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How Lil Yachty Ended Up at His Excellent New Psychedelic Album Let's Start Here

By Brady Brickner-Wood

The evening before Lil Yachty released his fifth studio album,  Let’s Start Here,  he  gathered an IMAX theater’s worth of his fans and famous friends at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City and made something clear: He wanted to be taken seriously. Not just as a “Soundcloud rapper, not some mumble rapper, not some guy that just made one hit,” he told the crowd before pressing play on his album. “I wanted to be taken serious because music is everything to me.” 

There’s a spotty history of rappers making dramatic stylistic pivots, a history Yachty now joins with  Let’s Start Here,  a funk-flecked psychedelic rock album. But unlike other notable rap-to-rock faceplants—Kid Cudi’s  Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven  comes to mind, as does Lil Wayne’s  Rebirth —the record avoids hackneyed pastiche and gratuitous playacting and cash-grabbing crossover singles; instead, Yachty sounds unbridled and free, a rapper creatively liberated from the strictures of mainstream hip-hop. Long an oddball who’s delighted in defying traditional rap ethos and expectations,  Let’s Start Here  is a maximalist and multi-genre undertaking that rewrites the narrative of Yachty’s curious career trajectory. 

Admittedly, it’d be easy to write off the album as Tame Impala karaoke, a gimmicky record from a guy who heard Yves Tumor once and thought: Let’s do  that . But set aside your Yachty skepticism and probe the album’s surface a touch deeper. While the arrangements tend toward the obvious, the record remains an intricate, unraveling swell of sumptuous live instruments and reverb-drenched textures made more impressive by the fact that Yachty co-produced every song. Fielding support from an all-star cast of characters, including production work from former Chairlift member Patrick Wimberly, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait, Justin Raisen, Nick Hakim, and Magdalena Bay, and vocals from Daniel Caesar, Diana Gordon,  Foushée , Justine Skye, and Teezo Touchdown, Yachty surrounds himself with a group of disparately talented collaborators. You can hear the acute attention to detail and wide-scale ambition in the spaced-out denouement on “We Saw the Sun!” or on the blistering terror of “I’ve Officially Lost Vision!!!!” or during the cool romanticism of “Say Something.” Though occasionally overindulgent,  Let’s Start Here  is a spectacular statement from hip-hop’s prevailing weirdo. It’s not shocking that Yachty took another hard left—but how exactly did he end up  here ?

In 2016, as the forefather of “bubblegum trap” ascended into mainstream consciousness, an achievement like  Let’s Start Here  would’ve seemed inconceivable. The then 18-year-old Yachty gained national attention when a pair of his songs, “One Night” and “Minnesota,” went viral. Though clearly indebted to hip-hop trailblazers Lil B, Chief Keef, and Young Thug, his work instantly stood apart from the gritted-teeth toughness of his Atlanta trap contemporaries. Yachty flaunted a childlike awe and cartoonish demeanor that communicated a swaggering, unbothered cool. His singsong flows and campy melodies contained a winking humor to them, a subversive playfulness that endeared him to a generation of very online kids who saw themselves in Yachty’s goofy, eccentric persona. He starred in Sprite  commercials alongside LeBron James, performed live shows at the  Museum of Modern Art , and modeled in Kanye West’s  Life of Pablo  listening event at Madison Square Garden. Relishing in his cultural influence, he declared to the  New York Times  that he was not a rapper but an  artist. “And I’m more than an artist,” he added. “I’m a brand.”

 As Sheldon Pearce pointed out in his Pitchfork  review of Yachty’s 2016 mixtape,  Lil Boat , “There isn’t a single thing Lil Yachty’s doing that someone else isn’t doing better, and in richer details.” He wasn’t wrong. While Yachty’s songs were charming and catchy (and, sometimes, convincing), his music was often tangential to his brand. What was the point of rapping as sharply as the Migos or singing as intensely as Trippie Redd when you’d inked deals with Nautica and Target, possessed a sixth-sense for going viral, and had incoming collaborations with Katy Perry and Carly Rae Jepsen? What mattered more was his presentation: the candy-red hair and beaded braids, the spectacular smile that showed rows of rainbow-bedazzled grills, the wobbly, weak falsetto that defaulted to a chintzy nursery rhyme cadence. He didn’t need technical ability or historical reverence to become a celebrity; he was a meme brought to life, the personification of hip-hop’s growing generational divide, a sudden star who, like so many other Soundcloud acts, seemed destined to crash and burn after a fleeting moment in the sun.

 One problem: the music wasn’t very good. Yachty’s debut album, 2017’s  Teenage Emotions, was a glitter-bomb of pop-rap explorations that floundered with shaky hooks and schmaltzy swings at crossover hits. Worse, his novelty began to fade, those sparkly, cheerful, and puerile bubblegum trap songs aging like day-old french fries. Even when he hued closer to hard-nosed rap on 2018’s  Lil Boat 2  and  Nuthin’ 2 Prove,  you could feel Yachty desperate to recapture the magic that once came so easily to him. But rap years are like dog years, and by 2020, Yachty no longer seemed so radically weird. He was an established rapper making mid mainstream rap. The only question now was whether we’d already seen the best of him.

If his next moves were any indication—writing the  theme song to the  Saved by the Bell  sitcom revival and announcing his involvement in an upcoming  movie based on the card game Uno—then the answer was yes. But in April 2021, Yachty dropped  Michigan Boat Boy,  a mixtape that saw him swapping conventional trap for Detroit and Flint’s fast-paced beats and plain-spoken flows. Never fully of a piece with his Atlanta colleagues, Yachty found a cohort of kindred spirits in Michigan, a troop of rappers whose humor, imagination, and debauchery matched his own. From the  looks of it, leaders in the scene like Babyface Ray, Rio Da Yung OG, and YN Jay embraced Yachty with open arms, and  Michigan Boat Boy  thrives off that communion. 

 Then “ Poland ” happened. When Yachty uploaded the minute-and-a-half long track to Soundcloud a few months back, he received an unlikely and much needed jolt. Building off the rage rap production he played with on the  Birthday Mix 6  EP, “Poland” finds Yachty’s warbling about carrying pharmaceutical-grade cough syrup across international borders, a conceit that captured the imagination of TikTok and beyond. Recorded as a joke and released only after a leaked version went viral, the song has since amassed over a hundred-millions streams across all platforms. With his co-production flourishes (and adlibs) splattered across Drake and 21 Savage’s  Her Loss,  fans had reason to believe that Yachty’s creative potential had finally clicked into focus.

 But  Let’s Start Here  sounds nothing like “Poland”—in fact, the song doesn’t even appear on the project. Instead, amid a tapestry of scabrous guitars, searing bass, and vibrant drums, Yachty sounds right at home on this psych-rock spectacle of an album. He rarely raps, but his singing often relies on the virtues of his rapping: those greased-vowel deliveries and unrushed cadences, the autotune-sheathed vibrato. “Pretty,” for instance, is decidedly  not  a rap song—but what is it, then? It’s indebted to trap as much as it is ’90s R&B and MGMT, its drugged-out drums and warm keys able to house an indeterminate amount of ideas.

Yachty didn’t need to abandon hip-hop to find himself as an artist, but his experimental impulses helped him craft his first great album. Perhaps this is his lone dalliance in psych rock—maybe a return to trap is imminent. Or, maybe, he’ll make another 180, or venture deeper into the dystopia of corporate sponsorships. Who’s to say? For now, it’s invigorating to see Yachty shake loose the baggage of his teenage virality and emerge more fully into his adult artistic identity. His guise as a boundary-pushing rockstar isn’t a new archetype, but it’s an archetype he’s infused with his glittery idiosyncrasies. And look what he’s done: he’s once again morphed into a star the world didn’t see coming.

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Lil Yachty’s  Let’s Start Here. Is a Surface-Level Rebrand

By Pitchfork

Our  weekly podcast includes in-depth analysis of the new albums we find extraordinary, exciting, and just plain terrible. This week, Reviews Director  Jeremy D. Larson hosts Staff Writer  Alphonse Pierre and Contributing Editor  Dylan Green to talk about  Lil Yachty ’s unlikely trajectory from SoundCloud rap ambassador to trippy funk explorer, and why his new album  Let’s Start Here. doesn’t totally hit the mark.

Listen to this week’s episode below, and follow  The Pitchfork Review   here . You can also check out an excerpt of the podcast’s transcript below. 

Jeremy D. Larson:  On the new album’s first song, “ the BLACK seminole. ,” there’s one lyric that stood out to me: “This part I’ve seen in my dreams/Love is not a lie/It just feels like a Tarantino movie scene.”

Dylan Green:  Oh, my God. What does that mean? 

Larson: Is he talking about  Inglourious Basterds ? [ laughter ]  Grindhouse ? It speaks to the almost-specific nature of this album, like we’re  almost getting a clear image of exactly what he’s talking about, but he stops just short of creating this world that feels like you can fully inhabit it. 

Green:  But really, what movie is he talking about?! I don’t want to be like Travolta and Uma Thurman in  Pulp Fiction . 

Larson:  Tough love between those two.

Green:  I don’t want my life to end like the couple did at the end of  Inglourious Basterds , where she burns the movie theater to the ground. Like, what do you want, Yachty? [ laughter ] 

Larson:  What do you think his favorite Tarantino movie is?

Alphonse Pierre:  Probably  Pulp Fiction ? 

Larson:   Jackie Brown ? Underrated.

Pierre:  That’s the movie he  should have watched before this, because I feel like he would have gotten some different influences from that Blaxploitation era that Tarantino was pulling from.

Green:  Oh, shit! 

Larson:  Man, that would’ve been great. Some more Isaac Hayes, some more  Shaft . 

Pierre:  That’s the sound they needed, a little bit more funk. 

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About lil yachty.

Lil Yachty makes it look easy. An Atlanta-raised rapper with a sleepy flow and a bright, almost childlike outlook, Yachty (born Miles Parks McCollum in 1997) rose to prominence in 2016 with a pair of mixtapes (Lil Boat and Summer Songs 2) that recast the booming caverns of 2010s rap as something soft, sweet, intuitive, and a little goofy—a sound Yachty once called “bubblegum trap.” Dozens of features and guest appearances followed, including cosigns from Kanye, Chance the Rapper, Calvin Harris, and Macklemore. In 2017, he released his first full-length album, Teenage Emotions. His second, 2018’s Lil Boat 2, took a harder, darker turn but retained the clarity that made his early music stand out. Like Lil Uzi Vert (or Young Thug before him), Yachty represents a turn away from the conventional metrics of rap, favoring slogans over bars, hooks over metaphors, fluidity over stricture, and vibe above all. (He famously—or infamously, depending on your stance toward tradition—once told Billboard that he couldn’t name five songs by either 2Pac or Biggie.) But he’s also emblematic of a broader shift from understanding rap music as an end in itself to seeing it as an extension of the person who made it, a facet of a bigger image or experience. No wonder he FaceTimes with fans, or started his career primarily as a presence on Instagram—for him, the project is social. Still, it wouldn’t make a difference if the music itself weren’t striking—and if he weren’t so casual about it too. Speaking to Beats 1’s Zane Lowe shortly before releasing Teenage Emotions, Yachty—guileless and ever-intuitive—said, “I didn’t know [my sound] was different. I didn’t know until it took off. Then I was like, ‘Well, I don’t sound like nobody else.’” He paused. “I don’t even know if that’s a good or a bad thing. But it’s a thing. It’s a thing.”

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Lil Yachty’s Psychedelic Relaunch: ‘I Don’t Have To Be High To Make It Sound High’

By Andre Gee

I n 2016, a 19-year-old Lil Yachty emerged as a fresh-faced, red-haired maverick eagerly planting Generation Z’s flag in hip-hop . Songs like “Minnesota” intrigued many, but rap traditionalists denigrated him as a “mumble rapper” — an upstart who, they claimed, was insulting the essence of hip-hop one warbled vocal run at a time. That didn’t stop Yachty, though. In the years since, he’s kept trying new things , even as many other artists have gotten stuck retreading tired formulas. “Who cares?” he says now. “It’s going to go, or it’s not. You only have one life, bro. Just do shit.”

But he does offer a few details about the six-month recording process in Texas, New York, and elsewhere, which he says was “fun” at every juncture. At times, he played the work in progress for “heavy hitters” like Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, A$AP Rocky, Drake, and Tyler, the Creator. “Everyone was ecstatic,” he says, “which made me feel good.”

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Do you think hip-hop could be more accepting of younger artists as they learn and grow? I don’t know. I don’t really care either. Who cares? I don’t need acceptance from nobody. People seek too much validation.

What was the initial catalyst for you to start this album? It was a phone call with Tyler that made me act on it. I always wanted to do it, but that was the battery.

What was the dynamic of that phone call? Were you like, “I want to explore something,” and he was like, “Go for it”? I don’t fully remember, but he was very motivating and inspiring. I didn’t tell him my ideas, but it was more so, “Whatever it is in your heart and in your mind that you want to do, do it. And do it fully, don’t shortcut it. Don’t cut any corners.”

From there, what were the first moves you made to get the ball rolling? Did you reach out to the instrumentalists who helped construct the album? They were friends. I called up a friend and then got with another friend, and then they got one of their friends and we did it. This concept was in my brain. It’s nothing new. 

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You’ve referenced psychedelics in interviews. How big a factor was that in the recording process? None. Zero. I can’t record music on drugs. I have to be fully sober. But I’ve done it enough times to know what I want. I don’t have to be high to make it sound high.

You said growing up you listened to all types of music. Did you ever hear the stigma of “That’s white-people music”? Yeah, of course. I don’t give a fuck, bro. It’s so hard to affect me or offend me. I do what I want to do. You feel me? People say this album is white-people music. Who cares, man? What is white-people music?

You’ve said you made this in part because you “wanted to be taken seriously as an artist and not just a SoundCloud rapper, not just a mumble rapper.” What would you say to people who feel like SoundCloud rappers and mumble rappers deserve to be taken as seriously as any other artists? See, that’s the thing. I can’t speak for nobody else. I’m not some spokesman for the people. I’m not vouching for anyone else’s work ethic or creativity, only mine. I want to be taken seriously. I’m not no mumble rap. I’m not just some SoundCloud rapper. I’m not speaking on all SoundCloud rappers. I’m speaking on me, you feel me? I want to make that apparent. This is for me, because everybody don’t have that work ethic. Everyone ain’t going to put the hours in to understand a new genre and how to execute something the right way. 

“See, that’s the thing. I can’t speak for nobody else. I’m not speaking on all SoundCloud rappers. I’m speaking on me, you feel me? This is for me, because everybody don’t have that work ethic.”

I feel like a lot of people projected that from your comments, maybe unfairly. People are so protective of hip-hop that anytime someone wants to do something else, it’s perceived as somebody saying that hip-hop is less-than. It’s so crazy. The main people that want to do all that be the main people downing certain people’s talent. Like, “Oh, man, you ain’t no real rapper. This ain’t real rap.” You can never please everyone.

You’ve said you had a period of trying to prove you can rap. How do you feel about those efforts now? I love it, man. They made me a man. They made me strong. They made me care more about the craft — because I do. They made me want to learn, be better, sharpen my sword.

How much does the dynamic that you’re talking about here have to do with the stigma against rappers when it comes to award shows and radio play and festivals?  For me, that’s zero. I don’t care about none of that shit. I just make all types of music. It has nothing to do with the fruits and labors that don’t come with being a rapper, none of that. I like to make all music. That’s all it is, totally. It ain’t got nothing to do with not getting the love or respect or not being invited to an award show.

Going forward with your creative process, do you feel like you’ll have that motivation with every album you make, to prove something to a certain audience? Not necessarily. I didn’t make this album to prove that I could. I also want to be taken seriously. But I didn’t make it like, “Oh, man, I need them to take me serious. Let me make this type of album.” I just wanted to make a great album, and I felt like personally, I could do it better this way than if I made a rap album. 

How are things going with your label, Concrete Boyz? That’s next for me. That’s all I care about right now. That’s where we are every day, in the studio getting established together. We got some special artists, and they’re fresh faces. I want to make sure when we drop this, it’s hot, because they’re fire and it’s fresh. You’re gonna hear some fresh sounds. That’s my next project, in the summertime. 

I was listening to your Zane Lowe interview, and I feel like I heard you reference doing a documentary. Did I mishear that, or …? I was saying I have one, but I doubt I’ll drop it. Just like me not wanting to do any of these interviews. I don’t really care to talk about it, [because] you give it all away, you pull the curtain back. “Who inspired it? What did y’all talk about? When did y’all talk about it? What made you do this? Why’d you do that?” Then it’s no longer a special project, because then they know everything. It’s no longer “Wow. How did he make this?” because we know it all. That’s why I’m like, “Damn, bro. Do I want to show every inch of this album?” It takes away from it having any factor, any special surprise, [any] cool, hidden element. And that’s what I feel like is a problem with music nowadays. Everyone is oversharing. Everything is social. The more you give, the less cool something becomes.

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Have you always been discerning about how much you put yourself out there? No. I got 1,000 interviews on the internet. I hate it. I was young. I didn’t know nothing. Back then, I was trying to be the spokesman for the new generation because no one else wanted to talk. I felt, “I’m going to stand up. I’m going to speak.” But [now] I don’t speak for nobody but me.

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Lil Yachty Hilariously Previews New Track On IG To Some Lukewarm Reactions

Yachty's more subdued delivery has some fans on the fence about this one.

With music, everyone knows it is a subjective art form. People are going to have differing opinions on artists and that is what makes it such an interesting thing to discuss. For example, not everyone is going to think that Lil Yachty has been evolving as an artist . At the end of the day that is okay. The reason we bring this up is because the Georgia multi-talent has recently previewed a new track on Instagram. Lil Yachty appears to be interpolating the 1997 R&B record "Swing My Way" by K.P. and Envyi.

This teaser has been collecting some iffy reactions from fans in DJ Akademiks comment section. One person writes, "His longevity of mid needs to be studied." Another even says Lil Yachty is trying to copy Veeze's style, "ngl dis a waste of this beat n sample n****s think they can sound lazy on every beat like they veeze." However, as expected fans in Lil Boat's post about "Swing My Way" were more favorable.

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Lil Yachty Teases "Swing My Way" With Apple Vision Pro

He asked fans, "swing my way.. should I drop this?¿" They reacted with glee, saying things like, Since Poland bro been allergic to missing 😭🙏🏽" One person loves it, but encourages him to wait for the seasons to change. "Summer anthem potential fr fr u should sit on it until it’s a little warmer out." With the hotter months right around the corner, this could be a smart move. Only time will tell, but this could be another feather in Boat's cap.

What are your thoughts on Lil Yachty's upcoming new track "Swing My Way?" Is this another hit for him, or a snoozer? Can you think of anyone who is on a better run right now? When do you think he should drop this and why? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with  HNHH  for all of the latest news surrounding Lil Yachty. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on around the world of music.

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Instagram: @lilyachty

Twitter: @lilyachty, 3,049 subscribers, about lil yachty.

Yachty was rocketed into the spotlight in 2016, when “1Night,” from his Summer Songs EP, went viral after it was used in a comedy sketch.

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American rapper (born 1997) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Can you list the top facts and stats about Lil Yachty?

Summarize this article for a 10 year old

Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Yachty , is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He first gained recognition in August 2015 for his viral hit " One Night " from his debut EP Summer Songs . [3] [4] [5] [6] He then released his debut mixtape Lil Boat in March 2016, and signed a joint venture record deal with Motown , Capitol Records , and Quality Control Music in June of that year. [7]

Yachty has released five studio albums, beginning with Teenage Emotions in 2017. His second and third studio albums Lil Boat 2 and Nuthin' 2 Prove were released in 2018, followed by Lil Boat 3 in 2020. Yachty's fifth album, Let's Start Here (2023) marked a departure from his previous style, experimenting with psychedelic rock . The album was released to generally positive reception. [8] Four of his albums have charted within the top 20 of the Billboard 200 , with Lil Boat 2 peaking at number 2. Lil Yachty is also notable for his features on the 2016 multi-platinum songs " Broccoli " by DRAM and " ISpy " by Kyle ; as well as his cherry-red hairstyle, lighthearted tone, and optimistic image. [9] [10] Yachty was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on "Broccoli". [11]

Miles McCollum was born in Mableton, Georgia . [12] He attended Alabama State University in fall 2015 but soon dropped out to pursue his musical career. [13] He adopted the name "Yachty" and moved from his hometown of Atlanta to New York City to launch his career. In New York, he lived with a friend and networked with online street fashion personalities, while he built up his own Instagram following. [14] He worked at McDonald's to supplement his income early in his career. [15]

2015–2017: "One Night", Lil Boat , and Teenage Emotions

Yachty first came to prominence in December 2015 when the SoundCloud version of his song " One Night " was used in a viral comedy video. [1]

In February 2016, Yachty debuted as a model in Kanye West 's Yeezy Season 3 fashion line at Madison Square Garden . [16] Yachty's debut mixtape Lil Boat was released in March 2016. [17]

In April 2016, Yachty collaborated with DRAM on the hit song " Broccoli ", which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. [1] He featured on Chance the Rapper 's Coloring Book mixtape , released in May 2016. [14] On June 10, 2016 he announced he had signed a joint venture record deal with Quality Control Music, Capitol Records , and Motown Records . [7] [18] Yachty released his second mixtape Summer Songs 2 in July 2016 with features from G Herbo , Offset , and his former collective the "Sailing Team". [19]

In June 2016, Lil Yachty appeared in XXL magazine as part of their 2016 Freshman Class . As part of this appearance, Yachty performed a 'freshman cypher' alongside Denzel Curry , Lil Uzi Vert , 21 Savage , and Kodak Black . As of March 2021, this cypher has received over 180 million YouTube views, by far the most for the XXL channel. [20]

In December 2016, he was featured on the hip hop single " iSpy " by Kyle . [21] He was featured in Tee Grizzley 's single "From the D to the A", released in March 2017. [22]

On May 26, 2017, Lil Yachty released his debut studio album, Teenage Emotions . It features guest appearances from Migos , Diplo , and YG , among others. [23] [24] Three promotional singles were released to coincide with the album. The first promotional single, "Harley", produced by K Swisha, was released on April 14, 2017. [25] [26] The second promotional single, "Bring It Back", produced by Free School , was released on May 4, 2017. [27] [28] The third promotional single, "X Men", produced by 30 Roc and Tillie and featuring a guest appearance from American rapper Evander Griiim, was released on May 18, 2017. [29] [30] He featured in a remix of "With My Team" by Creek Boyz, released December 15, 2017. [31]

In 2017, Yachty appeared in several high-profile promotional campaigns. He starred alongside LeBron James in a Sprite commercial, where he is seen in an ice cave playing the piano. [32] Lil Yachty was picked to be the face of the new Nautica and Urban Outfitters collection for the Spring 2017 season. [33] Yachty also appeared in the " It Takes Two " video with Carly Rae Jepsen for Target . [34]

2018–2022: Lil Boat 2 , Nuthin' 2 Prove , and Lil Boat 3

In January 2018, it was reported that Lil Yachty and Takeoff were working on a collaborative project. [35] This project has yet to be released as of 2023, especially following the death of Takeoff in November 2022. Yachty's second studio album, Lil Boat 2 , was released on March 9, 2018. [36] Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, Lil Boat 2 performed well commercially, debuting at number two on the US Billboard 200 , with 64,000 album-equivalent units . The album featured 2 Chainz , Quavo , and Offset , Ugly God , among other guests. On October 19, 2018, Yachty released his third album, Nuthin' 2 Prove . The project received similarly mixed reception and debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 . Also in 2018, Yachty appeared on Bhad Bhabie 's platinum single " Gucci Flip Flops " and Social House 's gold single " Magic in the Hamptons ", and worked with Donny Osmond to create a theme song for Chef Boyardee titled "Start the Par-dee". [37] In December 2018, E-sports group FaZe Clan announced that Yachty had become their newest member. Yachty took on the name "FaZe Boat", in reference to his 'Lil Boat' nickname and mixtape. [38]

After a relatively quiet 2019, Lil Yachty teamed up with fellow Atlanta artists Lil Keed , Lil Gotit , and veteran producer Zaytoven in February 2020 for a collaborative mixtape, A-Team . [39] Yachty released the lead single for his next studio album, Lil Boat 3 , on March 9, 2020. The song, titled " Oprah's Bank Account ", features Drake and DaBaby . [40] [41] The release was accompanied by a 9-minute music video directed by Director X , in which Yachty dresses up as a parody of Oprah Winfrey . [42] Lil Boat 3 was released on May 29, 2020 and debuted at number 14 on the US Billboard 200 . [43] A deluxe version of the album titled Lil Boat 3.5 was released on November 27. [44] On October 19, 2020, Lil Yachty announced his intention to release a mixtape before the end of 2020. [45] Michigan Boy Boat was released on April 23, 2021. The project draws heavily from the burgeoning Detroit rap scene, in contrast with Yachty's usual pop rap and Atlanta trap style. [46]

Throughout 2020, Yachty was one of the many celebrities to gain a large following on social media app TikTok . [47] [48] Yachty performed the theme song for the 2020 revival of Saved by the Bell , which was a remixed version of the theme from the original television series . [49] In early 2021, Yachty was reported to be producing and starring in a live-action movie based on the UNO card game, which is being developed by Mattel Films . [50] Yachty is featured in the Pokémon 25th anniversary music album. [51]

On October 11, 2022, Yachty released the non-album single " Poland ", which had recently went viral online. [52]

2023–present: Let's Start Here

In December 2022, Yachty's fifth studio album, then rumored to be called Sonic Ranch , was leaked online. The album was a departure from Yachty's signature trap sound, and was instead heavily influenced by psychedelic rock . On January 27, 2023, the album, entitled Let's Start Here , was released to positive reviews. [53] Yachty's label and collective Concrete Boys, which includes Karrahbooo , DC2Trill, and Draft Day, released their debut single, "Mo Jams", in December 2023. [54]

Musical style

Lil Yachty has called his style " bubblegum trap ." [14] [1] His songs have sampled sounds from Mario Bros . , Charlie Brown , the theme from Rugrats , the startup sound of a GameCube console, as well as J-pop singer Daoko . [14] Other themes in his works include clouds, cotton candy , the Super Nintendo , and scenes from Pixar films. His friend TheGoodPerry is heavily involved in the production of his songs. [1] Yachty's style has also been described as mumble rap . [2]

Rolling Stone described his music as "catchy, intentionally dinky-sounding tunes packed with off-color boasts delivered in a proudly amateurish singsong." [14] The Guardian called his music "fun, hook-first pop rap oblivious to songcraft and structure that doesn't take itself too seriously, with very little interest in legacy and even less in rap canon." [1]

Personal life

In a 2016 interview for CNN , Yachty expressed support for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential election , and praised Sanders for his work during the civil rights movement . [55]

On October 20, 2021, Yachty announced the birth of his first child, a girl. The identity of the child's mother was not disclosed. [56]

On December 20, 2018, Yachty signed with FaZe Clan . [57] Yachty participated in competitive Fortnite tournaments.

2022 SafeMoon lawsuit

On February 18, 2022, in a class-action lawsuit filed against the cryptocurrency company SafeMoon that alleged the company is a pump-and-dump scheme, McCollum was named as a defendant along with professional boxer Jake Paul , musician Nick Carter , rapper Soulja Boy , and social media personality Ben Phillips for promoting the SafeMoon token on their social media accounts with misleading information. [58] [59] On the same day, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media. [60]

2023 SEC lawsuit

In March 2023, Yachty was among eight celebrities charged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission , with violating investor protection laws by promoting cryptocurrencies without disclosing that he was a paid sponsor. The lawsuit was connected with crypto asset entrepreneur Justin Sun 's Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BBT) companies. He settled the charges for over $400,000 without admitting or denying the claims. [61] [62]

Filmography

Discography, studio albums.

• Teenage Emotions (2017)
• Lil Boat 2 (2018)
• Nuthin' 2 Prove (2018)
• Lil Boat 3 (2020)
• Let's Start Here (2023)

Awards and nominations

Billboard music awards, mtv video music awards, other awards.

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External links

• Official website
• Lil Yachty on SoundCloud