Hate him or love him, Lil Yachty was all over the place this year and received an exponential amount of limelight. Whether it was because he was killing features left and right, landing huge modeling gigs in the fashion industry or because of his numerous rap beefs, Lil Boat was constantly making headlines this year.
In a new interview released with Fader, Lil Yachty details 2016 from his perspective and gives us all some interesting insight into his life.
Lil Yachty on Soulja Boy beef:
Looking back, I don't think I would have done anything differently. Honestly bro. Except I wouldn’t have hit Soulja Boy up. That was the weirdest shit of the year for me, but I’m thankful it was over quick. It’s never been my fault, a situation like that. Soulja Boy came at me. Oh well. It is what it is.
Lil Yachty on the Yeezy Season fashion show at Madison Square Garden:
I met Rocky (A$AP Rocky) through Ian [Connor]. I met Ian three or four years ago, just in the airport. So I was chilling at Rocky’s apartment when they were doing casting for the Kanye show [at Madison Square Garden], and he was just like, “Yo you wanna be in it?”
So in February I was in the Kanye show. I was originally supposed to be standing in the very back. Then right before the show, I saw the director, “Excuse me, ma’m, don’t you think I should be in the front? Don't you think I have the great hair, and the color matches the clothes?” They switched it around and like bam, they put me in the front. That opened doors for me. A lot of fashion doors opened up after that.
Lil Yachty on the making of the Lil Boat mixtape:
The Lil Boat tape came out in March. We did the tape at our studio, QC Studio. Just locked in and didn't leave. Atlanta is so small. Everyone’s connected. Rappers come through our studio all the time. Migos and me will be there, Thug comes through every now and then. It wasn’t like I had to call nobody [to record features], they were all just here. People showed me a lot of love. They took me in, like a foreign exchange student. I was new, but they showed me a lot of love from the start.
Lil Yachty looking back on the year and what his next moves are:
This year was amazing. This my last year being broke. Everything was like a dream. Like a dream come true. Like the last song off my first mixtape: we did it. I adapted to it overnight and it just became my life. I didn't forget my past, I just adapted. This is just the beginning, too. I'm trying to get into acting. I enjoyed it when I did the FADER documentary. It let people see a side of me. I've been a character my whole life. Actor, video director, it's just what I do. It's in me.