Let's Start Here. - Lil Yachty

Let’s Start Here. album cover, Lil Yachty

Lil Yachty has been a long-time star in the cloud rap scene. 

Yachty has always been a character bursting with creativity and charisma, and he is no stranger to taking risks. The  very first song of his debut mixtape, Lil Boat, has “Uncle Darnell” introducing us to his two cousins: Lil Boat, who likes to kill flows over trap beats, and Lil Yachty, whose buttery, reverb-washed voice glides beautifully over 808s and hi-hats. These creative risks have continued to take  many different forms throughout Lil Yachty’s career. It could perhaps explain how Yachty has some albums that have been praised as amazing trap music, while others that people would like to forget altogether.

(Editor's note: If you ever look at a Pitchfork rap review and it makes no sense, make sure that Alphonse Pierre is not the writer. He tends to write nonsense.)

What makes Let’s Start Here. so special is how flawlessly Lil Yachty executes an entirely new sound after 7 plus years in the music industry. And the album is not just impressive because “I didn’t expect this from Lil Yachty.” It’s  objectively impressive because each track is backed with immaculate synths, live instrumentation, and soaring solos—all co-produced by Lil Yachty. Despite the clear dedication and mastery that Yachty now has for the sound, he also enlisted a list of collaborators that would make any indie kid start foaming at the mouth. This list includes  Daniel Caesar, Foushee, Teezo Touchdown, Justine Skye, and Diana Gordon (producer of Lemonade by Beyonce), along with production and writing help from Mac DeMarco, Alex G, Benjamin Goldwasser (MGMT), Jacob Portrait (Unknown Mortal Orchestra), Magdalena Bay, and Justin Raisen (producer for Angel Olsen, Sky Ferreira, Sharon Van Etten, Charli XCX, Joji, Grace Ives, Viagra Boys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yves Tumor, and many more). The amount of talent on this record is undeniable, and Yachty fully utilizes this talent to immerse the listener in his psych rock fantasy.

Heavily inspired by Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Let’s Start Here. is not just Lil Yachty trying out a new sound, or pushing any boundaries of psychedelic rock as a genre. Rather , Let’s Start Here. is a faithful and meticulously produced album that arguably introduces a mainstream audience, composed of new generations to psychedelic rock.

I will start by saying that the lyrics and singing are not groundbreaking, jaw-dropping, or insanely impressive. Yachty doesn’t have the most mainstream singing voice, but his vocals mesh perfectly with the lush, washed-out soundscape that backs him across the album. Opening with “the BLACK seminole.” Yachty likens himself to the runaway slaves who joined forces with the Seminole natives back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Lines such as “African Rambo with more ammo” are perfect examples of the lyrical content and delivery on this album. This line doesn’t really tie in with the rest of the verse, or the song, but when paired with Yachty’s delivery, it washes over the instrumental before fading away, like waves on a beach (and the mental image of Lil Yachty with a rocket launcher draped in bandoliers is kick ass). With a roaring guitar solo and beautiful closing vocals from him and Diana Gordon, “the BLACK seminole.” sets a dramatic precedent for the rest of the album.

And Lil Yachty keeps delivering. Each song feels unique, which can be difficult when so many instruments are being blended together over an hour long run time. "the ride-” features Yachty and Teezo reflecting on their success and experiences climbing the social ladder. Magdalena Bay leaves their mark on “running out of time” with an infectious bounce. The soft vocal harmonies on the chorus are a fantastic touch, complimenting Lil Yachty’s singing. “pRETTy”, featuring Fousheé, is pure unadulterated joy. The wavering falsettos from his 2022 hit “Poland” return as Yachty “feels so prettyyyyyy”.

“WE SAW THE SUN” opens with a dreamy, washed out guitar. The track features some of Yachty’s best singing on the album and feels utterly serene. Balancing vocals with instrumentation is something many artists can often lean too heavily in one direction with. Yachty lets the track come alive into its own with spacious sections for the instrumentation to swell and wander before coming back home. The track also has an outro featuring Bob Ross, telling us to let our imaginations run wild and embrace failure. “In the time you sit around worrying about it and trying to plan a painting, you could’ve completed a painting already. Let it happen.” The entire album feels like anxiety melting away into an ocean of bliss. “drive ME crazy!” and “IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!” both have beautiful verses from Diana Gordon. Yachty leans into his drugged-out hedonism and brings the production to match.

To finish off the album, we have “REACH THE SUNSHINE” featuring none other than Daniel Caesar. The acoustic guitar melts away underneath the two singing before an anthemic wave of synthesizers take over. The song erupts into a massive finale before tapering off into a gentle piano paired with strings and Daniel humming before fading away. Even by itself, the song is excellent, but as a closer to the album, it stands out even more and is a fantastic end to the journey.

Let’s Start Here. isn’t just Lil Yachty trying out a new sound, but is faithful to psychedelic rock itself, bringing in multiple other influences, and is helping introduce a different part of modern culture to psych rock. Not every moment is immaculate, and within the world of psych rock, the album is not too daring, but Lil Yachty is extremely successful in making a GOOD psych rock album, and with sound switch-ups like this, Yachty continues to be one of rap's most interesting outsiders.