Lil Yachty

Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Yachty, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor.

He first gained recognition in August 2015 for his viral hit "One Night" from his debut EP Summer Songs.

He attended Alabama State University in fall 2015 but soon dropped out to pursue his musical career.

He adopted the name "Yachty" and moved from his hometown of Atlanta to New York City to launch his career.

In New York, he lived with a friend and networked with online street fashion personalities, while he built up his own Instagram following.

He worked at McDonald's to supplement his income early in his career.

Yachty first came to prominence in December 2015 when the SoundCloud version of his song "One Night" was used in a viral comedy video.

He then released his debut mixtape Lil Boat in March 2016, and signed a joint venture record deal with Motown, Capitol Records, and Quality Control Music in June of that year.

Lil Yachty is also notable for his features on the 2016 multi-platinum songs "Broccoli" by DRAM and "ISpy" by Kyle; as well as his cherry-red hairstyle, lighthearted tone, and optimistic image.

Yachty was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on "Broccoli".

Miles McCollum was born in Mableton, Georgia.

In February 2016, Yachty debuted as a model in Kanye West's Yeezy Season 3 fashion line at Madison Square Garden.

Yachty's debut mixtape Lil Boat was released in March 2016.

In April 2016, Yachty collaborated with DRAM on the hit song "Broccoli", which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

He featured on Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book mixtape, released in May 2016.

On June 10, 2016 he announced he had signed a joint venture record deal with Quality Control Music, Capitol Records, and Motown Records.

Yachty released his second mixtape Summer Songs 2 in July 2016 with features from G Herbo, Offset, and his former collective the "Sailing Team".

In June 2016, Lil Yachty appeared in XXL magazine as part of their 2016 Freshman Class.

As part of this appearance, Yachty performed a 'freshman cypher' alongside Denzel Curry, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, and Kodak Black.

As of March 2021, this cypher has received over 180 million YouTube views, by far the most for the XXL channel.

In December 2016, he was featured on the hip hop single "iSpy" by Kyle.

Yachty has released five studio albums, beginning with Teenage Emotions in 2017.

He was featured in Tee Grizzley's single "From the D to the A", released in March 2017.

On May 26, 2017, Lil Yachty released his debut studio album, Teenage Emotions.

It features guest appearances from Migos, Diplo, and YG, among others.

Three promotional singles were released to coincide with the album.

The first promotional single, "Harley", produced by K Swisha, was released on April 14, 2017.

The second promotional single, "Bring It Back", produced by Free School, was released on May 4, 2017.

The third promotional single, "X Men", produced by 30 Roc and Tillie and featuring a guest appearance from American rapper Evander Griiim, was released on May 18, 2017.

He featured in a remix of "With My Team" by Creek Boyz, released December 15, 2017.

In 2017, Yachty appeared in several high-profile promotional campaigns.

He starred alongside LeBron James in a Sprite commercial, where he is seen in an ice cave playing the piano.

Lil Yachty was picked to be the face of the new Nautica and Urban Outfitters collection for the Spring 2017 season.

Yachty also appeared in the "It Takes Two" video with Carly Rae Jepsen for Target.

His second and third studio albums Lil Boat 2 and Nuthin' 2 Prove were released in 2018, followed by Lil Boat 3 in 2020.

Yachty's fifth album, Let's Start Here (2023) marked a departure from his previous style, experimenting with psychedelic rock.

The album was released to generally positive reception.

Four of his albums have charted within the top 20 of the Billboard 200, with Lil Boat 2 peaking at number 2.

In January 2018, it was reported that Lil Yachty and Takeoff were working on a collaborative project.

This project has yet to be released as of 2023, especially following the death of Takeoff in November 2022.