Rapper Lil Yachty is facing widespread criticism after previewing a song on streamer PlaqueBoyMax’s channel that included a controversial lyric referencing George Floyd, whose 2020 death in Minneapolis police custody sparked global protests.
During the August 14 livestream, the Atlanta-born artist — real name Miles McCollum — rapped, “Put my knee up on her neck, I went George Floyd,” while others in the room nodded along. The line, which appeared to make a sexual joke using the circumstances of Floyd’s killing, quickly drew sharp condemnation across social media.
“This is so ass dawg. You can do better than this,” one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Another asked, “Mocking one of the most horrific deaths in American history… Why green-light an ignorant bar like this?” Several commenters compared the lyric to past rap controversies, including Lil Wayne’s 2013 Emmett Till reference and his 2009 Rodney King lyric, while others called Yachty “one of the worst rappers” to reach mainstream success.
Stephen Jackson calls out Lil Yachty over George Floyd lyrics:
— SAY CHEESE! 👄🧀 (@SaycheeseDGTL) August 15, 2025
"Put my knee up on her neck, I went George Floyd" -Lil Yachty pic.twitter.com/G3gwCRZUCl
Stephen Jackson, a former NBA player and close friend of Floyd, was tagged in multiple posts criticizing the lyric. One commenter wrote, “We do not support bunk gibberish like this in the community. All blessings to King George Floyd, his family, and everyone against this disrespectful nonsense.”
Floyd, 46, died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine minutes during an arrest. The incident, captured on video, prompted nationwide and global protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
As of Thursday, Lil Yachty had not publicly addressed the backlash, adding to the ongoing debate about accountability and boundaries in music lyrics.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ