret strain of weed. Now he has two more movies and a spot in a television show on the way; one of the three is based on his life story. He’s hush on any further details. Yachty’s dream role? To play a killer similar to the character Rico in Paid in Full . Rappers-turned-actors like Will Smith also inspire him and prove making the jump to a successful acting career is possible.

Watching Yachty land TV and movie gigs in real time motivates Earl, who’s known the Grammy Award-nominated artist since they were 7 years old growing up in ATL. “This nigga’s a star,” Earl maintains. “When you see somebody that you actually grew up with, that you actually go to school with, that you actually be doing day to day shit with go and do this shit... you just be like, damn, that’s fire. And you get inspired. Man, my nigga is a businessman, bro. This nigga is a jack of all trades. This nigga really do this shit.”

Coach K has also seen Yachty’s progression firsthand, having signed the rapper at the age of 18, shortly after Yachty left Alabama State University, where he attended for two months. “It’s crazy, we signed Yachty in 2016,” Coach K reflects. “In school, it’s like four years of high school and then you graduate and go to college. This last year, he’s taking the time, it’s like his senior year in high school. And it’s like he’s been preparing himself to get ready for college, you know? When you get ready to go to college, it’s like you’re on your own, a lot of things start changing, you’re kinda in between from here to there. I think it’s when he took this year out, you know, in really just discovering [himself]. There’s a lot of things he did in the film industry and now I think that’s what brung everything back to completion. We worked this [ Lil Boat 3 ] album for the last year-and-a-half. I’ve seen him turn me in four albums… You never want to get in the way of the artist and their process… I think it’s in those four years, he’s had time to grow up and figure out who he is. He was the ‘King of the Teens’ when we first signed him, he’s still young as hell, you know? It’s that transition. He’s come into himself.”

And moved up in tax brackets, too. Just three years shy of hitting 25, Lil Yachty is a self-proclaimed millionaire. Buying a $400 Denim Tears Black Jesus blanket as he randomly scrolls through Instagram is as standard as eating pizza every day. In Yachty’s world, both are the norm. More money may bring more problems depending on who you ask, but when you’ve been able to keep the same circle of friends since kindergarten like Yachty has, life is good. His reality will be even better once Lil Boat 3 arrives. “It’s a heavy-hitting album,” he promises. “I’m ready to drop. My god. I want to put it out so bad.” Coach K believes this project will further solidify Lil Yachty as not only a trendsetter who breaks barriers, but an artist deserving of his credit. “I’ma get my respect before I’m done,” Yachty adds. “I’ma get it.”

See Exclusive Photos From Lil Yachty's XXL Magazine Spring Issue 

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Lil yachty wants to join the big baller brand family.

By Mark Braboy

Mark Braboy

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Lil Yachty and Complex’s Joe La Puma linked up at Flight Club in Los Angeles for another installment of Sneaker Shopping — where the self-proclaimed “King of the Teens” drafts himself as the newest member of the Big Baller Brand franchise (Lonzo apparently “just doesn’t know it yet”).

WATCH: Lil Yachty Wants To Stay “Forever Young” (Video)

While the two discussed everything from fake kicks, hypebeast-ism, and Nike Mags, Yachty also saluted the BBB franchise and playfully claimed that he would be the “fourth Ball” in basketball’s new first family.

“I’m a Big Baller fan,” said Yachty. “Shouts to the Ball family. I’m the fourth Ball. Shout outs to Lonzo Ball . Shout out to pops. I’m Yachty Ball, the fourth one, they just don’t know it yet. Big Baller Brand, ya feel me?”

The “Minnesota” rapper then talked about turning down a Reebok deal where the boat shoes they presented to him were apparently not to his liking.

“Reebok, it’s a boat shoe. Oh my god, I didn’t like it. But I didn’t like it. I just didn’t like the idea of the shoe. I hate boat shoes. And it was like a weird boat shoe. There were, like, beads handing and it was weird. I told them I really love Reebok, so they wanted to do something,” he explained.

READ: Michael Jordan Responds To LaVar Ball’s Claim That He Could Beat Him 1-On-1

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Lil Yachty On His Big Rock Pivot: ‘F-ck Any of the Albums I Dropped Before This One’

With his adventurous, psychedelic new album, 'Let's Start Here,' he's left mumble rap behind — and finally created a project he's proud of.

By Lyndsey Havens

Lyndsey Havens

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Lil Yachty, presented by Doritos, will perform at Billboard Presents The Stage at SXSW on March 16 .

Lil Yachty: Photos From the Billboard Cover Shoot

Someone has sparked a blunt in the planetarium.

It may be a school night, but no one has come to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., to learn. Instead, the hundreds of fans packed into the domed theater on Jan. 26 have come to hear Lil Yachty’s latest album as he intended: straight through — and with an open mind. Or, as Yachty says with a mischievous smile: “I hope y’all took some sh-t.”

For the next 57 minutes and 16 seconds, graphics of exploding spaceships, green giraffes and a quiet road through Joshua Tree National Park accompany Yachty’s sonically divergent — and at this point, unreleased — fifth album, Let’s Start Here . For a psychedelic rock project that plays like one long song, the visual aids not only help attendees embrace the bizarre, but also function as a road map for Yachty’s far-out trip, signaling that there is, in fact, a tracklist.

It’s a night the artist has arguably been waiting for his whole career — to finally release an album he feels proud of. An album that was, he says, made “from scratch” with all live instrumentation. An album that opens with a nearly seven-minute opus, “the BLACK seminole.,” that he claims he had to fight most of his collaborative team to keep as one, not two songs. An album that, unlike his others, has few features and is instead rich with co-writers like Mac DeMarco, Nick Hakim, Alex G and members of MGMT, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Chairlift. An album he believes will finally earn him the respect and recognition he has always sought.

Sitting in a Brooklyn studio in East Williamsburg not far from where he made most of Let’s Start Here in neighboring Greenpoint, it’s clear he has been waiting to talk about this project in depth for some time. Yachty is an open book, willing to answer anything — and share any opinion. (Especially on the slice of pizza he has been brought, which he declares “tastes like ass.”) Perhaps his most controversial take at the moment? “F-ck any of the albums I dropped before this one.”

His desire to move on from his past is understandable. When Yachty entered the industry in his mid-teens with his 2016 major-label debut, the Lil Boat mixtape, featuring the breakout hit “One Night,” he found that along with fame came sailing the internet’s choppy waters. Skeptics often took him to task for not knowing — or caring, maybe — about rap’s roots, and he never shied away from sharing hot takes on Twitter. With his willingness and ability to straddle pop and hip-hop, Yachty produced music he once called “bubble-gum trap” (he has since denounced that phrase) that polarized audiences and critics. Meanwhile, his nonchalant delivery got him labeled as a mumble rapper — another identifier he was never fond of because it felt dismissive of his talent.

“There’s a lot of kids who haven’t heard any of my references,” he continues. “They don’t know anything about Bon Iver or Pink Floyd or Black Sabbath or James Brown. I wanted to show people a different side of me — and that I can do anything, most importantly.”

Let’s Start Here is proof. Growing up in Atlanta, the artist born Miles McCollum was heavily influenced by his father, a photographer who introduced him to all kinds of sounds. Yachty, once easily identifiable by his bright red braids, found early success by posting songs like “One Night” to SoundCloud, catching the attention of Kevin “Coach K” Lee, co-founder/COO of Quality Control Music, now home to Migos, Lil Baby and City Girls. In 2015, Coach K began managing Yachty, who in summer 2016 signed a joint-venture deal with Motown, Capitol Records and Quality Control.

“Yachty was me when I was 18 years old, when I signed him. He was actually me,” says Coach K today. (In 2021, Adam Kluger, whose clients include Bhad Bhabie, began co-managing Yachty.) “All the eclectic, different things, we shared that with each other. He had been wanting to make this album from the first day we signed him. But you know — coming as a hip-hop artist, you have to play the game.”

Yachty played it well. To date, he has charted 17 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 , including two top 10 hits for his features on DRAM’s melodic 2016 smash “Broccoli” and Kyle’s 2017 pop-rap track “iSpy.” His third-highest-charting entry arrived unexpectedly last year: the 93-second “Poland,” a track Yachty recorded in about 10 minutes where his warbly vocals more closely resemble singing than rapping. ( Let’s Start Here collaborator SADPONY saw “Poland” as a temperature check that proved “people are going to like this Yachty.”)

Beginning with 2016’s Lil Boat mixtape, all eight of Yachty’s major-label-released albums and mixtapes have charted on the Billboard 200 . Three have entered the top 10, including Let’s Start Here , which debuted and peaked at No. 9. And while Yachty has only scored one No. 1 album before ( Teenage Emotions topped Rap Album Sales), Let’s Start Here debuted atop three genre charts: Top Rock & Alternative Albums , Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums .

“It feels good to know that people in that world received this so well,” says Motown Records vp of A&R Gelareh Rouzbehani. “I think it’s a testament to Yachty going in and saying, ‘F-ck what everyone thinks. I’m going to create something that I’ve always wanted to make — and let us hope the world f-cking loves it.’ ”

Yet despite Let’s Start Here ’s many high-profile supporters, some longtime detractors and fans alike were quick to criticize certain aspects of it, from its art — Yachty quote-tweeted one remark , succinctly replying, “shut up” — to the music itself. Once again, he found himself facing another tidal wave of discourse. But this time, he was ready to ride it. “This release,” Kluger says, “gave him a lot of confidence.”

“I was always kind of nervous to put out music, but now I’m on some other sh-t,” Yachty says. “It was a lot of self-assessing and being very real about not being happy with where I was musically, knowing I’m better than where I am. Because the sh-t I was making did not add up to the sh-t I listened to.

“I just wanted more,” he continues. “I want to be remembered. I want to be respected.”

Last spring, Lil Yachty gathered his family, collaborators and team at famed Texas studio complex Sonic Ranch.

“I remember I got there at night and drove down because this place is like 30 miles outside El Paso,” Coach K says. “I walked in the room and just saw all these instruments and sh-t, and the vibe was just so ill. And I just started smiling. All the producers were in the room, his assistant, his dad. Yachty comes in, puts the album on. We got to the second song, and I told everybody, ‘Stop the music.’ I walked over to him and just said, ‘Man, give me a hug.’ I was like, ‘Yachty, I am so proud of you.’ He came into the game bold, but [to make] this album, you have to be very bold. And to know that he finally did it, it was overwhelming.”

SADPONY (aka Jeremiah Raisen) — who executive-produced Let’s Start Here and, in doing so, spent nearly eight straight months with Yachty — says the time at Sonic Ranch was the perfect way to cap off the months of tunnel vision required while making the album in Brooklyn. “That was new alone,” says Yachty. “I’ve recorded every album in Atlanta at [Quality Control]. That was the first time I recorded away from home. First time I recorded with a new engineer,” Miles B.A. Robinson, a Saddle Creek artist.

Yachty couldn’t wait to put it out, and says he turned it in “a long time ago. I think it was just label sh-t and trying to figure out the right time to release it.” For Coach K, it was imperative to have the physical product ready on release date, given that Yachty had made “an experience” of an album. And lately, most pressing plants have an average turnaround time of six to eight months.

Fans, however, were impatient. On Christmas, one month before Let’s Start Here would arrive, the album leaked online. It was dubbed Sonic Ranch . “Everyone was home with their families, so no one could pull it off the internet,” recalls Yachty. “That was really depressing and frustrating.”

Then, weeks later, the album art, tracklist and release date also leaked. “My label made a mistake and sent preorders to Amazon too early, and [the site] posted it,” Yachty says. “So I wasn’t able to do the actual rollout for my album that I wanted to. Nothing was a secret anymore. It was all out. I had a whole plan that I had to cancel.” He says the biggest loss was various videos he made to introduce and contextualize the project, all of which “were really weird … [But] I wasn’t introducing it anymore. People already knew.” Only one, called “Department of Mental Tranquility,” made it out, just days before the album.

Yachty says he wasn’t necessarily seeking a mental escape before making Let’s Start Here , but confesses that acid gave him one anyway. “I guess maybe the music went along with it,” he says. The album title changed four or five times, he says, from Momentary Bliss (“It was meant to take you away from reality … where you’re truly listening”) to 180 Degrees (“Because it’s the complete opposite of anything I’ve ever done, but people were like, ‘It’s too on the nose’ ”) to, ultimately, Let’s Start Here — the best way, he decided, to succinctly summarize where he was as an artist: a seven-year veteran, but at 25 years old, still eager to begin a new chapter.

Taking inspiration from Dark Side , Yachty relied on three women’s voices throughout the album, enlisting Fousheé, Justine Skye and Diana Gordon. Otherwise, guest vocals are spare. Daniel Caesar features on album closer “Reach the Sunshine.,” while the late Bob Ross (of The Joy of Painting fame) has a historic posthumous feature on “We Saw the Sun!”

Rouzbehani tells Billboard that Ross’ estate declined Yachty’s request at first: “I think a big concern of theirs was that Yachty is known as a rapper, and Bob Ross and his brand are very clean. They didn’t want to associate with anything explicit.” But Yachty was adamant, and Rouzbehani played the track for Ross’ team and also sent the entire album’s lyrics to set the group at ease. “With a lot of back-and-forth, we got the call,” she says. “Yachty is the first artist that has gotten a Bob Ross clearance in history.”

From the start, Coach K believed Let’s Start Here would open lots of doors for Yachty — and ultimately, other artists, too. Questlove may have said it best, posting the album art on Instagram with a lengthy caption that read in part: “this lp might be the most surprising transition of any music career I’ve witnessed in a min, especially under the umbrella of hip hop … Sh-t like this (envelope pushing) got me hyped about music’s future.”

Recently, Lil Yachty held auditions for an all-women touring band. “It was an experience for like Simon Cowell or Randy [Jackson],” he says, offering a simple explanation for the choice: “In my life, women are superheroes.”

And according to Yachty, pulling off his show will take superhuman strength: “Because the show has to match the album. It has to be big.” As eager as he was to release Let’s Start Here , he’s even more antsy to perform it live — but planning a tour, he says, required gauging the reaction to it. “This is so new for me, and to be quite honest with you, the label [didn’t] know how [the album] would do,” he says. “Also, I haven’t dropped an album in like three years. So we don’t even know how to plan a tour right now because it has been so long and my music is so different.”

While Yachty’s last full-length studio album, Lil Boat 3 , arrived in 2020, he released the Michigan Boy Boat mixtape in 2021, a project as reverential of the state’s flourishing hip-hop scenes in Detroit and Flint as Let’s Start Here is of its psych-rock touchstones. And though he claims he doesn’t do much with his days, his recent accomplishments, both musical and beyond, suggest otherwise. He launched his own cryptocurrency, YachtyCoin, at the end of 2020; signed his first artist, Draft Day, to his Concrete Boyz label at the start of 2021; invested in the Jewish dating app Lox Club; and launched his own line of frozen pizza, Yachty’s Pizzeria, last September. (He has famously declared he has never eaten a vegetable; at his Jersey City listening event, there was an abundance of candy, doughnut holes and Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts.)

But there are only two things that seem to remotely excite him, first and foremost of which is being a father. As proud as he is of Let’s Start Here , he says it comes in second to having his now 1-year-old daughter — though he says with a laugh that she “doesn’t really give a f-ck” about his music yet. “I haven’t played [this album] for her, but her mom plays her my old stuff,” he continues. “The mother of my child is Dominican and Puerto Rican, so she loves Selena — she plays her a lot . [We watch] the Selena movie with Jennifer Lopez a sh-t ton and a lot of Disney movie sh-t, like Frozen , Lion King and that type of vibe.”

Aside from being a dad, he most cares about working with other artists. Recently, he flew eight of his biggest fans — most of whom he has kept in touch with for years — to Atlanta. He had them over, played Let’s Start Here , took them to dinner and bowling, introduced them to his mom and dad, and then showed them a documentary he made for the album. (He’s not sure if he’ll release it.) One of the fans is an aspiring rapper; naturally, the two made a song together.

Yachty wants to keep working with artists and producers outside of hip-hop, mentioning the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and even sharing his dream of writing a ballad for Elton John. (“I know I could write him a beautiful song.”) With South Korean music company HYBE’s recent purchase of Quality Control — a $300 million deal — Yachty’s realm of possibility is bigger than ever.

But he’s not ruling out his genre roots. Arguably, Let’s Start Here was made for the peers and heroes he played it for first — and was inspired by hip-hop’s chameleons. “I would love to do a project with Tyler [The Creator],” says Yachty. “He’s the reason I made this album. He’s the one who told me to do it, just go for it. He’s so confident and I have so much respect for him because he takes me seriously, and he always has.”

Penske Media Corp. is the largest shareholder of SXSW ; its brands are official media partners of SXSW.

This story originally appeared in the March 11, 2023, issue of Billboard.

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