That Time I Tried (And Failed) To Interview Lil Yachty
Within about twenty seconds it was clear this interview wasn’t going to go well.
I’ve been learning to love Lil Yachty.
Like most hip-hop fans over the age of 17, I’ve really struggled to understand the appeal of Yachty — aka Miles Parks McCollum — a teen rapper from Atlanta who doesn’t consider himself a rapper. He wears red beads in his hair and has a soft, dopey voice. His music is too soft to be trap and too simple for critical acclaim. And he’s somehow managed to plant himself squarely in the middle of an astounding level of critical debate.
First emerging thanks to a viral YouTube video and later SoundCloud, Lil Yachty’s big break came when he featured on D.R.A.M’s ode to weed, ‘Broccoli’, which officially went five times platinum last month. Since then he’s released two mixtapes, with his debut album Teenage Emotions dropping last Friday.
It’s hardly surprising that Lil Yachty has been bullied to hell by the hip-hop community. Not only does his music often feel one-dimensionally banal and dumb, but his insulting denouncement of conscious and old school hip-hop is enough to boil any Kendrick Lamar fan’s blood.
My own opinion of him began to change when I started watching his radio interviews — Yachty holds his own and defends his music against every hater who comes his way, professing to not care that in a way that makes you really believe him. He’s just here, he says, to have fun.
It took me a while to understand it, but I realised he’s completely right. I’ve been taking myself, and hip-hop, far, far too seriously. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with creating music that’s fun to listen to. Will Teenage Emotions change everyone’s opinion of him? No. Will it be a critical and commercial success? No, and unlikely. But Lil Yachty’s going to keep doing what he’s doing, and that’s absolutely fine.
Ahead of his album, and his subsequent visit to Australia for Splendour in the Grass and headline tour, we had a chat with the man himself about his goals as an artist, the deep meaning behind his multi-layered lyrics, and production choices on the album.
Just kidding.
Within about twenty seconds it was clear this interview wasn’t going to go well. The line constantly crackled, he was distracted by mates in the background (he stopped to chat to them a few times during our fifteen minute call), and he made it very, very obvious that he had no interest in talking. So I cut to the chase, stripped my questions down to the basics and tried to start a conversation.
I failed.
Can you hear me properly?
Yeah.
Great, it’s just a bit muffled over here. Thanks so much for taking the time to chat, I’m calling from Australia.
Oh, cool.
You’re coming out here in July, will this be your first visit to Australia?
Yeah, I’m excited.
Do you know much about the country?
Not really.
What about any Australian artists?
Nah.
Is there anything you’re planning to do while you’re in town?
Uh, not really. I’ll go shopping.
Sorry? The phone’s cutting out.
Go shopping.
So I wanted to chat about the album, Teenage Emotions is coming out next week.
[inaudible]
On the song ‘Dirty Mouth’ you’ve got a lyric that says: “I didn’t ask for respect, all I care about is my check.” Is that true? Is that how you see your music?
Yeah. You know, cause and effect. I know like a lot of people hate me for no reason, so like, I dunno, I never asked for anyone to like me.
Right, and it’s interesting you say-
[inaudible]
Sorry, what was that?
No, no, no, nothing.
Oh, sorry, the phone’s cutting out a bit.
Sorry I have a really bad signal at my house.
Ah, okay. It’s all good. Do you … so yeah, talking about the way people perceive you and talk about your music-
[inaudible]
Sorry?
I can’t hear you.
Oh. Can you hear me … is that a bit better?
Yeah.
Okay, there we go. You’re obviously really self-aware of how you and your music is perceived. Being just days away from releasing your album, have you begun thinking about what’s next, or are you taking it one step at a time?
Yeah, I try to make every move that I make in elevation. It has to make sense. It has to help my brand.
So it’s about how the music will evolve to align with your brand?
Exactly.
Okay, so are you thinking about what that evolution might look like?
I don’t know. I haven’t got that far yet. I’m just chillin’.
He starts talking to a friend in the background for a minute or so.
On the very first track of the album you talk about how you haven’t even had a beer yet, and you’re always quite vocal about you don’t drink or use drugs, which is pretty uncommon in hip-hop.
Right.
Do you hope that you’ll be an influence on your fans?
That’s just who I am. Alcohol’s disgusting. I’m not easily influenced. I’m not easily influenced at all.
And do you hope you’ll be an influence on your fans?
Say what?
By saying that you don’t drink or use drugs, do you hope you’ll encourage your fans to do the same?
Not at all. I can’t judge anybody. I’m not one to judge. If that’s what they do, all my friends smoke, I don’t judge anyone. I personally just don’t do it. You know? I don’t judge, not if that’s what you wanna do. The only thing is cigarettes, I don’t encourage smoking tobacco, but I say to live your life the way you want to.
You’ve received a lot of criticism for making music for fun, as opposed to having social or conscious message.
Yeah, most definitely. Oh yeah. I don’t have a response to [those people], you know? If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. No one’s entitled to listen to it if they don’t want to. People like to give bad reviews and their own personal negative comments.
Do you think you’ll ever want to head in [a more conscious] direction?
I don’t know. I don’t really get that deep into it, you know, I just be chillin’.
Totally fair. Music has every right to exist just for fun.
Yeah, I don’t really have a message or a meaning. At the moment I’m just chillin’. At this very moment I’m living in the moment. I never know how I’ll feel tomorrow.
Fair enough.
He starts talking to someone in the background again for about two minutes.
Hello?
Hey, I’m still here.
I can’t really hear you.
Okay, well, the line’s really bad so we’ll just finish up on a couple of really quick questions. What are you listening to at the moment?
The album. My album.
Oh, cool. I’ve read that some artists like to test out whether their album is ready or needs any work with methods like playing it in their car and going for a drive. Do you have any tests like that?
No, I’m just chillin’.
Finally, could you list your top five rappers?
Dre, Kanye, Chance, Andre 3000, Tyler, The Creator.
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Lauren Ziegler is a freelance writer who truly hopes to interview Lil Yachty again one day. You can tweet her @ZieglerLauren