It’s hard out here for new artists in 2025. With an average of over 100K tracks hitting streaming platforms daily, AI-generated slop flooding feeds, and attention spans shrinking by the second, today's emerging musicians are facing an entirely new set of challenges. In a new interview with GQ, Yung Lean reflects on how the game has changed for the next generation of online rappers, who face pressures he never experienced during his own rise over a decade ago. Yung Lean was posting music on SoundCloud and Tumblr with his Sad Boys crew throughout 2012. At age 17 in 2013, he broke through when his "Ginseng Strip 2002" video went viral on YouTube. Lean established himself as a key figure in cloud rap's early wave.⁠ ⁠ While he empathizes with the young artists he has influenced, Yung Lean has found peace in moving beyond the persona that once defined him. Now 29 and over a year sober, he shares, "I just never thought I'd get this old, you know? I f*cking love it. Everything gets easier. F*...