iLoveMakonnen has announced his retirement from the music industry, although he appears to have left the door open for other opportunities under a different name.
The Atlanta native announced the news on Instagram on Thursday (September 5), specifically saying that he was quitting “iLoveMakonnen,” which could mean he could one day return with a new stage name or career.
“I’m going to retire iLoveMakonnen,” he said. “Thank you all for your support and attention over the years. It’s time for me to move on and live my life. “Heavy Streets” is my last song.
He added in the caption: “Thank you for being a part of my musical journey! [heart] See you on the art-filled streets.
This is not the first time iLoveMakonnen has announced his exit from the game. Back in 2016, he announced that he was retiring after declaring that the “rap game was weird.”
“Rap Game Wack, everyone is doing great except Makonnen, that’s why I’m retiring. Haha, that’s great… the game doesn’t need me, the game needs more people like me, more Be themselves and not be afraid like everyone else! It’s all love…it’s okay guys you have me till [20]17,” he wrote in a series of tweets.
The musician also expressed concern about what he sees as the need for hip-hop to be negative and demeaning to its peers.
“It’s like I’m going to stay, I have to despise all these rappers and be negative, I don’t want to do that so I’m going to move on. What a positive thing,” he tweeted.
However, he continued to make music, but recently he accused some of his peers of turning their backs on him when he needed support the most — until they returned after he started making waves with NBA YoungBoy.
Last August, Makonnen took to Instagram to accuse Metro Boomin, Swae Lee and Post Malone of ignoring him until he dropped his successful “Parasite” collaboration with YoungBoy.
“I am him and I have been here!” he captioned the post. “I won’t do anything bad to you! You all turn around and hold hands together. [nail polish emoji] Unfollowed me and everything, now y’all see me with YB (n-gga of realism on earth) and start hitting me like it’s all fine.
“[mind-blown emoji] Damn, it was so painful to watch, especially after we met together in Atlanta in 2014 [peeking emoji, nail polish emoji] @postmalone @swaelee @metroboomin @nba_youngboy.
Makonnen also shared screenshots of his DMs with the aforementioned artists, all of whom seemed impressed with him leading up to the release of his new single at the end of July. While others have yet to respond, Swae Lee responded in the comments section of the post.
“Bro, I’m talking stupid to you for no reason other than to spread love, I’m good at the game, I know you when you spit on mushrooms, relax, I see you on TL , heard the new jam, and told you privately that it’s hard for you, don’t be that person [ok emoji] But man, it was fun,” the Rae Sremmurd hitmaker wrote.
A few hours later, he added: “We can see me anytime, although I won’t stay up late doing public drama.”
