Lil Yachty could have simply introduced the “artwork imitates actuality” fallacy to life based mostly on one of many wildest episodes of Donald Glover’s Atlanta sequence and his current resolution to deliver viral rapper Ian to the stage.
A variety of memorable moments got here out of Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer season Smash in Chicago over the weekend. One of many greatest takeaways from the competition, outdoors of Chief Keef’s return to The Windy Metropolis, was Lil Yachty’s obvious co-sign of newcomer Ian.
Delivered to the stage to carry out his trending single “Determine It Out,” Ian paid homage to the Concrete Boys main man by recreating the walkout Lil Yachty went viral for on the 2021 iteration of the competition. Apparently, Lil Yachty was feeling it, too, as a result of he even stopped Ian mid-verse and made him run the file again as soon as extra. To not point out, the clip went viral on social media, garnering greater than three million views on one of many clips shared on Twitter (X) alone.
And whereas all of it appeared like a definitive passing of the torch second, a fan principle floating round on the platform has likened the prevalence to the notorious “Younger White Avatar (YWA)” episode from Glover’s thrilling dramedy, Atlanta.
“Yachty actually obtained himself a Younger White Avatar Donald Glover referred to as this on ‘Atlanta’ a pair years in the past lmao,” the Twitter (X) consumer wrote within the put up.
As defined within the season 4 episode of the sequence, the “YWA” is basically a younger white artist that profitable Black artists are anticipated to pivot and leverage towards the latter half of their careers.
The principle thought driving the literary gadget of tragic irony on the core of the plot of this episode is that despite the fact that the Black artist is authentically a scholar of the sport, the cycle of popular culture will dictate that they might want to embrace a YWA—or younger white avatar—to succeed in broader mainstream audiences because the get older.
It’s both that or turn into out of date, because the sobering but humorous scene from Atlanta makes an attempt to elucidate as Paper Boy sits in on a YWA data session led by an older Black male music trade government.
“Everyone on this room can rap their ass off, but when rapping meant you made cash, Cassidy could be a millionaire,” the trainer barks at Paper Boy and the opposite rappers within the scene.
Whereas it may very well be too deep, the idea does shed an fascinating mild on Lil Yachty’s iconic walk-out video and his affect, general. The unique clip of Lil Yachty has collectively amassed hundreds of thousands of views because it started circulating on the web over three years in the past. One major add alone has garnered over 4 million views on YouTube. And the video has additionally gone viral on TikTok and Instagram, and as of late, has bled into the stratosphere {of professional} sports activities with a number of edits and memes including to its reputation.
The most recent development, being AI-generated remakes of the clip, has featured the likeness of a number of main public figures equivalent to Deion Sanders and extra. Nonetheless, it’s for sure that Ian’s remake, regardless of how uncoordinated and or unseasoned it could have been, has undoubtedly breathed new life into the lore of the clip.
Try the clip above.