Lil Yachty once picked his favourite song of all time
Lil Yachty is fondly known as the fun-loving, red-haired rapper who ruled SoundCloud during the mid-2010s. The ‘One Night’ singer developed a cult following on the music streaming platform at the age of 18 while still in college.
Utilising the production abilities of his dorm room friend (Burberry Perry), the Atlanta act has admitted he recorded his breakout single in a garage. Akin to his Atlanta counterpart, 21 Savage, the rapper was a member of XXL’s 2016 class.
Many old-school figures considered the group as an abomination to hip-hop, and the culture ended up dubbing it the “slow class”. Although it’s been nearly a decade since he first surfaced, he’s still present in the culture, although it’s fair to say he’s not as prominent as he once was.
Despite the inconsistency with which he has released music since his contentious 2017 debut album, Teenage Emotions, Yachty has managed to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of music. Although his fourth project, Lil Boat 3, wasn’t as successful or polarising as his first body of work, in 2022, with the help of TikTok, the Atlanta native managed to cause excitement once again with his viral hit, ‘Poland’.
The track was merely a leaked demo that somehow gained traction on TikTok. However, it resulted in an abundance of praise. The song’s now-famous chorus, “I took the Wock to Poland”, especially turned the heads of Yachty’s Polish fans, where the song is a big hit.
Since then, Yachty has popped up in all sorts of places. From London to Paris and Milan, he has been seen across the world in various famous cities. That said, while outside The Mercer Hotel in New York’s SoHo neighbourhood, Yachty was approached by YouTuber Shan Rizwan and asked, “What’s your favourite song of all time?”
Surprisingly, Lil Yachty responded with a song that isn’t hip-hop. After pondering briefly, the emcee responded, “‘White Ferrari’ by Frank Ocean.” Yachty’s favourite track appeared on Ocean’s 2016 project Blonde.
The iconic R&B song was produced by Candian beatmaker and musician A-Track and delves into themes of love and heartbreak. To the shock of many, the credits also include writing credits citing Kanye West, John Lennon, and even Paul McCartney.
With lyrics such as “Bad luck to talk on these rides / Mind on the road, your dilated eyes watch the clouds float / White Ferrari, had a good time,” the spacy, ambient track doesn’t feature any drums and is a prime example of stripped back, minimal R&B.
In 2016, Ocean released two projects, one visual and another comprised of 17 tracks. The visual series Endless was released a day before Blonde, for which the New Orleans vocalist received much praise.