Lil Yachty explained that his need to differentiate himself from imitators drove the musical evolution heard on his fifth studio album, Let’s Start Here, released Friday.

 

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As the project title implies, Let’s Start Here ushers in a new era for Yachty — his trippy rock ‘n’ roll era. Moreover, it represents Yachty’s development as a musician as it contains 14 songs heavily influenced by psychedelic rock.

 

Yachty and Quality Control Music held three exclusive listening events for the project’s preview on Monday. Attendance was only by invitation or in response to an Instagram post from the label. Highsnobiety noted that Offset and Drake were among the notable guests at one of Lil Boat’s listening parties, which took place at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. It was also reported that many of his loyal fans were present.

 

 

At one of the listening sessions, held on Thursday, in the New York/New Jersey area at an undisclosed location, Lil Yachty addressed the crowd and warned them that the music they were about to hear would be unlike anything they had heard from him before. He said that one of the reasons for this was his desire to distance himself from discussions of other artists who share his musical aesthetic, according to HipHopDX.

“If we just gonna be honest, I mean, I had n-ggas that were copying the swag,” he boldly and pridefully said. “I just felt like ‘OK, cool, everyone can do this, that’s fine. But I’m gonna show y’all what y’all can’t do.’ You feel me? That’s what’s on this other side,” he continued.

 

 

However, Lil Yachty first discussed another facet of his motivation, sharing that he also wants to be treated differently by the music world.  

“This album is so special and dear to me,” he shared in a clip shared to social media. “I think I created it just because I really wanted to be taken serious as an artist, you know. Not just some SoundCloud rapper, not some mumble rapper. Not some guy that just made one hit,” he further elaborated.

“I wanted to be really taken serious because music is, like, everything to me. I respect all walks of music, not just rap and hip-hop, everything. So I think I wanted to make something to show the world just how great it was to me,” Yachty said.

 

Yachty has long been a fan of hallucinogenic rock, citing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon as an influence on his latest album, Let’s Start Here. The album also drew inspiration from Yachty’s time spent … intoxicated. The album was inspired by Yachty’s psychedelic travels of the past, as evidenced by the trippy “sAy sOMETHINg” music video and the all-encompassing visuals of the listening event.

 

Lil Yachty is on a date with a woman in the opening scene of the Crowns & Owls-directed music video. Everything seems to be going well until he is seen with a gun to his temple just before pausing mid-song to declare his love for the woman.

 

 

The “Poland” rapper also urged fans to listen to his fifth studio album in a new way on Twitter.

“I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO LISTEN FULLY THROUGH THE FIRST TIME. DON’T SKIP, DONT SHUFFLE. I NEED U TO HEAR IT HOW ITS INTENDED PLZ,” he tweeted.

 

 

Lil Yachty shared a different version of his opening remarks on Instagram and a quick summary of the listening session a few hours after his most recent project was made public.  

 

 

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Listen to the entire project, and let us know if you’re feeling Yachty’s advanced sound!

 

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