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Antonio Jackson
Staff Writer
Lil Yachty made his way back into the public’s eye and released his newest project, “Let’s Start Here” on Jan. 27, 2023.
Unlike his previous albums, Yachty took a different approach than your typical rap album. With features from artists like Daniel Caesar, Diana Gordon, and Teezo Touchdown, the album easily falls into the alternative rock genre.
The album created a sound that I was surprised by coming from Yachty. He delivered a completely different sound that fans aren’t used to hearing from him.
The initial track, “the BLACK seminole”, did a great job at grabbing my attention because of its length (six minutes) and it’s the longest song of the album. I looked at it like he made a statement for what he wanted his album to represent.
The album did really well with pacing and I think Yachty managed to keep the same energy for the next few songs, “The Ride”, “Running Out of Time”, and “pRETTy”.
This created a slight issue for me in the interlude, “:(failure(:”. I completely understand that interludes are meant to bring a sense of continuity to albums and it adds an overall story. But if there was a story, it was not clear on this interlude.
However, the next song “The Alchemist”, helped the album pick right back, so this slight delay can be overlooked. He drew me right back in before closing out the album with “REACH THE SUNSHINE.”
This track I feel did well in bringing the album to a close because it left me feeling fulfilled and satisfied in completing the audio journey that album provided.
One thing that I appreciated about “Let’s Start Here”, is its production. A nice touch that was added were the seamless transitions between each track. This gave the effect that the entire album could be connected as one huge song rather than individual tracks.
It’s easy to tell that every aspect of each track, from the vocals to the beats, has been tweaked to perfection in order to make the perfect listening experience. Throughout the album, you can tell that a lot of influence came from other alternative rock figures like Gorillaz and Nirvana.
I do believe that if “Let’s Start Here” is your first impression of Lil Yachty, then you may have a hard time getting into his older music. However, I will recommend this album for everyone to enjoy.
According to Billboard’s Chartbeat, Yachty’s foray into the rock world debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts.
Overall, I feel the album was a phenomenal project that came with an appreciation of how Yachty was willing to step out of his comfort zone and expand on his talent as an artist.
