Love him or hate him, nobody can dispute that Lil Yachty is as real as they come. Every time he sits down for an interview, Lil Boat always comes through with pure authenticity. That trend continued during his latest interview with Zane Lowe, where they spoke about a wide variety of topics. Here are fifteen highlights from the interview, and remember, Teenage Emotions drops tomorrow.
Customizing Myspace and Tumblr helped awaken his creativity.
"Just creating your page, and just wanting it to be original as possible...just wanting to have something that other accounts didn't have. whether it's like a hidden music bar, or like...rearranging my friends...that's what I can think about creativity cause you're just trying to be different."
He is driven by "visions."
"I have visions all the time in the weirdest spots. I just had a vision while I was peeing, about my merch...I have a big vision for my tour, like a big big vision....I used to have visions of being like a star, like all the time...I used to have visions of flashing lights and red carpets."
An after-school epiphany changed his life.
"I remember being in social studies, and the teacher was talking, and I was in the back, with the lights off like, wah wah wah...people were asleep, people were texting...it was just like this is doing nothing, what am I doing? I was dumb broke...I remember walking home, I called my friend like "I don't want to be here." I went back to my room and packed up everything I could take...I left."
His mom convinced him to dye his braids.
[after reflecting on being bullied over his hair] "When I got the job [at McDonalds]...everybody had long braids and colored hair. So I was going to work one day and my mom said 'you should dye your hair red." A light bulb went off in my head."
He was heavy into pirating music.
"I was deep into cracking things, like cracking apps. Like, I was a Limewire kid. I was deep into Limewire, and Piratebay, and Torrents and things like that."
Lil B & Soulja Boy taught him the importance of fan love.
[On Soulja Boy & Lil B] "I feel like Soulja Boy was one of the smartest when it came to connecting with your fans, and taking that to another level. That's how you get the real love. Like for someone to love you, if they feel like they know you, or can relate to you, it's a real genuine solid love, even when you down.
He felt pressure making Teenage Emotions.
"When i made Lil Boat my first mixtape...I was just making it, and then when i finished it, I dropped it at my own smoothness, my own pace. With [Teenage Emotions] you gotta drop it by here, you gotta have this cover by here...my album was originally supposed to drop on Christmas."
Lil Boat & Lil Yachty are two different people.
"[On the persona who rapped on "X-Men"] "X-Men's" Lil Boat. Lil Boat's aggressive."
However, he feels like Boat rose from trying to impress people.
"I had to realize that was me tryin' to impress other people...Like the boat side, like rapping... certain times I'm just trying like "hey look, I can do this" but my fans didn't care....I'm not ashamed of [his rapping tracks] I'm proud I did em, but I now know moving forward I don't have to impress anybody."
His most enjoyable collabos were DJ Cassidy and Chance The Rapper.
"DJ Cassidy really pushed me...I never worked so hard to write a verse. It was between that and when I did mixtape verse with Chance. I just really wanted to impress him."
He has a "sleep" playlist.
It features Seal's "Kiss From A Rose," SBTRKT's "Higher," Lauryn Hill, Frankie J, Nelly & Tim McGraw, Baby Bash, Childish Gambino, Drake, New Edition, Blood Orange.
As well as an "amped up" playlist, which heavily features Kid Cudi.
"I'm one of the biggest Kid Cudi fans of all time. He's very relatable, like one of the only artists making music at the time for emotional people...taking dream journeys...He had a dope sense of style, he was like a guardian angel. A tour guide through life." Oh, and Slipknot & Fallout Boy.
He doesn't share his music with his mom.
"I be kind of hesitant [showing music to his mom] I'm still not really used to like being an artist around my mom. I don't know if I feel comfortable 100 percent. I know I could not make any kind of song with her in the studio.
Meeting Jay Z & Beyonce at Made In America was a personal highlight.
"We were watching Coldplay, which was my favorite band of all time. That was my first time seeing Coldplay live, while meeting Jay Z & Beyonce."
He dreams of opening a cereal bar.
"I want to open a restaurant...straight cereal...[when asked his favorite cereal] Fruit Loops with marshmellows...It's crazy, it's out of this world."