mvm.

We’re off his Lil Boat and streaking into the skies.

Let’s Start Here is a coastal embarking to Yachty at his most creatively spun – as an earmarking of Tame-Impala-style psych-rock is enthused with a blend of loungey R&B.

His alt-weirdness and bizzare disparity between the confines of “hip-hop” have often troubled many a-listeners with some even blaming Yachty as “killing” the very genre itself. But rather, roll-of-the-dice Let’s Start Here. places the Atlanta boy more in a position for his versatility and artistic merit than opposed to anything else. You don’t have to be an avid hip-hop fanatic to tell the difference between this woozy fondue of a record, compared to the off-kilter, power-trap of Lil Boat 2 – we all know which one those traditionalists will pick. It would be disingenious to say he’s strayed too far from the path, especially when he released Teenage Emotions, which featured more of the similar howling vibrato of modern psychedelic sound.

But it’s not whimsical in any sense of the word. Rather, it paints Lil Yachty as a bold survivor in a tightly-knitted genre that constantly needs to be rethread and redefined to stay significant. It’s not a coincidence that the likes of Tyler, The Creator and Kendrick Lamar are leading the fray. It’s engaging, confident, experimental and consistent in all plausible holes it finds itself in. Lil Yachty is known for contorting his listeners’ minds and Let’s Start Here is certainly no different.

The guise is uncovered when we’re swamped with drug odyssey scripture, the BLACK seminole, an immediate change of pace to his previous. A crooning wisp with many thematic layers built in, it’s Yachty’s swan-song, a commitment to the term as “industry outcast” – and he’s not particularly bothered by that in any sense of the phrase. the ride- offers the same off-key Entergalactic thesis as he embarks on a “quick zoom to the moon,” somewhat a hijacking of Kid Cudi’s shuttle, mind. running out of time transposes lengths of Tyler’s synth-pop curves that fit top-heavy in 2021’s CALL ME WHEN YOU GET LOST, but is a far more laidback altercation compared to Tyler’s directive version on IGOR in 2019.

We’re met with more howling vibrato and lackadaisical rhyming with percussive-heavy pRETTy, while drive ME crazy! offers a Silk Sonic-esque of seedy funk camaraderie. Meanwhile, sAy sOMETHINg takes up back to Borderline-Tame Impala, a time-stamp to the aerated psych-rock avenue Lil Yachty has driven down. While the compelling argument is that all of his best stuff is behind him – with his Lil Boat series playing a key factor in that, earning a magnitude of critical acclaim – the work of Let’s Start Here. simply cannot go unnoticed. Amongst the hip-hop traditionalists sure, but not for the bold, experimental types who want to hear something new enter their earwaves. A dream-state of confidence, Lil Yachty shows how his innovation should be in the same conversations as those before him.

It’s little wonder that this album has wriggled its way into mvm’s Album of the Year for 2023 so far. Where does this one stack for you?