There has been a lot of discussion over the past year about Lil Yachty’s quick — and viral — ascent to “Hip Hop” notoriety. This hasn’t come without an immense amount of blowback from not only the game’s elite but listeners who lived through an era where attention to detail mattered and was a necessity for artists to strike a balance of respect and success.
Some, most notably radio personalities like Hot 97’s Ebro and the always vocal Charlamagne Tha God have blasted the 19-year-old over his lack of knowledge of some of the culture’s greats, among other things. Both personalities, though, seemed to warm up to Yachty — albeit for different reasons. But that’s still not preventing the kid with the red hair who championed Minnesota from catching flak from individuals more than 10 years his senior.
Most recently, Joe Budden used his new Everyday Struggle platform to shade out Lil Yachty’s shine.
“He’s not Hip Hop,” he says. There’s some “trolling and exploiting,” he claims.
After a light Twitter skirmish between the two, Yachty’s dad defended his offspring (as he’s been known to do) with the force of a father’s strap, writing in a since-deleted Instagram post: “Only reason I’m posting this so I can publicly say FUCK #joebudden Nigga u have no relevance in Hip Hop!! And on my life I bet when his album drop his numbers will be better than any project you have released. He’s done more in 1 yr than you’ve done your whole wack ass career. FOH niggas love trying they best to pull somebody down instead of lifting somebody up! Get that free press bruh off the back of my young’n but u still a cornball! #oldwackrapperissues, complete with an “?” for effect.
The question remains why he stays at odds with older heads. The answer, while not simple, revolves around resistance to change.
Yachty was born in 1997. He’s never been without the internet, and a host of questionable musical selections that most listeners griped about a decade ago have been the backdrop of his coming of age. His ignorance of Biggie is both unintentional and understandable, especially with grownups who spend a considerable energy opposing his taste in music forcing it on him. He’s still a kid — and he speaks a specific brand of positivity that is resonating with other kids.
Speaking with Ebro on Beats 1, he exhibited that he not only took the advice to check out Biggie — and liked it — but that he’s “trying to promote positivity on a global scale.” He understands his voice and the power of Hip Hop to influence a generation and is a vocal advocate for being drug-free. He’s made numerous appearances at schools and group homes to speak to youth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSR2jVuyv3E
So, is Lil Yachty ruining Hip Hop? No. He seems to be a natural evolution of where the culture is heading. It’s pompous to belittle him for lack of deep knowledge of the culture that may have taken many older listeners a lifetime to amass. It’s also unfair to label him as a degradation of the genre based on his lyrical content — especially if you haven’t actually taken in all his music and accomplishments. It’s a two-way street.
Did Trinidad James ruin Hip Hop? Did Chingy? Did Hammer? C’mon, son. Hip Hop has weathered many waves and has a long line of scapegoats that have had to bear the brunt of the blame for a seeming decline in “quality.” Yeezy seems to think that corporations and radio conglomerates are more to blame for the current state of the industry — and in all honesty, that’s a more viable argument. Doing lyrical breakdowns of some rappers on their high horses may become a little embarrassing.
Love or hate Yachty, he’s taking the high road, and trying his best to point a new generation of die-hard fans in the right direction. He’s here, he’s a millionaire, and he’s just getting started. He’s willing to learn about the culture and — like most 19-year-olds — willing to engage. Ball is in your court, bruh.
In other Lil Boat news, he was announced as part of the lineup for Hot 97’s annual Summer Jam.
A “Troll” is better than a culture vulture. They dog Yachty but let the culture vultures get a pass though. People funny.
Articles keep on getting more on the low IQ side of things. That’s what happens from drinking all that lean
Rapping about hoes and doing Percocet and lean isn’t positivity. This article must have been written by a 19 year old.
This shit dumb as fuck. Yachty is not hip hop. Point blank period. Is he an artist… Sure i guess. If you like him listen to him. Not being hiphop isnt an insult and doesnt mean you cant make whatever music you want.
Tupac !
great analogy.. joe bitter because hes arguably the most underappreciated lyricist in history of hiphop, and he sees these kids with no lyrical ability at all flourishing
Congrats! You have lost all your credibility as a hip-hop site! This editorial is bs. All money is not good money. With every artform, it is important to know that it would not exists without the founding fathers — just like everything else. Don’t get it twisted: EVERYONE that comes out benefits from Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Run DMC being the first rappers to ever get played on MTV; LL being DEF Jam’s first profitable artist; Rap-A-Lot being the South’s first indie record label, etc! Not knowing the history of hip-hop, like every other case when it comes to black history, cannibalizes our culture. Wake up and do the research! If we don’t protect and preserve it, no one else will! Get out of your feelings and respond with facts only! You can’t love something without studying it!
Talk about trolling for hits.. This is pathetic & so obvious, but you guys will win with this “editorial”. But your hunger for article hits displays the true essence of the commercialization, watering down, & selling out of Hip-Hop. Congrats..
Natural regression is more like it. Yaucty is pure garbage. He is making money but that doesnt mean he is good or talented. Great that he is doing positive things but from an artistic standpoint he is not good in any way
Only thing Yachty is propelling is Target sales. There have always been Lil Yachtys and will always be Lil Yachtys. They come and they will inevitably go. True hip hop has always prevailed. That being said I can’t fault DX for posting this article because as unfortunate as it is and whether we very much disagree with it or not, it’s relevant.
you’re right, it goes back to the MC Hammer/Vanilla Ice days, every few years some mediocre but somehow chart topping rappers come along and it gives the impression of a hip hop Armageddon that never materializes
lil floater in the toilet
I swear every time one of these short bus shorty cats gets some shine and then flack, there’s an article like this written to defend them and the dumbing down of hip hop. From Oj da Juiceman to Waka to 2 Chainz to Chief Keef to Trinidad James to Young Thug to Kodak to Yachty to whoever got next (Lil Stupid, is my guess), it’s a cycle. Before they used to say these cats are what the people want and lyricism and thought provoking material didn’t sell so they bombarded us with these cats. Problem is most of these cats get some buzz, get forced down our throats, get a hot single then their album BOMBS and/or they get dropped and replaced with the next minstrel rapper. Cole and Kendrick sell albums and barely get spins. Something isn’t adding up.
How you comparing 2 CHAINZ, CHIEF KEEF AND WAKA FLOCK FLAME, to LIL YAKTY? (YAKTY BECAUSE HIS MUSIC MAKE ME WANT TO YAK) Its not the same, YAKTY is gonna regret his time in the game when he realizes he was being used!!! His stuff is truly garbage I don’t get how anybody likes any of his SOLO songs, THEY ALL SUCK!!!!
I think the answer is because they all suck.. good comparison.
i dont know why they call yatchy music hiphop…its more pop/punk music…mayb its coz he black
Exactly. There seems to be no rock bottom for hip hop and it needs one desperately. 5 years from now when Lil Dum Dum is drooling on the mic with his smash 2 note, one mumble single “Drip” we’ll be clamouring for the days of Yachty being the worst out. We need to establish some sort of bottom line, some sort of “at least…” or else it’s gonna be a straight up minstrel show like Bamboozled
This dude sucks, seriously, his music isn’t any good, its the train wreck effect with him, the only reason anybody pays attention is to SEE HOW BAD IT ACTUALLY IS!! But im sure in a couple years all his fans will change there screen names because they will realize he is actually MOCKING HIP HOP and his contribution to the culture is only an EXAMPLE OF WHAT NOT TO DO!!!
Peace hiphopdx, this type of fuckery i can’t stand.
The real hip hop articles are now over at Ambrosia4heads.com guys.
Damn hhpdx.. dick ride this young garbage artist.. dick ride him hard.. How you going to put up this piece of shit and down Budden? I’m not even a big Budden fan but this article was hard to read. It screams sell out. There is soo many young artist too uplift that make REAL good hiphop music. I usually defend hhdx articles because people love to complain about everything, but this right here is ass.
They do this shit on purpose to control the narrative. They know there are ill young cats out here that give a damn about hip hop and can actually spit but they’d rather promote the trash cats so they can sell the “generational gap” conflict angle.
Whoever wrote this should be executed fast. Somebody call ISIS.
He ain’t hip hop. He’s pop rap. Big difference.
But he doesnt even rap… hes just pop.
….SMH, the internet killed hip hop yo! Time to protest about “internet rappers”, they make real hip hop artists look ridiculous yo.Word!!!
This is a troll article, paid by the zionist media.
Heres the problem; people think yachty is rap bc hes black. Thats just ignorant. Yachty doesnt rap, he cant rap, he sings. Hes a kiddy POP artist and has no business with Hip Hop. You would have to hate Rap if you dont like biggie and pac and think both are overrated. Hes obviously into something thats NOT classified as Rap. Stop labeling him Hip Hop/Rap just bc hes black. Blacks invented a lot of genres.
Yeah it’s cuz he’s black.. lmao.. any reason to pull that rave card these days.
Biggie and 2pac are overrated, period.
So is ya momz twizat ; )
This is a perfect example of whats wrong with hip hop. You can talk all the shit about joey but at the end of the day he is a hip hop artist. Yachty is clearly not. But you’re forced to hear him on all the “hip hop” radio stations. If you wanna hear joe budden. You gotta follow his career online, watch interviews, and actually LOOK for his music. Lazy listeners will flock to whoever’s they’re forced to listen to. This gives shitty artists an automatic fanbase.
Homeboy Sandman broke it down a few years ago. You on point.
White ppl control the sales of hiphop stop supporting trash!
XXL just wrote similar garbage to this… talking about the reason hes so successful is because of his “positivity”… like hes the monk Daili Lama! They will make up all sorts of ridiculous explanations for these no talent wack mfs. They say Yung Thug is the source for Hip Hops creativity. FOH you zio puppets
This guy will be done majority of young white kids hyping him up right now but as soon as the next colorful clown comes alone they ride his nuts to so let this Muppet do his thing for now and stop talking about him he will parrish like the other corny ass singing/rappers
young white kids? Nice try, asshole. Its ALL blacks that listen to this imbeciles. No white radio station is playing his garbage, only blacks. These black mfs are wack
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HE’S NOT “PROPELLING” HIP HOP…. HE’S A CLOWN…. HIS CIRCUS IS MAKING MILLIONS I GUESS I CAN’T HATE ON THAT…BUT STOP SAYING THIS…..WEIRD, WHINY, CLOWN IS HIP HOP CUZ HE IS BLACK AND MAKES MUSIC….IT ISN’T HIP HOPPPP I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL IT IS BUT IT AINT THAT
He is Black so he is Hip Hop. Thats the rules my ninja. White People are culture Vultures and Yachti is a true Black Artist. Respek dat. dont drag a brotha down.
Bingo…. the trash he puts out is not hip-hop whatsoever.
Riley Wallace who are you bro?
When you making money and famous, somebody gone have something to say. Overtime hating…
who ever wrote this article is truly an asshat and should quit hip hop journalism for the sake of the culture. this a disgrace hip hop dx is this the bullshit you guys are co-signing now-a-days? sad so fuckin sad…
Probably a white dude wrote that. they destroying our culture cuz dey cant have it
My problem is i love hip hop, so many legends, the talent the music the flow. these guys (and ladies) are lyrical masters and i think a lot of these “Lil [fill in the blank]” like Yachty are doing this weird new thing where they slur their speech, they come off as apathetic and misogynistic AS POSSIBLE, and the music is an afterthought, it’s random and bizarre, like sci-fi background noise lol.
Well he’s not ruining hip-hop because he’s not hip hop at all. None of his lyrics makes sense and he’s pretty much just as bad as cardi B and every other rapper out there that teenagers idolize these days for no reason. Joe Budden is absolutely right before all the wrong reasons, this has nothing to do with the ignorance of past rappers and everything to do with how terrible their music sounds, plain and simple. This is not a subjective opinion either, just listen to the Trashy puts out, none of it makes any goddamn sense, most of the time it doesn’t even rhyme and almost every time it doesn’t even have a message. I keep hearing all these things about him being sober yet none of that really comes across in the music if you can even hear the lyrics anyway.