On January 27, 2023, the internet was set ablaze after Lil Yachty, formerly of SoundCloud fame, dropped his new album Let’s Start Here. The Georgia native’s recent record created a buzz in all corners of the music sphere with its psychedelic rock sound, marking a major departure from his older works.
Yachty experienced a brief viral wave after a snippet of his song “Poland” was leaked online in late 2022. Yachty offers his signature warbled yodel on this track, reminiscent of the trap songs that gave him his start in 2015.
With “Poland” fresh in everyone’s minds, it’s safe to say Lil Yachty could have released a more conventional project and experienced decent commercial success. When the news hit that his latest album sounded like a Pink Floyd record if they got their start on an XXL freshman cipher, listeners raced to see if the rumors were true. They were.
The album features dreamy, sparkly production cover to cover. The opening track “Black Seminole” starts with a thick synth line, coaxing the listener to up the volume and feel its warmth. The synth dissipates as the instrumental drops in full force. Yachty brandishes some cocky lyrics centering around the theme of departure, setting up the attitude for the rest of the album.
The next track “The Ride” continues in the same vein as the first song. It features a waning guitar sample reminiscent of Tame Impala, who Yachty collaborated with in October 2021. Teezo Touchdown sports two verses on this track, following Yachty’s lead with a more mellow and melodic delivery. The two use the vehicle of a drug trip to describe a tumultuous life of fame. This theme appears in the line “A quick zoom to the moon,” which could be Yachty’s way of describing his viral rise to success, or the feeling of a literal high. The themes of struggling with the spotlight appear throughout the rest of the album, as well as many more features with impressive performances. In this first portion of the album, it seems Yachty is pulling from an endless bag of tricks.
For longtime fans of Yachty, “pRETTy” comes as a welcomed surprise, opening with his signature tremolo-ridden warbles. Foushée adds a sweet verse with a similar flaunty attitude. She ends the song with a spoken word outro, saying, “The most important moments in life aren’t when you’re born and when you die, But when you met me when we became us.”
Foushée’s closing sentiment transitions beautifully into the next track. On the stripped back interlude “:(failure(:” Yachty chronicles the struggles of young stardom and the feeling of not being able to replicate the success he experienced as a teenager. While it may fall on deaf ears during a more casual listen, it serves as an essential exposition for the record’s back half. This theme appears again in the track “sHouLd i B?” where Yachty describes his hopeless love story. No matter how many times he winds up hurt by his love, he always ends up running back to them. Real.
Entering the album’s last track, Yachty invites the listener to “Speak with your mind” before heading into heavy drum breakdowns reminiscent of the opener’s, beginning and ending the project with unexpected explosions around lyrics of self-exploration and epiphanies. The familiar synth arpeggios reappear from “Black Seminole,” thus concluding the journey, creating a sonic reentry to reality. Let’s Start Here. was a complete curveball. Even if you didn’t enjoy the project, or thought it fell short of psych-rock expectations, I think we can all agree that this marks a positive for the music industry. Musicians are being encouraged to broaden their audience and repertoire in today’s streaming market. And sometimes, it leads to cool projects like this.
