Earlier this week, Kai Cenat gave a sneak peek of an unreleased Lil Yachty song during a livestream. Following accusations from fans that he was imitating Playboi Carti’s style, Yachty took to Twitter yesterday evening (March 20) to address the issue.
In response to a social media user’s comment suggesting he was copying Carti, Yachty defended himself by stating, “Biting him? How did I bite him? The beat? If that’s the case, I [have] been workin’ with Cardo since 2019 or 2020 on record. Y’all fans be smoking the strongest d**k.” This was in reference to Cardo, a renowned producer for artists like Drake, Travis Scott, and Kendrick Lamar, who has collaborated on many of Carti’s recent tracks, including “H00DBYAIR,” “KETAMINE,” “EVILJ0RDAN,” and “BACKR00MS,” all expected to feature on Carti’s upcoming album.
Despite Yachty’s explanation, critics pointed out more alleged similarities beyond just the beat. One observer noted, “The song is terrible. The beat is a ‘H00DBYAIR’-type beat. Your flow is an obvious attempt at a Carti flow, and you used a ‘what’ ad-lib in the same cadence [that] Carti uses.”
Last year, Lil Yachty refuted claims of copying Playboi Carti. In July 2023, DJ Akademiks asserted during a livestream that the Whole Lotta Red artist had influenced Yachty to change his sound significantly, particularly citing tracks like “Poland” and “Strike (Holster)” as examples of this influence from the Georgia rapper.
Yachty promptly responded to DJ Akademiks, stating, “[You are] so insane. I didn’t tell [you] this at all. Stop drinking, bro. I said [Tyler, The Creator] encouraged me to take that route.”
In 2023, Lil Yachty released Let’s Start Here., an album that showcased a diverse range of collaborations with artists such as Justine Skye, Teezo Touchdown, Daniel Caesar, Diana Gordon, and Fousheé. This project marked a departure for the QC rapper as he delved into psychedelic rock, giving rise to tracks like “drive ME crazy!” and “pRETTy.”