In 2016, when Lil Yachty was fairly new to the music scene, he made some controversial comments about legendary rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac. Nearly five years and a few projects later, he revisited his takes, the ensuing backlash and the lessons he’s learned from the entire experience.

During a recent interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, Yachty — who is promoting his new album, Michigan Boy Boat — explained that he “was just being honest” when he called Biggie overrated and admitted to not knowing five songs from the West Coast rapper. “I didn’t have any media training, right?” he said. “All I knew was to be an honest person…I’m going to tell the truth.”

He also clarified that he never said the late emcees were “trash.”

At the time, Yachty’s comments weren’t well received. The backlash that followed was one of the first times he experienced being the target of death threats and other harsh criticism.

“Rap is opinionated, everything is opinionated…I was so young. I was like 19, 18,” he said. “I had never in my life, I had never been hated like that. People hated me after that, like death threats. I think that’s what really started that hate for me. So many people were just automatically trying to dump me like, ‘He’s whack, he’s corny’ or whatever the case may be.”

Fortunately, however, despite the reactions to his Biggie and Tupac takes, Yachty managed to walk away with some tough skin and a few lessons learned.

“[The situation] taught me a lot,” he said. “It built my character up and made me so strong and put a shell around me. Like to a point, I got into so much shit, I don’t care about anything now. I’m thankful for it because my emotions can’t hear it. Now look, say whatever they want to say. I don’t care. You know what I’m saying? And I made it through that. I made it through that and I’m still successful. And I’m still here to this day, it’s five years later, I did it.”