While it’s no secret that many artists in the industry use ghostwriters for their hit songs, Lil Yachty recently dropped a bombshell when he claimed he penned the twerk-anthem “Act Up” by the City Girls.
In an interview with 23-year-old Kerwin Frost, Yachty opened up about his involvement on the track, stating, “One day I was in the studio with my best friend, Earl, and he played the beat. He was like, ‘Write something for the City Girls.’ And I was like, ‘Okay.’ And I just did it,” he recalled.
The Nuthin’ 2 Prove rapper says when the song initially came out many people were surprised to see his real name, Miles McCollum, listed in the writing credits. “[They] were like, ‘Maybe he did like how Kanye have 12 writers. He may have said one thing in the studio and they [credited] him,” Yachty told Frost. “I wrote the whole song,” he clarified. “Except for JT’s last verse. But everything that everyone is singing and all. I wrote the whole thing.”
When asked about his songwriting process and how he was about to produce such a female-driven track, Yachty explained, “I just thought like them. I know them personally. And I know what women like to hear.” According to the Georgia native, when he first heard the track he thought, “What’s just some raunchy s—t?”
Yachty’s mind-blowing admission sent some fans into a frenzy, with some calling him “genius” and others calling out the need for more female rappers who write their own material.
In addition to being a songsmith for others, Yachty released his third studio album, Nuthin’ 2 Prove, in October 2018. The LP was met with mixed reviews, receiving a 52 out of 100 on Metacritic. This Summer, fans can catch him at this year’s Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash Festival in Chicago on the weekend of June 29 through June 30.
Check out his full interview with Frost ahead.