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 aged only 18 while he was 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 (real name Miles McCollum) 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.”
However, as well as being an exciting emcee who has grown and evolved, McCollum has also become a prominent figure in fashion and has been asked to walk in several of Kanye West’s shows as a model.
Lil Yachty has previously had his own clothing line with the global lifestyle and streetwear brand Nautica, which was highly successful. Boasting jackets, hats and sweaters, the designs were bold and playful.
However, as well as these clothing items, McCollum is also passionate about shoes and, in an episode of the Complex YouTube series ‘Sneaker Shopping,’ unveiled that he was offered a deal with the sportswear brand Reebok but decided that he didn’t want to take up the offer.
Explaining to the host, Joe La Puma, while shopping at the Flight Club in Los Angeles, the red-haired lyricist explained what Reebok offered and why he didn’t want to be involved, “It was a boat shoe, and oh my god, I didn’t like it! But I love Reebok. I just didn’t like the idea of the shoe. I hate boat shoes, and it was like a weird boat shoe!”
He continued, “There were like beads hanging, and it was weird. I talked to them [my management], and I told them I really loved Reebok, so maybe we could do something, but just not that shoe.” Yachty also expressed his love for the sneaker brand New Balance and labelled their shoes as “so f*cking dope!” You can watch Lil Yachty speaking about his rejection of a Reebok deal below.
