Lil Yachty is the stage name of Miles Parks McCollum, an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer (born August 23, 1997). He first became well-known online in 2015 thanks to the singles “One Night” and “Minnesota” off his debut EP Summer Songs, which also featured Quavo, Skippa Da Flippa, and Young Thug. In March 2016, he made available Lil Boat, his debut mixtape. Yachty made the announcement that he secured a combined recording contract with Motown, Capitol Records, and Quality Control Music in June 2016.
The first of Yachty’s five studio albums, Teenage Emotions, was released in 2017. Lil Boat 2 and Nuthin’ 2 Prove, his second and third studio albums, as well as Lil Boat 3 were all released in 2018. Let’s Start Here, Yachty’s fifth studio album, was released in 2023 and was influenced by psychedelic rock. Lil Boat 2 peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, and four of his albums were among the top 20. Throughout his career, Yachty has also released a number of mixtapes and EPs; the most recent of these, Michigan Boy Boat, was published in 2021.
His songs have included sounds from the Mario Bros., Charlie Brown, Rugrats theme, the GameCube console’s starting sound, and J-pop singer Daoko. Lil Yachty has dubbed his style “bubblegum trap.” His paintings also feature other subjects including clouds, cotton candy, the Super Nintendo, and clips from Pixar movies. TheGoodPerry, a close friend of his, plays a significant role in the songwriting process. Yachty’s style has also been classified as mumble rap.
The Guardian called his music “fun, hook-first pop rap” that “doesn’t take itself too seriously, with very little interest in legacy and even less in rap canon,” while Rolling Stone called it “catchy, intentionally dinky-sounding tunes packed with off-color boasts delivered in a proudly amateurish singsong.”
