Lil Yachty Says Soulja Boy and Hot 97 Freestyle Are Two Things He Would Have Done Differently This Year

Lil Yachty opens up about his breakout 2016 and reveals the two things he would have done differently have to do with Soulja Boy and Hot 97.

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Complex Original

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Lil Yachtyblew up in 2016 and the rapper says there are only two things that stick out in his mind from the year that he wished he had done differently.

"I wouldn't have hit Soulja Boy up," he told Fader about the momentary beef that got squashed a day later. "That was the weirdest shit of the year for me, but I'm thankful it was over quick. It's never been my fault, a situation like that. Soulja Boy came at me. Oh well. It is what it is."

The other moment that sticks out in Yachty's mind is his first Hot 97 freestyle. "And maybe that Hot 97 freestyle. I would have came in prepared for that freestyle," he added. Thankfully, he found redemption when he visited Ebro at the Beats 1 studio in November. "For my second [Hot 97] freestyle, I had key points ready. I had certain things I wanted to say, and I knew how I wanted to say them. But I wouldn't even take that first one back. It made me go harder. Like, I like the hate, bro. It had people talking. I enjoyed it. Everything happens in life for a reason."

On the upside, there were plenty of highlights for Yachty this year, like contributing to Kanye West's Yeezy fashion show at Madison Square Garden. "I was originally supposed to be standing in the very back," Yachty revealed of the Yeezy show. "Then right before the show, I saw the director, 'Excuse me, ma'm, don’t you think I should be in the front? Don't you think I have the great hair, and the color matches the clothes?'" After that, they put Yachty in front and "a lot of fashion doors opened up after that."

There was also the time he met Jay Z and Beyoncé backstage at Made in America where he says Jay caught him singing along to Coldplay's "Fix You." "Jay Z was surprised that I knew the song. He told me I should remake it. I was like, 'I might just yet. Only if you get on the track with us.' And he said yeah. It was dope."

Yachty actually gave a quick rendition of Coldplay's "Always in My Head" in his Nardwuar interview, but we're still hoping that "Fix You" rework really happens. You can read Yachty's full rundown of his past year at the Fader.

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