Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here album review
Have you been wanting to hear a good psychedelic rock album ever since the 70s? then you are in luck because one of the most unexpected album releases has just occurred.
Lil Yachty released a new album on January twenty-seventh, 2020. This fourteen-track album is Lil Yachty’s first venture into a new genre of music. Lil Yachty normally a straightforward rapper but this album he takes inspiration from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon and takes a big step into psychedelic rock music with his signature sound and flow. His use of auto-tune on his new album makes it sound different from all the other psych rock, this album is a big jump from his last song “Poland” which is a very catchy song with a simple verse that became an instant hit and people were anticipating more like this from him but were surprised by this new change into a rock album heavy on the synths. Reviews for the album have been mostly positive from critics, Rolling Stones said, “The record’s tight 57 minutes feel as cohesive a project as any artist has released in the streaming era.” The Rolling Stones also relate the album to MGMT’s sound.
Song 1 “the BLACK seminole.”
“the Black seminole” is not only the first song on Lil Yatchy’s new album but it is by far the best song on the entire album. This song is one of the best most grand, epic and powerful intros to an album that I have experienced in my time listening to music. This song is probably the most obvious of the Pink Floyd influenced songs on this album. The Track starts out with hypnotic synths that are building up in the background with a bass joining in slowly building up to then turn into an epic riff of a bass, bass guitar, guitar and drums. Lil Yatchy rides this epic beat while continuously. repeating the lines “Sex symbol, The Black Seminole” which are drenched in autotune and add another layer to the already complex song and overall genre. After Lil Yachtys second verse an epic guitar solo bursts out of nowhere and slowly calms down the bass riff we heard earlier, but this time its way quieter with less instruments and is preparing for the middle transition of the song, the song quickly drowns out into these strange ambient sounds that build up and burst into an epic climax with drums synths and epic vocals by a singer who is not credited on this song but whoever they are their vocals are amazing and powerful. The song is about to end, the vocals get quieter but then the track picks up again with epically produced rapid vocal chops and a final melody with drums booming and every instrument going off at once.
Song 2 “the ride-“
The album is very obviously well produced after a listen of the first track and is further solidified with the song “the ride-” which features what sounds like a very interesting screeching synth that makes the beat very odd but Lil Yatchy’s vocals pair perfectly with this oddly produced track because of how high pitched and odd Yatchy’s vocals sound on this track. The chorus to this track is one of the best on the album and is an instant earworm. The track has a simple song structure with a very solid verse by who then helps out Yachty as extra vocals on the next chorus and ends the song with an extra layer to it. At the end of the song there is a transition into the next song where the song glitches into what sounds like a revving engine both then fades out with an echoing sound and replaced by the bass in the next song.
Song 3 “running out of time”
The song running out of time” and starts out with a sound that had just faded out and a bass Guitar that is super groovy, and this track is defiantly the grooviest track on the album. the track is fairly repetitive with a catchy chorus and epic production that makes this song not get old despite the repetition. The song features lyrics talking about Lil Yachty and someone else who he wants to start a relationship with and talks about running out of time to make it happen. The song has small verses in-between the chorus but most of the song is taken up by the chorus which makes it fairly repetitive and makes this a perfect song to play if you are trying to dance to something.
Song 4 “pRETTy”
The song “pRETTy” is one of my personal favorites on the album and it is because the vocals on this track are just like the vocals that he was singing/rapping with on the song Poland. This track starts out with the line “Come bust this pussy open” and sets the mood for the sexy groovy track where Lil Yachty lets out these long vocal moans that have a very catchy vibrato to them, these vocals are paired with more vocals that work to add an extra layer to the song. The song features Yachty letting us know how good looking he believes he is and ends up being a self-esteem anthem the last part of the song features a verse by someone else who is also not credited on the song but it wraps up the song and ends with her (the feature) talking about how one of the important things in life was when her and this other person became a couple showing us that Yachty must have been playing the male in the relationship and she is playing the female.
Song 5 “:(failure(:”
The song “pRETTy” transitions into the track Failure which is easily identified as an interlude as it features Lil Yachty reflecting on failure and his experiences of failure over building up vocals and a guitar in the background and finally ending the track with a transition into the next after the words “you never know how close you are to success” which I feel like wraps up this track perfectly.
Song 6 “THE zone~”
The vocals of the last track “:(failure(:” transition smoothly into the song “THE zone~” which starts off with a fast beating of drums and then an atmosphere of ambient sounding sounds that I can’t necessarily identify we get a verse by Lil Yachty very quickly that slowly fades out and then the track builds up again with more drums and bass guitar joins in along with Yachty’s catchy moaning vocals he then repeats the lyrics “I feel at home up until I’m alone” we then get the instrumental to tone down a bit and another feature that is not credited on the album gives us a very solid verse and a nice calm flow to the mid part of the song to then build up into that bass guitar and moaning vocals that transition into a guitar solo that is quite short but helps lead us into the ending of the song where both Yachty and the person who is featured on the track end the song together with both Yachty’s unique vocals and the features beautiful vocals.
Song 7 “WE SAW THE SUN!”
The song “THE zone” transitions into the track “WE SAW THE SUN!” which in my opinion sounds like an extended outro to the track the zone the song starts out with the end part of the noticeable transition that just happened and then slowly converts to an electric guitar solo, the track then introduces the drums and lil Yachty joins in at the same time and at the end of his verse we realize the consistent theme and his poetic lyrics on this album with one of my favorite lines “Alone with you Take a picture’ cause we’ll need proof, nobody will believe we saw the sun, if this don’t work remember all we’ve done” this solidifies the theme of Yachty being in a relationship with someone and can be interpreted in multiple ways regarding the relationship Yachty has with this person. The song then features this epic and super catchy vocal chopping of lil Yachtys vibrato like vocals, the track then builds up again with the guitar and drums and this time with lil Yachtys vocals underneath as an extra layer, the song rides the instrumental out as these buzzing synths and Yachtys vocals calm the track down yet again and slowly transition into becoming more hypnotic and hollow and then cut off as we end the track with bob ross talking about finishing one of his paintings which I’m sure adds extra meaning to the track that I don’t know about,, there is a bass that is building up in the background that will lead us into the next track.
Song 8 “drive ME crazy!”
The bass builds up to start the song “drive ME crazy!” we quickly get a verse by another uncredited artist that delivers a super awesome verse and vocals that pair very well with the groovy bass beat in the background. We get a chorus that sounds like it came out of a 90s pop song but pairs super well with the groovy beat. The lyrics feature Yachty and the feature talking about how the other partner drives them crazy when they are not around. the midpoint of the track is a long Lil Yachty verse expanding on this theme of the relationship and there is not a lot to say about this track other that it is one of the grooviest songs on the album and it is an epic ending to the first half of the album.
Song 9 “IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!”
This song stands out in the middle of the album with its sound, the distorted drums, fuzzy synths, blown out guitars, and odd sound samples with the background vocalist Diana Gordon who gets their own verse on this song. The song has a musical build through it all getting louder till around the 3-minute mark when it cuts to Diana Gordon’s verse with very few instruments, and they slowly start to fade back in building to the jam fading out to the next song.
Song 10 “sAy sOMETHINg”
Heavy on the snare drums with simple synths and a keyboard melody sets this song up to be a transition to the end of the album. The vocal performance is the main part of this song and Lil Yachty delivers on the lyrics and sound. The end of the song sounds like he is taking a cassette tape out of a player with a talking interlude then fades into the next song.
Song 11 “paint THE sky”
Chill synths and a drum machine make up most of these songs sound slowly adding more sounds. Lil Yachty’s lyrics sound like they are talking about a relationship and how them being apart is negatively affecting him. He references “Fiending, falling, crawling, I’m stalling for your love.” The next verse is him talking how her love is like a drug. “You got me drinking, smoking, I might, overdose on your love,” referencing being emotionally scarred. Later saying that the person he is talking about “you get me high, high. High enough to paint the sky.”
Song 12 “sHouLd i B?”
After the fade out which sounds like a race car engine from the last song that picks up the start of this song the noise fades into the synths of this song while the drums kick in as well a base line. The lyrics in this song see Yachty reflecting on a relationship asking “should I be? But should I be.” It is also referencing “your love,” “Ignoring the signs,” and “Am I mad at what you did? I don’t think so.” This song is a broken love song reflecting on both sides of a bad relationship and getting out of it.
Song 13 “The Alchemist.”
The same beat of the jam out from the last song slowly turns into this song with a missive wall of synths of just sound and a super distorted guitar. It ends with the drums kicking in and the lyrics starting. The song’s lyrics talk about Yachty’s after math of an event, most likely a breakup, how he has learned and is changing. Some lyrics that reflect this are “Learned to love, I’m not like the tin man” and “Probably ’cause I am the alchemist.” He is an alchemist turning his bad times into good. with a fade to no nose at the end of the song.
Song 14 “REACH THE SUNSHINE.”
This song picks up on the ending of the last song fade to black and is a simple guitar and distorted drums backing up the sound. Introspective lyrics about him staring into a mirror, after the intro of the song he says “To reach the sunshine” then a huge wall of synths hit with a woman laughing at him. He calls himself a bad man with more laughing in the background. An almost two-and-a-half-minute long jam out ends the song with the last lyric being “Can you feel it?” It finishes with background vocals and a piano. It is a very chill way to end the album with a sample from the first song which lets the album to loop back into itself. Rolling Stones say the album is representing Lil Yachty music evolution and with the album title being Let’s start here its the start of a new era for his music.
