By Caitlin Farmer
Why It’s Newsworthy: Lil Yachty, whose birth name is Miles Parks McCollum, is an Atlanta rapper with multiple creative outlets. In a webinar hosted by University Union on Friday night for UGA students, he announced upcoming projects and his current interests all while painting what he described as an abstract piece titled “Internet Explorer.”
Lil Yachty announced an upcoming nail polish line, future acting roles and other projects.
In the Zoom webinar hosted Friday by University Union at the University of Georgia, Lil Yachty, painted. While painting “Internet Explorer”, he answered questions sent in by UGA students and asked by moderators from University Union.
Lil Yachty, broadcasting live from Los Angeles, California, where he said he’s been in the studio recording new music with Internet Money, gave insight into his interests and current projects during the “Painting with Lil Yachty” event.
“Lately, I’ve been intrigued by space, right, and the idea of space,” said Lil Yachty.
Lil Yachty, who said he once drew inspiration for his nails from items around his house, ran out of ideas and now draws inspiration from Etsy and Google.
Though he starred in the movie “How High 2”, Lil Yachty announced there will not be a “How High 3” but he will have more acting roles in the future.
As he sat before his laptop with an easel in front of him, he began painting and said he wanted to turn the webinar into a conversation.
Additionally, he said he thinks we’re not the only life in the galaxy, that aliens probably look exactly like us and we may be living in a simulation.
Ella Larson, a sophomore marketing major at UGA who attended the event, said she loved the concept of it and found it to be entertaining but wished it felt less awkward and was more interactive.
“There was just a miscommunication there that I think caused there to be that awkwardness,” said Larson, “i’m glad they did it but I think it could be improved.”
Lil Yachty, when discussing his favorite musician to work with, brought up Juice Wrld, who passed away in 2019. Larson, a Juice Wrld fan, said that was a moment she will remember.
Larson said she used an old drawing and painted over it along with Lil Yachty, using lots of color.
Upon completing his painting, which University Union said is due to be raffled away to a student in attendance, Lil Yachty gave viewers a breakdown of what he created.
“I was thinking yellow because of the mercury of time and relativity, relative space. The blue, the blue symbolizes luxury being as a person in the higher tax bracket realm. The purple actually stands for 1996 Honda Accord that never breaks down and the green symbolizes the character, the strongest character ever,” said Lil Yachty.
How I Wrote the Story: On April 9, I attended a Zoom webinar hosted by University Union at the University of Georgia. As I attended the webinar, I took recordings of the session, live tweeted, as well as searched for students in attendance to interview. I then had 18 hours to write a story covering the event with source information, social media posts and interview proof. This not only helped me gain experience writing on deadline but also how to live tweet at events.
Click here to view my live tweets from the event.