The surprising rock song Lil Yachty loved as a kid: “I must have been eight”
Lil Yachty wasn’t a teenager until the 2010s, having been born in 1997. As a result, he was part of a generation of rappers challenging the traditional stereotypes of hip-hop. He’s never been afraid of painting his nails or revealing his inspirations outside of rap, whether they’re considered “cool” or not.
While influences on his career do include rappers like André 3000 and Soulja Boy, a large amount of his childhood was spent listening to other genres; except Yachty didn’t know the difference. Everyone from Radiohead to Arcade Fire have played a role in shaping his taste, including a British band that dominated the charts when he was a kid—and beyond.
Coldplay are a group that frequented his listening at a young age. The band released their X&Y album in 2005, which included their hit single ‘Fix You’. However, it was another chart success, ‘Speed of Sound’, that stayed long in his memory. It’s the song he first remembers loving as a child.
“I must have been eight,” he told Rolling Stone. “I didn’t know the difference between hip-hop and rock. I used to wake up before school when my mom was already at work. That’s where I first heard a lot of music, like All Time Low, Fall Out Boy, Miley Cyrus, Linkin Park. Listening to different shit opens my variety, which makes it harder for hip-hop fans to categorise my music.”
‘Speed of Sound’ is known for its soaring hook, in which frontman Chris Martin sings, “And birds go flyin’ at the speed of sound/ To show you how it all began/ Birds came flyin’ from the underground/ If you could see it, then you’d understand.” To this day, it’s one of his favourites.
His love of Coldplay doesn’t stop there. During an interview with Nardwuar, he was gifted a copy of Coldplay’s 2014 album, Ghost Stories, which he considers the greatest album of all time. It’s a record he knows all the lyrics to, front to back. “Oh shit,” he said. “Bro, this is my favourite album of all time. I can sing every song on this bitch from head to toe. This is my favourite album from them.” He also released his own version of ‘The Scientist’ in 2019.
Yachty showcased his versatility on his 2023 album, Let’s Start Here. The project was filled with psychedelic rock and funk music from back to back, taking inspiration from Pink Floyd’s 1973 classic, The Dark Side of the Moon. The project included contributions from Diana Gordon, MGMT’s Benjamin Goldwasser, Magdalena Bay and many others non-rap names, debuting at number nine on the Billboard 200.
His love of music also goes beyond hip-hop and rock, collaborating with James Blake on a whole album in 2024. He’s an artist who refuses to be put in a box and continues to inspire the next generation of artists. As he once told Complex, “I feel like it just shines through when it’s something that you like and it’s something that you had fun making, that shines through and that makes people appreciate it all the more.”