Lil Yachty is not backing down from his controversial comments during an interview at a Rolling Stone event in which he slammed the Hip Hop industry, dubbing it a “terrible” place.
“This is the crazy thing… numbers. First off, Hip Hop was number one. The number-one leading genre for 10-plus years — shitting on every other genre up until recently; about a year ago or two, and it fell in the rankings of being number one,” he began, chatting with co-host Mitch Gone Mad in a new episode of their podcast A Safe Place.
“It’s between country music and Latin music,” Lil Boat continued, before suggesting that streams, revenue, and charting hits have contributed to the change.
“Even record labels have pulled back on funding of Hip Hop as far as like what contracts are looking like and what budgets are being put into…Hip Hop artists. It’s all been scaled back on funding. It’s facts,” he maintained.
He continued: “The facts is that people aren’t supporting Hip Hop like they once did because there is a decline in content.”
Check out the full video below. The relevant section begins at about the 17-minute mark.
Later in the interview, Yachty appeared to take aim at “older folks” bumping “Nas’ greatest hits.”
“I’m coming from a standpoint of just creativity. It’s creatively just not at a height… it’s not at a high. It’s not at a height of the creativity in Hip Hop, it’s low. And, I wasn’t saying we need more standup lyrics. … I’ve always said we should have subgenres just like every other genre.
“People don’t understand everything don’t have to be boom bap,” he concluded.
Last month, the Georgia-bred rapper sent socials into a tizzy when he made some colorful comments about the decline of Hip Hop when chatting at a Rolling Stone Musicians on Musicians event in Brooklyn, New York.
“The state of hip-hop right now is a lot of imitation. It’s a lot of quick, low-quality music being put out.”
He continued: “It’s a lot less risk-taking, it’s a lot less originality. People are too safe now. Everyone is so safe. I rather take the risk than take the L.”
Yachty joins the likes of Juicy J who, concerned about the state of rap music, revealed he wants to band his peers together to take action.
“I know a lot of people don’t want to hear this but I’m being real,” the Three 6 Mafia hitmaker recently said via Instagram. “Rap music is down 40 percent this year. I’ma say it again. Rap music is down 40 percent. Check the charts, check the math. I don’t make the rules. I do not make the rules. It’s down 40 percent. What are we as rappers, producers, composers, etc, gonna do about this shit? ‘Cause it’s down 40 percent this year. Check the charts! Do your research. This is a fact.”
He continued: “Let’s have a conversation! What are we gonna do? As rappers, producers, composers, songwriters, engineers – what are we gon’ do, man?”