Lil Yachty’s Dad Says He Named the Rapper After Miles Davis

From Pete Rock to Ebro Darden, plenty of well-established hip-hop figures have criticized Lil Yachty for his dismissal of what many regard as essential knowledge and listening. In August, he said he couldn't name five songs from either 2Pac or Biggie and at the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards, he said, "Niggas don’t know how to accept change. They old and washed up. I said it."

Shedding some light on the generational beef is Yachty's own father, Atlanta-based music photographer Shannon McCollum, who tells HipHopWired that Yachty's tastes are influenced by what he heard growing up and that he doesn't find his comments bothersome. "I definitely don’t cringe when he say it cause I know where he’s coming from," he says in the above video. "He wasn’t raised on Biggie or Tupac. Growing up, we played a lot of music. By the time he got to be 5 or 6, I really was playing Miles Davis. Cause I was so into Miles Davis and that’s where his name comes from." Yachty's first name is Miles.

McCollum goes on to list Bilal, OutKast, A Tribe Called Quest, Coldplay, John Coltrane, Steely Dan, the Beatles and Paul McCartney as music he played in the house, saying he felt no real responsibility to pass on specific hip-hop records. In August, Yachty spoke to Nardwuar about his love of Coldplay, with McCollum adding here, "I played Coldplay so much it got embedded in his head and he knew every word to every song."

Watch the full interview above.

20 of Your Favorite Rappers Name Their Favorite Rappers