Frustration is the root cause of a major shift. Lil Yachty must have felt that. His shift to progressive rock is a left-field moment for an artist usually associated with rage and trap rap. But after claiming he had Nuthin 2 Prove, his arrogance and self-made charm at the front of his image have ebbed away. Ego is a short burst, Yachty explains in Let’s Start Here. Begin again. Maligned and with a reputation fitting of the progressive rock genre, Yachty may have something to prove after all. We all do. Playing with the fabric and structure of his latest release, what Lil Yachty has to prove is right there, at the core of this fourth album. Reinvention.
Reinvention in the age of streaming and always-connected artists is possible, then. Lil Yachty has proven that. He had hit a dead end and took an intense risk, pivoting his craft. Let’s Start Here, its pulsing electric notes crash into the autotuned additions of the BLACK seminole, a roaringly strong seven-minute opener. Atmospheric, intense, and welcoming of the progressive rock tones. Delicate inflections of powerful earnestness spread across this piece and bleed into the ride-. Confidence is still key. It is just genre changes that have inspired Lil Yachty. His personality is still the broad appeal, tracks like pRETTy cement that. “Rewrite the future,” the spoken word :(failure(: states. Those softer tones are a reminder not just for Lil Yachty, but for the listener too.
Much of the appeal of Let’s Start Here comes from that rejection of the former style and an embrace of what is, definitely, a risky project. Lil Yachty pulls off Let’s Start Here and the progressive rock stylings with great confidence, incorporating lush instrumentals on WE SAW THE SUN!!, sampling Bob Ross toward the end and pushing through into the brilliant Diana Gordon collaboration on drive ME crazy!. Those Tame Impala-like constructs on sAy sOMETHINg are unavoidable, but it is the big single to draw that crowd in. It’ll work. Not as much as the rest of the album, but there it is. Serious, solemn work has found Lil Yachty growing into new, admirable moments of self-reflection not found in his previous works. That is the key change, beyond that of the soul-filled, jazz-infused, progressive rock collection here.
Let’s Start Here has an important cultural relevance, from its AI-generated cover to its hopeful defiance that bleeds throughout a genre long forgotten by new artists. THE zone is an admirable demonstration of all those feelings, all those misgivings, that have led to Let’s Start Here. Lil Yachty mocks the potential detractors with IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!, a track that does more for the new era of his sound than any other track. Assured new beginnings are found throughout, the blur of an artist trying something new does much to mask how constant and longstanding progressive rock is, but how desperate it was for an articulate, inspired change of pace. Lil Yachty offers that with his musical rebirth, a constant and challenging piece that will get as good a reception for its technical expertise as it will for the celebration that comes from leaving the horrors of Teenage Emotions behind.
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
