Five Reasons Rap Purists Hate Lil Yachty

By Walker MacMurdo

Red-haired rapper Lil Yachty has been causing a storm in hip-hop. Yachty (real name: Miles McCollum) has earned the ire of hip hop heads with a take on Future-style Atlanta rap so saccharine and stripped down that it borders on childlike. Nonetheless, he has received a cosign from Kanye West and XXL Magazine, having brought to rap a simple infectiousness that haven't seen since the glory days of Soulja Boy, whom Yachty has called a formative influence. Here are five reasons why some continue hate.

1. He unashamedly embraces rap music's most saccharine influences.

Lil Yachty brings stripped-down, sing-song melodicism to Auto-Tuned, Atlanta-style hip-hop that we haven't seen since the glory days of Soulja Boy. And do you know who haters really hate? Soulja Boy.

2. His songs are very catchy.

As everyone who has listened to Yachty's excellent single "Minnesota" can attest, you'll have it's synth-driven hook bouncing around your skull for weeks. Cuz. It. Gets. Cold. Like. Min. Es. Oh. Taaah.

3. He's been cosigned by Kanye West.

Yachty came to prominence about the same time he appeared with bright-red beads braided into his hair at Kanye's Yeezy Season 3 fashion show. (Another reason purists hate: Yachty has bright-red beads braided into his hair.)

4. He helped bring the dulcet voice of Kylie Jenner to America's music-listening public.

On the song "Beautiful Day," by Yachty's friend and frequent collaborator Burberry Perry, Yachty appears with socialite Kylie Jenner, who giggles while reciting the song's hook. RIP hip-hop, it was a good run.

5. He is the self-proclaimed "King of Teens."

On Summer Songs 2, Yachty proudly proclaims, "Young Boat, I'm the king of the teens/Bitch, go to sleep, she gon' see me in her dreams/Every time I walk around, you see thousand dollar jeans." Yachty was born in 1997, and his pants cost more than your rent. Hate, hate, hate.

Related: "Young Thug shows why he's the most talked about man in hip-hop at Roseland Teater."

SEE IT: Lil Yachty plays Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., on Tuesday, Aug. 9. 8 pm. Sold out. All ages.

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