Honestly, if you were hovering around the hip-hop corners of the internet in 2016, you couldn’t escape it. That plinking, high-pitched piano. The heavy autotune that sounded less like T-Pain and more like a singing robot having a mild existential crisis. Minnesota by Lil Yachty was the song that made everyone over the age of 25 incredibly angry.
It was glorious.
The song is basically a nursery rhyme for the "SoundCloud rap" generation. It dropped at a time when trap music was supposed to be gritty, dark, and—for lack of a better word—intimidating. Then came Miles McCollum, a kid from Mableton, Georgia, with bright red braids, rapping about how it gets "cold like Minnesota." He wasn’t trying to be the next Jay-Z. He was trying to be Lil Boat.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Lyrics
A lot of critics back then—shoutout to Ebro Darden and the "old heads"—dismissed the track as "mumble rap." They said it had "high school bars." But if you actually listen to the verses, especially the ones Yachty tucked between the catchy hooks, there’s a weirdly personal narrative happening.
He talks about his cousin Reesey being locked up. He mentions "Pat the lawyer" who helped him beat a credit card fraud case. It’s not just nonsense; it’s a kid’s reality filtered through a bubblegum lens. The hook is the part that sticks, though.
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"You need to stay up out the streets if you can’t take the heat / 'Cause it get cold like Minnesota."
It's a metaphor, sure. But it’s also just fun to say. The song officially features Quavo and Skippa Da Flippa, but the "Minnesota Remix" also brought in Young Thug, who fits that weird, melodic vibe perfectly. The track was originally on his Summer Songs EP in 2015 before finding a permanent home on the legendary Lil Boat mixtape in March 2016.
The Zamboni and the Ice Sculpture
You can't talk about Minnesota without the music video. It’s iconic for all the wrong (and right) reasons.
Directed by RJ Sanchez, the video features Yachty and his "Sailing Team" crew on an ice rink. They aren’t playing hockey well—they’re just sort of vibe-ing. There is an actual ice sculpture of Yachty’s head. He’s riding a Zamboni like it’s a Maybach. It was visual proof that the "new" rap era wasn't about being a tough guy; it was about being a brand.
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The video currently sits with tens of millions of views. For a song that many people called "the worst thing to happen to music," it has had a massive shelf life. It eventually went Platinum, which is a pretty loud response to the haters.
Why It Still Matters in 2026
Looking back from where we are now, Minnesota was a pivot point. It signaled the end of "hard" trap being the only way to succeed. Without this song, we probably don't get the experimental, psychedelic Yachty we see today on albums like Let’s Start Here.
It taught a generation of artists that you can be weird. You can use melodies that sound like they belong in a Kirby video game. You can be "unskilled" by traditional standards and still move the needle of culture.
Quick Facts You Might Have Forgotten:
- The Producer: The beat was crafted by Grand Fero. That simple, repetitive piano loop is actually what makes the song so polarizing—it's either hypnotic or annoying depending on your mood.
- The "Pat" Reference: Pat is a real person. Yachty has often credited his lawyer for keeping him out of prison during his early "scamming" days before the music took off.
- The Sprite Deal: This song was so catchy it literally landed Yachty a Sprite commercial alongside LeBron James.
The song is polarizing. Some people still think it’s a joke. Others see it as the birth of "mumble jazz" or "bubblegum trap." Regardless of where you stand, you can't deny that the "cold like Minnesota" line is burned into the collective memory of the 2010s.
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If you’re looking to revisit this era, the best way to do it is to listen to the original Lil Boat mixtape from start to finish. It captures a very specific moment in Atlanta's history where the rules were being rewritten in real-time. Don't just stop at the remix; check out the solo version to hear Yachty at his most raw and experimental.
Next Steps for the Lil Boat Fan:
Check out the 2016 XXL Freshman Class freestyle to see the exact moment the "old vs. new" rap war reached its peak. Then, compare the sound of Minnesota to Yachty's 2023 psychedelic rock transition to see just how far an artist can travel when they refuse to stay in one lane.