Lil Yachty has the internet up in arms over a series of remarks over the past week about the state of Hip-Hop, his place in it, and especially his insistence that he never glorified drugs or violence in his music.
During a recent discussion with Tierra Whack for a Rolling Stone event, Lil Yachty said he came up in a class that glorified “everything under the book.” However, according to Yachty, he was the exception to the rule.
“I always realized that I never had the fan base of certain peers because I didn’t glorify negativity,” he stated. “I didn’t glorify things that I didn’t stand by, you know.”
Tierra Whack agreed, saying Lil Yachty maintained a “clean image” and steered away from “promoting drugs or violence.”
Lil Yachty & Tierra Whack discuss glorifying “negativity” in hip hop: LY: “When I was younger, and coming up, the class I had glorified drugs, face tats, everything under the book, you know. And what I learned as I got older
However, not everybody agreed with Yachty and Tierra Whack once clips of the interview hit social media.
“the second line of lil yachty’s first billboard top 10 hit is ‘n#### touch my gang we gon turn this s### to columbin,’” one person wrote on X.
the second line of lil yachty’s first billboard top 10 hit is “n#### touch my gang we gon turn this s### to columbine” https://t.co/ciQtx3HlKR
Lil Yachty showing us that the wock he took to Poland is actually just a rock https://t.co/axB5cqgqgg pic.twitter.com/Y9VBEa7fqe
Additionally, Lil Yachty faced criticism for claiming Hip-Hop “is in a terrible place.” He also said there’s a lack of support because “there is a decline in content.”
On Wednesday (November 6) Yachty went live on Instagram to address the backlash over his comments. He claimed he was referring to keeping a “clean image” early in his career.
“I was talking about my business and my brand… and the endorsements I had,” he explained. “Like, not putting guns in the videos and all that type of s###. If you listen to my first project… I wasn’t talking about guns and drugs.”
He also doubled down on his comments about a decline in Hip-hop content. “I love all the new generation of artists that’s out right now, n##### is turnt,” he added. “But a lot of n##### do sound the same.” Check out the video below.
Elsewhere during his livestream, Lil Yachty claimed he raps better than a lot of his peers, which also drew some criticism.
I think im 2 tweets away from muting everything Lil Yachty. It has to stop. https://t.co/wNAMcVs41M
Delusional https://t.co/mt0uwmznls pic.twitter.com/SaOV3hk1kP