While down at SXSW, Complex News caught up with one of Atlanta's most exciting emerging talents, Lil Yachty. Having recently released his debut project, Lil Boat the Mixtape, Yachty spoke with us about his new found success and what he did to get to this point.
As it turns out, Yachty's vision of breaking into the industry was set in motion before he even picked up the microphone. "Before music, just like hanging around, and just being who I am before my music built a support system for when I did start doing music," he said, adding that he dropped out of college to pursue his dream. "I had a plan. I just kind of followed my plan. It started locally, building my name."
That plan has placed him in the company of storied music producer Rick Rubin. Rubin is shrouded in mystery, only adding to his aura, but we asked Yachty to shed some light on the enigmatic figure. The rapper responded by saying Rubin is dumb nice, looks like both Santa Clause and Jesus, and that he doesn't wear shoes.
On a more serious note, Yachty said what he enjoys most about Rubin is that he can "talk to him about a little rapper in Atlanta and then we can go talk about somebody from the '80s, and then we can go talk about Frank Ocean." He added, "[Rick] can stick with every conversation, every genre. Like a music god, for real."
While he's not fond of the "SoundCloud rapper" label, Lil Yachty shared his thoughts on the plethora of artists coming from Atlanta and their dominance on such platforms. According to him, there is always room for their sound. In that regard, he's ready to take his sound on tour and transition from the digital realm to the stage. Check out the full interview above.
