Miles Parks McCollum, known professionally as Lil Yachty, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Yachty first gained recognition in August 2015 for his singles "One Night" and "Minnesota" from his debut EPSummer Songs. He released his debut mixtapeLil Boat in March 2016. On June 10, 2016, Yachty announced that he had signed a record deal with Quality Control Music, Capitol Records, and Motown Records. His mixtapes Lil Boat and Summer Songs 2 were released in 2016 and his debut studio album, Teenage Emotions in 2017. His second studio album, Lil Boat 2, was released on March 9, 2018. His third studio album, Nuthin' 2 Prove, was released on October 19, 2018. His fourth studio album, Lil Boat 3, was released on May 29, 2020.
Early life
McCollum was born in Mableton, Georgia. In 2015, he adopted the stage name "Yachty" and moved from his hometown of Atlanta to New York City to launch his career. He stayed with a friend and networked with online street fashion personalities, while he built up his own Instagram following. He worked at McDonald's.
Career
2015–2017: "One Night", ''Lil Boat'', and ''Teenage Emotions''
Yachty first came to prominence in December 2015 when the SoundCloud version of his song "One Night" was used in a viral comedy video. In February 2016, Yachty debuted as a model in Kanye West's Yeezy Season 3 fashion line at Madison Square Garden. Yachty's debut mixtape Lil Boat was released in March 2016. In April 2016, Yachty collaborated with DRAM on the hit song "Broccoli", which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. He featured on Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book mixtape, released in May 2016. On June 10, 2016 he announced he had signed a joint venture record deal with Quality Control Music, Capitol Records, and Motown Records. Yachty released his second mixtape Summer Songs 2 in July 2016. In December 2016, he was featured on the hip hop single "iSpy" by Kyle. He was featured in Tee Grizzley's single "From the D to the A", released in March 2017. On May 26, 2017, Lil Yachty released his debut studio album, Teenage Emotions. It features guest appearances from Migos, Diplo, Evander Griiim, Grace, Stefflon Don and YG, among others. Three promotional singles were released to co-incide with the album. The first promotional single, "Harley", produced by K Swisha, was released on April 14, 2017. The second promotional single, "Bring It Back", produced by Free School, was released on May 4, 2017. The third promotional single, "X Men", produced by 30 Roc and Tillie and featuring a guest appearance from American rapper Evander Griiim, was released on May 18, 2017. He featured in a remix of "With My Team" by Creek Boyz, released December 15, 2017.
2018–present: ''Lil Boat 2'', ''Nuthin' 2 Prove'', and ''A-Team''
Lil Yachty announced on February 20, 2018, that his album Lil Boat 2 would be released on March 9, 2018. It was confirmed earlier, on January 21, 2018, that Lil Yachty and Takeoff have collaborated on an album that is yet to be released. He was featured on the Ocean Park Standoff single "If You Were Mine", released on April 27, 2018. He joined FaZe Clan in December 2018 as "FaZe Boat". On February 28, 2020, Lil Yachty released a collaborative project named A-Team with rappers Lil Keed and Lil Gotit as well as producer Zaytoven. The album featured 10 tracks and was preceded by the singles "Accomplishments", "A-Team ", "Drip Jacker", and "Hightop Shoes". Following this, on March 9, 2020, Lil Yachty released the lead single from Lil Boat 3, titled "Oprah's Bank Account" with features by Drake and DaBaby. Lil Boat 3 was released on May 29, 2020. Lil Yachty said he also plans to release another project, titled End of the Summer, in August 2020.
Musical style
Lil Yachty has called his style "bubblegum trap." His songs have sampled sounds from Mario Bros., Charlie Brown, the theme from Rugrats, the startup sound of a GameCube console, as well as J-pop singer Daoko. Other themes in his works include clouds, cotton candy, the Super Nintendo, and scenes from Pixar films. His friend TheGoodPerry is heavily involved in the production of his songs. Yachty's style has also been described as mumble rap. Rolling Stone described his music as "catchy, intentionally dinky-sounding tunes packed with off-color boasts delivered in a proudly amateurish singsong." The Guardian called his music "fun, hook-first pop rap oblivious to songcraft and structure that doesn't take itself too seriously, with very little interest in legacy and even less in rap canon." Yachty grew up listening to Canadian rapper Drake.
Yachty made a guest appearance in a Sprite commercial with LeBron James, where he is seen in an ice cave playing the piano. Lil Yachty was picked to be the face of the new Nautica and Urban Outfitters collection. Yachty also appeared in the "It Takes Two" video with Carly Rae Jepsen for Target. In 2018, Yachty worked with Donny Osmond to create a theme song for Chef Boyardee titled "Start the Par-dee".
Legal issues
On September 1, 2015, Yachty and one other man were arrested at a mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida for credit card fraud, Yachty was released after posting a bail bond of $11,000. According to Yachty, his records were expunged.
