Five years after claiming that 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. were overrated, Lil Yachty shared what he learned from the experience with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe in an April interview.
“I never meant to disrespect. I was just being honest,” the 23-year-old rapper told Lowe. “I didn’t have no media training, right? All I knew was to be an honest person. So someone asked me about whether it’s a hip-hop lesson guide. My cousin would be honest. I’m going to tell the truth. I’m not like Biggie, Tupac, you’re going to say this every time, I didn’t listen to them but I didn’t say they were trash.”
Fast forward two months. During a recent interview with HipHopDX, Yachty was asked if he went back and listened to 2Pac and Biggie’s music following the 2016 controversy.
“I wouldn’t say study up, but I definitely went back and listened for about 30 seconds,” Yachty admitted. “I’m good. If you’re good at what you’re doing then art is art. Do you need to study Picasso to learn how to paint? No. If you care then yes, but if not, who cares?”
In August 2016, the rising Atlanta rapper got in hot water after saying he “couldn’t name five songs” by 2Pac or Biggie. Yachty didn’t back down from his controversial comments. A few months later, during an appearance on Pitchfork.tv’s “Over/Under,” Lil Boat declared Biggie was in fact “overrated.”
“I was like 19, 18, 19,” Yachty, discussing the backlash he received, explained to Lowe in April. “I had never in my life, I had never been hated like that. People hated me after that, like death threats, just a lot. You know what I’m saying? I think that’s what really started that hate for me. I, with so many people just automatically trying to dump me like he’s whack, he’s corny, or whatever the case may be, you know what I’m saying? But it taught me a lot. It built my character up and made me so strong.”
