As we've previously covered, a Kanye West co-sign is as good as gold. And Yeezy has no problem giving a boost to young artists who he deems worthy of his props. According to rap duo The Cool Kids, it was Kanye's co-sign of adding Lil Yachty to the Yeezy Season 3 fashion show that put the rapper on the radar of the average listener.

Sir Michael Rocks and Chuck Inglish, who are working on their reunion project, were recently interviewed by HipHopDX, when the topic of West's ear for new talent came up.

“I’m going to call a spade a spade,” said Rocks. “Wasn’t nobody on Lil Yachty until Kanye put a red braid mother fucker in a fashion show, and people were like, ‘Oh who’s that? Oh he’s got rap records? OK that’s what we on right now.’ Ain’t nobody played Lil Yachty before February unless you lived in Atlanta or was in the know.”

Undoubtedly, many people outside the region's first glimpse of the "Minnesota" rapper was as a model on stage at West's Madison Square Garden fashion showcase. Rocks thinks 'Ye's co-sign was the starting point for Lil Boat blowing up on the web. “Kanye has an ear, but he didn’t put him on,” he continued. “It was the blogosphere. The spiderweb from Kanye is our culture in a nutshell. Whether it’s Cudi or Big Sean or Desiigner—to whoever came through him. It’s impossible to avoid his influence, but when it comes down to the outlets to be so naive that they don’t have an opinion of their own.”

Yachty's career has definitely taken off since his inclusion in the fashion show, as the XXL Freshman has become one of the hottest and most controversial new rappers on the scene.

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