Lil Yachty, the 18-year-old weirdo rapper out of Atlanta who happened to put out one of the best albums of 2016 so far when his debut mixtape Lil Boat dropped in March, was in the studio to talk with Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning crew for a wide-ranging interview that touched on a lot, from his love of old-school wrestling and Nautica gear to the "mean" comments he gets on Worldstar to dropping out of Alabama State University where everyone "hated" him to having a speaking voice that sounds a like Andre 3000.
One of the more interesting moments came when Ebro asked Yachty, "Do you consider yourself a rapper?"
"No. I don't know. I would say artist, but then, like, I don't know. I'm just here. ... I'm not a rock star. You would think I'm a rock star by my shows, but I don't want [to be known] that way."
He continued to speak on his shows, which include stage diving and a "bond" with his hardcore fans, known as, Yachty ssaid, "the sailing team."
"I do it to be crazy. I jump off the top. ... I'm like HBK. I'm like Shawn Michaels. Literally I jumped off the top balcony, like the top row, where the top fans sit. Like I climbed up there through the speaker. ... One time I was stepping on a girl's fingers and she was like smiling, taking the pain, like 'yes, for you.' It's a spiritual bond."
When it came time to throw on a beat and freestyle, Yachty didn't promise much, noting again that he's "not a rapper," and seeming very comfortable with that. "Either I'll do good, or either I'll flop," he said, before the hosts brought up Makonnen's hilariously bad "what's really on my mind" freestyle from his Tim Westwood interview. Yachty's response was an honest one.
"I never freestyle," Lil Yachty said. "I always give a written verse cause I just don't wanna go out like that."
You can hear Yachty's verse starting at 22:55, and a short freestyle starting at 26:15. Or you can stream Lil Boatin its entirety here.
