Lil Yachty has come under fire for hitting the studio with viral rapper Ian after criticizing the state of Hip Hop.
Lil Boat made waves for all the wrong reasons on Wednesday (May 29) when a video surfaced on social media showing him in the lab with the divisive white rapper.
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While the audio had been hilariously edited with the theme song from Jeopardy!, it appears as though the pair were working on music together.
The link-up didn’t sit well with fans, with some accusing Yachty of being a hypocrite given his recent comments about Hip Hop’s perceived lack of creativity and originality.
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One user shared quotes from the rapper where he said last year: “Hip Hop is in a terrible place. The state of Hip Hop right now is a lot of imitation. It’s a lot of quick, low-quality music being put out.
“It’s a lot less risk-taking, it’s a lot less originality… People are too safe now. Everyone is so safe. I’d rather take the risk than take the L.”
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Another added: “Nvm I don’t rly fw him no more. This n-gga said Hip Hop is in a terrible state and then went to do a song with a fucking colonizer [three crying emojis] we’re cooked.”
A third critic said: “lmfaoo yall ain’t got no dignity man it’s so sad to see.”
LMAO alright bro https://t.co/ADbi9S4WzDpic.twitter.com/5t8NpDGnz7
— Bryson🧞 (@BRYSWRLD_) May 29, 2024
Nvm I don’t rly fw him no more. This nigga said HipHop is in a terrible state and then went to do a song with a fucking colonizer 😭😭😭 we’re cooked https://t.co/BYXU9bGUgy
— Jaylan ☆ (@ItsJaylanTho) May 29, 2024
lmfaoo yall ain’t got no dignity man it’s so sad to see. https://t.co/4zVa7E44Xa
— 🌹🩷Damatré and Jermel’s Angel 💕 (@N3YYZ0N6) May 30, 2024
A 19-year-old rapper from Dallas (via St. Louis), Ian has been blowing up of late thanks to his viral hit “Figure It Out.” The song encapsulates the jarring juxtaposition that has made him such a polarizing figure: an unapologetically suburban white kid rapping about money, cars and drugs in the style of Yeat, Playboi Carti and Gucci Mane.
The success of “Figure It Out” has been fueled by a From the Block performance of the song in which Ian is surrounded by family members at a dinner table, as well as its recently released video which boasts a cameo from NFL legend Marshawn Lynch, who is mentioned on the song.
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Ian also released his debut project Valedictorian to largely negative reviews earlier this month.
Lil Yachty has yet to respond to the backlash over his studio session with Ian, but he did attempt to clarify his aforementioned comments about Hip Hop last fall.
During an episode of his A Safe Place podcast, he said: “First off, Hip Hop was number one. The number-one leading genre for 10-plus years, shitting on every other genre up until recently, about a year ago or two, and it fell in the rankings of being number one.”
“It’s between country music and Latin music,” Lil Boat continued, before suggesting that streams, revenue and charting hits contributed to the change.
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“Even record labels have pulled back on funding of Hip Hop as far as like what contracts are looking like and what budgets are being put into. It’s all been scaled back on funding. The facts is that people aren’t supporting Hip Hop like they once did because there is a decline in content.”
Later in the interview, Yachty appeared to take aim at “older folks” bumping “Nas’ greatest hits.”
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“I’m coming from a standpoint of just creativity. It’s creatively just not at a height,” he added. “It’s not at a height of the creativity in Hip Hop, it’s low. I wasn’t saying we need more standup lyrics […] I’ve always said we should have subgenres just like every other genre.
“People don’t understand everything don’t have to be boom bap,” he concluded.
