Lil B delivered his first lecture in 2012 at NYU, which generated a lot of attention, and inspired some very thoughtful pieces. Most of all, Lil B's words were sincere and uplifting, which is why the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (which happens to be ranked as the number one university in the world) asked him to speak to students this week.
Addressing the crowd, Lil B had plenty of inspiring words for the soon-to-be graduates, focusing on their approach to becoming a positive part of the work force. Following his speech, he participated in a Q&A, revealing new plans to partner with YouTube (likely something to do with their new streaming service), working with Lil Wayne and Mack Maine, and of course, the infamous Based God's curse.
Read some of the highlights below, and read the full transcript at FADER.
On 'signing' with YouTube:
I'm actually working with YouTube—I signed some stuff, I'm not supposed to tell you guys. We're doing, I'm gonna be doing some cool stuff with YouTube, and they're actually helping me—I'm personally working with them. There's been a lot of companies that, you know, being an independent and being by myself, all these random companies are always trying to get—and these mid-level—"you know, we can track your views and we can do this." And I have a distinct vision for my brand and the Lil B brand and I stick by that, you know, so I waited for YouTube. YouTube hit me up, and I got my account manager for YouTube that I'm working with, and, you know, stuff is going to be cool.
On Kevin Durant and The Based God's Curse:
I do love Kevin Durant, and I appreciate him, and I appreciate the NBA... If he came to D.C…I would…uhhh…you know, me and Kevin—me and Kevin got a game to play. Once Kevin is off his injury from the Based God's curse. I pray for the Thunder team, I pray for them.
On working with Lil Wayne:
I want to give a big shout out to Mack Maine, and to Lil Wayne. Mack Maine, I definitely give him a shout out because he was a big pivotal part of bringing me and Lil wayne together. Being in the studio with Lil Wayne and being around him for the time that I was going to dinner and stuff like that. Just being embraced by him. To hug lil wayne. In 6th grade, I had a project, an iSearch project, this was middle school, and I put lil wayne on the cover. So to work so hard to be independent, to have no corporate backing, you know, working with Wayne and going back to moms house. I worked with then went back to the hood, went back to moms house, you know what I'm saying, that's love that shows that you can be yourself.
On the work force:
The main thing I want to bring tonight is positivity in the workforce. I want to start off with a quote I made especially for MIT. This is something for everyone to think about. "Less opinion, more perspective." What I mean by that is, sometimes I feel like an opinion is more ego driven. We're protecting the outer. We work hard, and it's a lot of mental things that go into working hard as well as training yourself, as all the beautiful people in here future scientists, engineers, programmers, all that. People I might be working for. The code of ethics in your job and where you work, the company you may create, or if you work for somebody, make sure you bring that love, and bring that positivity. Making sure you come and understand that we're in this together. Even if we're not, we need to learn, and learn to figure out ways to understand.
[Update: Watch The Full Talk]
Lil B's full lecture at MIT is now available to watch on YouTube. Enlighten yourselves below.