A review in honor of artist Lil Yachty’s psychedelic rock album Let’s Start Here., released one year ago this past weekend.
I remember exactly where I was when Yachty first posted the cryptic visuals that would soon go to this album. I remember when this album was officially announced, and I remember the morning when the LP hit Spotify.
Clicking ‘Play’ and hearing this album for the first time was a one-of-a-kind experience.
Let’s Start Here. is a psychedelic wonderland from start to finish. The BLACK seminole reels you in slowly and doesn’t let go. Tension builds, and then explodes with the first lyric. The song has such a vivid and dense instrumentation that echoes throughout the LP.
The album represents a breakthrough sonically. On :(failure:(, Yachty gives an inspirational message about dealing with failure that I didn’t really like at first. I thought I’d disrupted the flow of the album, but as I listened more and more it kind of grew on me as a transition to the next part of the album.
Yachty’s sister has vocals on multiple songs on the album pRETTy, IVE OFFICIALLY LOST VISION!!!!, and drive ME crazy! Her performances are so personal and raw, and it’s been one of my favorite aspects of the record since its release. Her verse on pRETTy is her best.
If you haven’t noticed, the album has unconventional titles, further adding to the trippy, psychedelic nature of this record. Stylized music and albums like these are some of my favorite parts of music, especially because of how rare that is these days. Well, not so much style in albums, but more so the chance that Yachty took. It was such a shock to see that Yachty had put this type of project out, especially since he is known as a ‘rapper’. This album sets him apart as an artist. This is in no way to say that Rap isn’t an art form, but to take a risk like this and successfully execute an entirely different genre is different, to say the least.
My most favorite songs on the album by far are ‘sHould i B?’ and ‘The Alchemist.,’ because of how much these songs remind me of Yachty’s older music.
In the 2019 film, How High 2, in which he stars alongside American comedian DC Young Fly, the outro features a song titled ‘Forever Young’ off of Yachty’s debut studio album Forever Young. The music he released during this time and on this album were so blissful and nostalgic. It reminded me of memories I didn’t even have. To capture such a youthful sound was one of Yachty’s biggest gifts, and to see him to return to this sound on these songs was such a treat for his fans.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. It has immense replay value and is a really cool journey. I rate it a 8.5 out of 10 and highly recommend it.