Lil Yachty Says He Was "Devastated" By "Teenage Emotions" First Week Sales

Lil Yachty and Kodie Shane chop it up in a new interview.

BYAron A.
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Lil Yachty's been on a hot streak for a while but 2017 was a defining year in his career. While he may have found himself in some controversy here and there, he ultimately became an artist the world had to keep an eye out for. However, the hype that surrounded his name didn't match up to the first week numbers of his debut album Teenage Emotions. The album ended up doing 44K within the first week which was significantly less than what was predicted.

Lil Yachty and Sailing Team member, Kodie Shane, recently chopped it up in a new interview for Interview Magazine. Among the many topics they explored, Yachty opened up about his reaction to the first week sales of his debut album. The rapper explained how he felt that he disconnected with his fans while creating the album and was disappointed in the numbers of the first week sales.

"When I first released my Teenage Emotions album I thought that shit was fire, as you should! Then the sales came back and it did 44,000 first week and I was devastated and so confused, I worked so hard." he said, "But I disconnected with my fans because I tried to do this other stuff, you know?"

Yachty elaborated further by saying that despite how great it was, he didn't have any radio records on the project. He also admits that parts of the project felt forced because he was dabbling in other styles and doing "all this other shit." 

Regardless of how Teenage Emotions did, Lil Yachty has his fans excited over the release of Lil Boat 2. Earlier today, Lil Yachty revealed the project was done. So hopefully, we get that soon. 


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.