5 Times Lil Yachty Proved He Can Rap

The best verses (so far) from Lil Boat.

By 
Oct 14, 2016
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Image via Complex Original
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Image via Complex Original

Old heads don't like Lil Yachty. It makes sense—for the people that prize lyricism, or anything resembling the standards of golden age hip-hop, the red-headed "King of the Teens" flies in the face of traditionalism with glee. His verses are freeform constructions, aiming for melody over rhythm, and vibes over coherence. He has, in 2016, become the poster child for "mumble rap," attracting critics and fans in droves. The thing about Yachty is, he doesn't need rap, he's working on something different and new. But, every now and then, he proves himself more than capable of dropping a good verse. These are five of the best of them. 

And be sure to check out Yachty when he performs at ComplexCon on Sunday, Nov. 6. You can purchase tickets here.

Lil Yachty, "Just Keep Swimming" (2016)

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Things get weird at the 2 minute mark of "Intro," formerly known as "Just Keep Swimming" when it still had a fire, if illegal, Finding Nemo sample. Lil Yachty starts warbling "welcome to my life" as Lil Boat—the third personality he's adopted on the track already. Prior to that he's rapping straightforward, flowing on the beat like Crush the surfing turtle. The best case for giving Lil Yachty a shot turns out to be the first song on his first project, conveniently. If this doesn't intrigue you, you'll never be down.—Frazier Tharpe

D.R.A.M. f/ Lil Yachty, "Broccoli" (2016)

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A shoo-in for 2016's most charming track, "Broccoli" is steadily climbing up the charts and providing Yachty with a real star turn; his first bona fide hit and one hell of an introduction verse for the masses. "Hey lil' mama, would you like to be my sunshine/Nigga touch my gang, we gon' turn this shit to Columbine" he raps, in that sweet sing-song cadence, a stream-of-consciousness opening couplet that's both jarring and impossible to forget. It encapsulates why Yachty is such a strange figure in hip-hop, and that he's able to make it so catchy is why the self-proclaimed "King of the Teens" is on his way to something that like lasting stardom.—Brendan Klinkenberg

Chance The Rapper f/ Young Thug & Lil Yachty, "Mixtape" (2016)

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It would sound crazy, Lil Yachty starting his verse on Chance the Rapper’s “Mixtape” with a self-righteous declaration about cover art, if the artwork for Yachty’s first mixtape wasn’t so perfect. (And consider how artists like Future and Drake have recently used stock images for album artwork, and Yachty’s rhetorical question becomes even more credible.) Yachty wears his passion and love for rap nakedly in this song, and, you know, raps credibly.

I ask, are these not bars? "'Cause in high school all I cared about was hoes/Well, maybe that shit was my interest/Now I spend more than they make at my dentist/After “1Night” the folks thought I was finished/I pinned my name to the game like a seamstress.” —Ross Scarano

Post Malone f/ Lil Yachty, "Monte" (2016)

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"I got more hoes than Elvis." There's no surefire way to prove whether Lil Yachty does, in fact, have more hoes than the late Elvis Presley, as he claims on Post Malone's banger "Monte," but the claim itself is amazing. In fact, the whole verse from Yachty here is great, which finds him comparing his balling to several NBA players before declaring that Lil Boat is the actual MVP. Let them know, Yachty. Also, here are a bunch of awesome Monta Ellis highlights below. You're welcome.

Carnage f/ Lil Yachty, "Mase In '97" (2016)

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Lil Yachty has flirted with a double-time flow before (see: “Intro (Just Keep Swimming)”), but on Carnage’s “Mase in '97” he takes it up a notch with a high-energy delivery to match the booming backdrop. Lines like “what you call your life savings, I bought two whips with that” find Yacthy in straight stunt mode. Dude is skating. Like Mase in ‘97.—Edwin Ortiz
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