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Summer Songs 2

By Matthew Ramirez

Quality Control

July 27, 2016

“Seven years later and I got the same friends,” Lil Yachty croaks on “All In,” an enjoyable posse cut near the end of Summer Songs 2 . Seven years ago I was 20, two years older than Yachty is now, and I remain friends with only about 25 percent of my social circle from back then—where does the time go? While Yachty is rapping about coming up to the top with his team intact, the line invites personal interpretation: What were you doing seven years ago? What was your life like at 18?

Age plays a huge part in enjoying (or not enjoying) Yachty’s music. He shouts “We are the youth!” on the mixtape’s very first track; he calls himself the “king of the teens” on another song that sounds like superhero theme music. The Atlanta rapper has made some uncomfortable appearances on New York radio shows like “ The Breakfast Club ” and “ Ebro in the Morning ,” where he was prodded and treated with a whiff of condescension—the weird kid in class with red dreads who embodies a new movement that strikes fear in older people. It all seems like an unfair burden put upon a teenager who doesn’t really deserve such high-strung generational introspection and skepticism. While Summer Songs 2 is better than Lil Boat , his breakthrough release from earlier this year, the music is still too flimsy to garner such “what is wrong with these kids?” hand-wringing.

That said, of his current burgeoning peers—guys like Lil Uzi Vert , Playboi Carti, 21 Savage , and Kodak Black —Yachty is looking like the one most poised for crossover success. His dominant feature on the D.R.A.M. song “ Broccoli ” sits at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100, and his light-hearted persona often shines on songs that are loose and feature less rapping. Which is fine. He gets in trouble, though, when gunning for some kind of respectability in traditional hip-hop circles.

“For Hot 97” mostly falls flat, because Yachty simply can’t keep up with the beat. He doesn’t command a verse as strongly as most of the guests on the tape, like Chicago’s G Herbo , who flattens “Up Next 3,” and Offset, who offers a silky verse on the woozy banger “DipSet.” In contrast, Yachty frequently falls off-tempo—it can be unpleasant to listen to. His high-pitched voice works in his favor on slower cuts but doesn’t blend well when he’s shouting and lagging behind the track. It’s a bit discomfiting—you want to root for the kid, but it’s frustrating to hear him undermining his strengths so frequently.

Summer Songs 2 clicks into focus on spacey, weirder songs like the slow-blooming “IDK,” where Yachty grapples with sudden fame, and the despondent breakup jam “Yeah Yeah,” which features the oddly memorable passage: “Dick so good turn that ho to George/That mean she get curious.” Yachty cops to being a student of Soulja Boy and Lil B (see the #based philosophy of “Life Goes On”) but he’s also got a Tyler, the Creator sense of humor, from his irreverent videos to opening the album by impersonating his “uncle,” Darnell Boat, who sounds like a character from the “Loiter Squad” cutting-room floor. And something about the tape’s late run of songs, when things slow down and the beats wilt, reminds me of chillwave’s idyllic vision of the West Coast, all beaches and girls and sun-soaked afternoons—potent, dreamy stuff that appeals directly to the sensibilities of teens and college loafers. Yachty is delivering an aesthetic , which is catnip to some (mostly those 25 and under) and repellent to others. But if you’re locked in, Summer Songs 2 can be a lot of fun.

On closer “So Many People,” after playing a series of wide-eyed, wistful testimonials to his music, Yachty lowers his voice to a near whisper while a simple, forceful drum pattern kicks—a startling moment of vulnerability, even when he boasts, “I just put both of my feet in the door/I did it two times faster than these other niggas.” It’s the kind of pathos you get from young adults—the confidence is there, but the insecurity and uncertainty of teenagedom still looms. If Summer Songs 2 buckles under the weight of an Apple Music imprimatur and deafening hype, try to think about being 18 again, when you only wanted to listen to yourself.

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Lil Yachty’s Alleged Reference Track Surfaces for Drake Song Everyone Already Knew He Co-Wrote

Lil Yachty ’s alleged reference track for Drake ’s solo Her Loss cut " Jumbotron Shit Poppin " is making the rounds on social media.

The alleged leak sees Yachty running through the 2022 track, the official video for which famously featured the " Summer Games " sequel denier rocking millions of dollars' worth of Pharrell's old jewelry , albeit with a number of small lyrical differences. Namely, the chorus-opening "We ain't even out in Turks" line is entirely absent.

Yachty, who also picked the cover art for Drake and 21 Savage ’s first joint album together, hadn't addressed the alleged leak at the time of this writing, nor should he be expected to do so. Akademiks, meanwhile, has claimed that Metro Boomin is involved with the alleged leak, though no such claim has been confirmed. The alleged leak appears to have first surfaced via Twitter user @notbobbalam , who claimed on Sunday that they had received it "from a random Atlanta number."

Yachty, of course, has been credited as a writer on "Jumbotron Shit Poppin" since its 2022 release. In fact, Drake and Yachty are joined by 12 other names in the track's official writing credits. Her Loss ' other Yachty co-writing credits include "Major Distribution," "BackOutsideBoyz," "Privileged Rappers," "Circo Loco," and "Pussy & Millions." The best-dressed rapper of 2023 also received several co-production credits on the album, including for "Jumbotron Shit Poppin."

To be clear, circulating alleged reference tracks when it comes to Drake is not the diss some seem to think that it is. Yachty, specifically, has been vocal about his work with Drake, telling Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo for Complex just last September that it "just so happens that one of my friends is one of the biggest artists in the world." Not to mention, and as we just established above, the credits for such work are publicly available.

To be even clearer, a writing credit on a song doesn’t necessarily mean that the individual being credited contributed substantially to the composition in question, nor does it negate the contributions of the main artist. A credit can come about by something as simple as being in the room and bouncing ideas at the time of a song's creation.

Furthermore, to still be hung up on songs that boast multiple writing credits ignores the fact that this practice is (and has been) employed across all genres, from rock (blink-182’s latest No. 1 album is a fine example of this collaborative approach) to country (Morgan Wallen’s "Last Night" counts four writers, none of whom are Wallen) to, yes, rap.

In short, sharing an alleged reference track proves nothing other than a straws-grasping approach being employed by some amid the battle for the Drakeiverse.

More on this

Meet the Members of Lil Yachty’s Concrete Boys Crew Jordan Rose · April 4, 2024

Lil Yachty Continues Streak of Memorable Singles With New "Something Ether" Song and Video Trace William Cowen · Feb. 23, 2024

“I Just Care a Lot”: Lil Yachty Opens up About His Tour and Friendship With Drake Ecleen Luzmila Caraballo · Sept. 26, 2023

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A.I.-Created Drake and Kendrick Lamar Disses Circulate, Sources Confirm They're Fake

Drake confirmed one of the tracks was fake, while a close associate of Kendrick said he still hasn't released a response.

As hip-hop fans wait with bated breath to know what happens next in the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar , several A.I.-assisted tracks have circulated online.

Over the weekend, Drake's response to Kendrick Lamar's "Like That" verse leaked online, and since then another alleged track entitled "Hi Whitney" started to show up on social media. However, it appears as though the track, which takes its name from K Dot's fianceé Whitney Alford, is fake. Drake directly contacted DJ Akademiks , who has acted as a middle-man amid the current hip-hop civil war, to confirm as much.

"He did hit me," Akademiks explained. "I guess when I was playing that 'Hi Whitney' sh*t, he said that's A.I. He said 100% A.I. So, I'm gonna take his word, but I ain't gonna lie to you. That sh*t is slick... That's really the Drake bag I want him to get into. It's not necessarily that track. That's the bag I want him to get into. The slick talk but direct talk over some smooth beat."

New Update 🚨Akademiks confirms new drake diss “Hi Whitney” is AI. Source:Drake pic.twitter.com/RYScFoWn7D — CY Chels (@SeewhyChels) April 15, 2024

There's also been a fake Kendrick Lamar track floating around, which close Kung Fu Kenny associate Daylyt tweeted is "10000% ai." Hip-hop podcast NFR Podcast added that they have also heard from "sources" that the allegedly leaked Kendrick diss targeting drake is "100% not a real song."

Additionally, sources close to NFR have confirmed that this is 100% not a real song. — NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) April 15, 2024

While fans wait for the next real tracks from Drake and Kendrick Lamar, the proliferation of several A.I.-generated or assisted songs will likely spark a conversation surrounding the use of such technology. The songs are very clearly produced with the help of A.I., especially since they sound like shit. Regardless, there's no denying it's further muddied the waters since they managed to fool several people, including Akademiks.

Drake's real response track , which has yet to be officially released, doesn't just see him going after Kendrick Lamar. On the song, Drizzy also takes shots at Future, Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, and Ja Morant, for some reason. K Dot has yet to release a response to the song, but Rozay has been quick to reply by alleging Drake got a nose job and calling him "white boy" in a track he released just hours after Drizzy's surfaced.

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