Lil Yachty has claimed to be more eclectic musically than his fellow rappers. His latest album, Let’s Start Here, is a drastic change from his last projects, replacing the traditional hip-hop flows with progressive rock styles. In an interview with Billboard, Yachty mentions this being just the beginning, saying (via NME), “Fuck any of the albums I dropped before this one. I wanted to show people a different side of me — and that I can do anything, most importantly”.
Yachty went on to say that the time he became famous pigeonholed him in his mind, saying, “I was young and I didn’t really give a fuck, so I did do things that may have led people to the assumptions that I was a mumble rapper or a SoundCloud kid or I don’t appreciate the history of hip-hop. But to be honest, I’ve always been so much more than just hip-hop”.
Let’s Start Here features many guest appearances from familiar faces in indie rock, from Mac DeMarco to Unknown Mortal Orchestra to Magdalena Bay. Yachty also discussed this album being a complete experience, telling Billboard, “I did what I really wanted to do, which was create a body of work that reflected me. My idea was for this album to be a journey: Press play and fall into a void”.
Despite his stand-out features on songs like ‘Broccoli’ with DRAM, Yachty hopes this album will show his audience different flavours of music, saying, “There’s a lot of kids who haven’t heard any of my references. They don’t know anything about Bon Iver or Pink Floyd or Black Sabbath or James Brown”.
More than anything, Yachty is looking to get musical credit from his peers, saying, “the shit I was making did not add up to the shit I listened to. I just wanted more. I want to be remembered. I want to be respected”.
