In Kerwin Frost‘s latest interview with Atlanta-born artist Lil Yachty, the artist reveals for the first time how he came to write City Girl‘s single “Act Up,” the group’s biggest single to date.
In the exchange, Yachty explained he was in the studio with creative partner/producer, EarlThePearll, who was working on a City Girls beat and suggested Yachty write the lyrics.
Describing the response to the song when it first dropped, Yachty explained, “They started looking up [credits] and it was like, it says my real name Miles McCollum and Jatavia Johnson which is JT and Isaac Bynum, which is Earl.”
He added that fans initially reacted by minimizing his role by assuming he was one of a team of writers with a small contribution. The 21-year-old noted, “I wrote the whole thing except for JT’s last verse, but everything that everyone is singing and all, I wrote the whole thing.”
When asked what inspired the lyrics, Yachty said, “I just thought like them. I know them personally. And I know what women like to hear. Like I was literally thinking ‘What’s just some raunchy shit?’ And I just started saying it,” said Yachty.
Yachty said the song fulfilled a long-held wish to write a song for another artist. “And I did and when it blew up, it felt so good because people always try to discredit me,” he added.
Check out the entire interview below along with City Girls’ “Act Up” song below.
