Words by Roman White
Lil Yachty sat down for an interview with fellow Atlanta artist Kodie Shane for Interview Magazine. The duo spoke about adjusting to fame, how they first linked up, and upcoming projects – but the highlight of the interview was Lil Boat speaking frankly about his feelings regarding the sales numbers of his Quality Control/Capitol Music debut album, Teenage Emotions.
“When I first released my Teenage Emotions album I thought that s**t was fire,” said Yachty to Kodie Shane. “Then the sales came back and I did 44,000 first week and I was devastated and so confused, I worked so hard.”
At the time of the album’s release, Yachty was doing big things with his Sprite and Target commercials all over the place, inking a creative director position with Nautica and thriving off the press from a viral interview he gave to Complex’s Everyday Struggle with Joe Budden, Nadeska Alexis and DJ Akademiks. However, this press and commercialization did not translate to record sales to Yachty’s dismay.
Yachty went on to tell Kodie how he felt like he didn’t have a radio record and felt that he forced a lot of changes in his style for this album. Teenage Emotions’ lead single was a Migos-assisted track titled “Peek A Boo,” which went Gold four months after its release – underwhelming for an artist that was as hot as Yachty was at the time.
The “Lady in the Yellow” rapper says that he loves the album, but the implication based on the interview is that he would have done things differently, if he had the chance. He also offers advice to Kodie Shane who is working on her debut album with Epic Records. “Just never change or transfer yourself, just be you,” he says.
Yachty also revealed that he has been working on his follow up to Teenage Emotions. He plans to release ‘Lil Boat 2’ a follow-up to his popular mixtape which featured the songs “Minnesota” and “One Night.” The 20-year-old rapper has been reportedly sitting on the project for some time now and is prepared to drop it at anytime.
