The Golden Child

"Dog, it's been a minute.” This is YK Osiris admitting to Apple Music that fans of his—some of whom have been waiting since at least spring 2018’s “Valentine” for him to release a full length project—have been more than patient with his creative process. “I wanted to take my time,” he says. “Some songs I redid like five times.” As one of the fastest-rising voices in R&B, YK is relieved then to be delivering The Golden Child, a more complete portrait of the 21-year-old Jacksonville native’s continued navigation of love, life, and a rapidly increasing industry profile. Below, he talks us through some of the tracks that made the whole thing worth waiting for.

Worth It (feat. Tory Lanez & Ty Dolla $ign) [Remix]
“Being ‘worth it’ is being down for you. You ain't got to worry about no jewels—it’s women that's independent and motivated, that's not lazy, not materialistic, women like that. Ty Dolla $ign and Tory? They my brothers. Tory, he wanted to get on it, and Ty Dolla $ign, he loved the song, so he just got on it, same day. It happened just like that.”

Fake No Mo
“People put themselves in a predicament they ain’t supposed to be in. Like me, I was staying with a girl at one point, and I just couldn’t take it no more, you know? It's like, I can't show that I love you no more when I really don't. So, some people put themselves in a predicament where they don't love [their partner] no more but they still ride with them.”

Sexual
"I feel like this is going to be a big song for me because it's an old-school vibe but new-school vibe at the same time. That's my baby right there. I really love this song because it shows my versatility. It sounds like the type of song you can play at a wedding.”

Ride (feat. Kehlani)
“Kehlani, I had to send her the record. It was very crazy ’cause I DM'd her and she DM'd me right back and said, 'Send me the song.' And she did it in like two hours! I’d never talked to her before in my life, and she just DM'd me back, like 10 minutes after.”

Change
“This is like a struggle song. I love this because it shows my past. I went through a lot. I was very hungry. People got to really understand that you have a past, and this fame ain’t just come easy. You have to go through steps. I had to go through that storm to get where I needed to go.”

Closer (feat. Jah Vinci)
“I love reggae. For me, going to that culture shows versatility. Like, nobody doing that right now, at my age. Jah Vinci, he’s from Jamaica. My dad is into Jamaican culture.”

Ballin
“It's different how people look at you, man, when you got money and fame and fortune. People feel like you got duties, like you stamped already, 'You have to do this…' and that's not true. We're still human, we make mistakes. People feel like you need to change because you got money, and I feel like, just be you.”

Valentine
“I ain't gonna say it's old, but my voice done changed a lot since this song. But I put it on my album because that’s what people know me for. This my first album, I had to put that on there. I feel like I have grown a lot, but I still love it.”