Lil Yachty is a Georgia-based rapper who became a big breakout star in 2016 with his viral singles “One Night” and “Minnesota,” which both led up to his debut mixtape “Lil Boat” receiving a bit of praise in some circles. He didn’t have as strong of a 2017, with his debut album “Teenage Emotions” receiving very negative reviews and the single “Peek a Boo” not being received far better, but Yachty continued to see some prominence as a feature, earning Top 10 guest appearances on D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli,” and on KYLE’s “iSpy.” “Broccoli” also finished at #34 and #70 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in 2016 and 2017, respectively, while “iSpy” finished at #28 on the Year-End Hot 100 in 2017.
Now, while I’ve covered Lil Yachty numerous times as a featured artist, from my reviews of Chance the Rapper’s “Coloring Book” to Macklemore’s “Gemini” to A$AP Mob’s “Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy” (the less we talk about the last one, the better), and while I’ve enjoyed both “Broccoli” and “iSpy,” I’ve never really taken Yachty all that seriously on his own. Sure, I have enjoyed “One Night” quite a bit, and “Bring it Back” has some decent moments on it, but I’ve found that, while Yachty is definitely one of the more distinct and unique Soundcloud rappers, I’ve just never found him all that interesting. Sometimes, he injects this sweet innocence into a track like he did on “One Night,” but other times, he just comes through with what feels like complete cheese (“play with that pussy like peek a boo” and “she blow that dick like a cello” immediately come to mind). However, morbid curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to give this record a shot and see if Yachty came through on it. Let’s find out together if he does!
SELF MADE: A really short track that feels more like a snippet than anything, I did really dig the production at the start of the song, though the overbearing trap drum beat kinda turned me off a bit. I kinda wish the song stuck to the lighter, less drum-driven sound from the intro. Still, Yachty provides another pretty solid vocal performance on this one, and I think he still kind of injects some funny innocence into a track that is anything but innocent.
BOOM! (ft. Ugly God): A song that basically addresses Yachty’s haters, this one is, as you’d expect, not lacking in energy, but all of it just sounds like wallpaper trap to me. I feel like neither Yachty, nor featured artist Ugly God, do anything really interesting on this track, and Yachty doesn’t really inject that vocal charisma he usually has. It’s a shame, but this is definitely one of the least interesting Yachty songs I’ve heard thus far.
OOPS (ft. 2 Chainz and K$upreme): While this track has some charismatic performances from Yachty, who again displays some pretty solid flow throughout, I can’t help but think of this one feeling a little too “wallpaper” as well. 2 Chainz has a decent verse that, unfortunately, isn’t one of his best, and K$upreme has a relatively fun hook, but the song itself just isn’t really all that interesting to me.
TALK TO ME NICE (ft. Quavo): Another unfortunately underwhelming trap track, I feel like this reads to me more as Quavo’s song than Yachty’s, and Quavo’s performance doesn’t come off as interesting to me because his stop-start, staccato flow is just too boring, and when you get Quavo on a track, it should be more fun than this is. Yachty’s performance, while energetic, doesn’t have the same amount of character that he usually has. I feel like he just doesn’t bring that same screwball fun that he brought on some of his stronger tracks, unfortunately.
GET MONEY BROS (ft. Tee Grizzley): This song, for me, is a rare example of Yachty, a usually humorous, interesting performer, being upstaged by his feature: Tee Grizzley’s verse, while it doesn’t quite save the track for me, is actually pretty fun and enjoyable, and I even got some enjoyment out of his ad-libs on this one. Yachty’s performance is unfortunately too sleepy, and he just doesn’t have that typical fun, autotune-driven crooning that has made some of his songs enjoyable here. The beat is, once again, standard trap stuff. Nothing special here.
COUNT ME IN: A song that feels kind of like a freestyle, this one has a kind of abrasive, very distortion-heavy instrumental that isn’t the most comfortable on the ears, and once again, I’m not finding Yachty’s performance to have all that much charisma or fun factor, unfortunately, making this track just feel kind of bland. Oh, and I know I’m not judging this album too harshly on its lyrics (it’s turn-up music, it’s not inherently lyrical), but I can’t help but wonder what the hell this guy means when he says “make a bitch touch her knees, she was Vietnamese.” Someone help? Please?
she ready (ft. PnB Rock): Alright, this is something I can dig! The very bright, flute-driven, kind of video game-esque instrumental melody (I kinda get some “Banjo-Kazooie” vibes on here for some reason) on this one is far more fun to me, and it feels like it fits more in Yachty’s wheelhouse. Yachty finds himself bringing more of that autotuned-crooning that gives him character and makes him interesting, and he also enlists the help of PnB Rock to add an extra layer of vocal fun to the track. Definitely enjoyed this one, it’s got some sweet charm to it that feels reminiscent of some of Yachty’s best.
love me forever: Another much shorter song that feels more snippet-esque, I do like the blissful, more bright production on this track, and once again, Yachty’s autotune-driven crooning rings off as more interesting to me than a number of the other tracks on here. It’s a rather sweet cut, especially given that it’s a love song, so lyrically, it’s less NSFW all-around. It definitely ends a bit too quickly, but while it lasts, it’s plenty of fun!
DAS CAP: Unfortunately, after those pretty fun and (in the case of “she ready”) more screwball-y songs, we go back to this more wallpaper, generic trap track that really doesn’t do justice to Yachty’s charisma. And I think the song feels too much like a skit to me, given that Yachty spends quite a few portions of the song just speaking. It makes the song as a whole come off as boring to me, and it feels like it’s not playing into Yachty’s best assets. It’s not the worst thing this record has to offer, but it’s certainly not the best.
POP OUT (ft. Jban$2Turnt): Another distortion-heavy, more abrasive track, I kind of knew I was in for a rough ride when the song started with Yachty just saying “yeah” eight times in a row. And unfortunately, it’s just another generic trap-flavored track that, while it shows Yachty with a more rapid-fire flow overall, it doesn’t play to his charisma or his other vocal strengths, and where a lot of the hooks on this thing have just been “whatever,” the hook on here is one of the worst on the album. Jban$2Turnt is also featured on this track, but he just sounds like everything I’ve heard before. Another unfortunately weak track.
NBAYOUNGBOAT (ft. YoungBoy Never Broke Again): While the beat and instrumental are more uptempo than some of the others on here, I feel like it’s held back by some less-than-stellar vocal performances. While YoungBoy Never Broke Again has some pretty solid flow throughout, I feel like he just doesn’t sound all that distinct on this one (I hear him, and I just imagine that he’s a mix of like Young Thug and Quavo), and Yachty once again doesn’t tap into his full potential, and his performance instead rings off as sleepy. It’s not a terrible track, but it’s nothing I’ll want to come back to in the future.
MICKEY (ft. Offset and Lil Baby): On this kind of darker-sounding track, Yachty enlists Offset to help possibly get this record back on track, but unfortunately, his verse just feels like almost anything else he’s put out with Migos, and Yachty and Lil Baby both kind of sleepwalk throughout the track, and they make it feel pretty boring overall. The good thing is that it is pretty short, so it’s not like it overstays its welcome too much. I feel like there could be an audience for this one, but I’m just not in it.
FWM: A more piano-driven trap track, Yachty has some decent flow on this song, but I again feel like he kind of sleepwalks throughout this one, and the song as a whole doesn’t tap into his full potential. Yachty has so much character and room for interesting performances, but it feels like he wastes it on the same wallpaper trap beats and sleepy flows throughout the album. Doesn’t help that these songs are pretty short, so they don’t let him come through with many interesting performances overall.
FLEX: “Flex for the fuckboys, hate cause you suck boy.” I feel like even the kid who made diss tracks about me in high school could come up with something more interesting than that. And look, I get that Yachty wants to flex on his haters, and that’s fine and all, but can he do that over a more interesting beat? Or, maybe he could use his vocal charm to make his performance less sleepy? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.
WHOLE lotta GUAP: I feel like I’ve listened to this song already on this album. In fact, this feels like a song that I’ve heard 12 times already on this album. I wonder why that is? Oh, I know, because it sounds like almost everything else on here! Once again, generic trap beat, boring performance from Yachty, and the never-ending stench of missed potential combine together on this very weak track. Next!
BABY DADDY (ft. Lil Pump and Offset): God, if it wasn’t for Lil Pump, this track would’ve been terrible. While Yachty sleepwalks through this very generic trap song, Lil Pump actually brings his trademark energy and has some pretty strong flow. Offset’s performance isn’t too bad overall, and it definitely sounds better than Yachty’s very sleepy performance, but I have to say Lil Pump steals the show on this one. Without him, this track would’ve been one of the album’s worst. Lil Pump actually gives this some necessary energy.
66 (ft. Trippie Redd): The beat on this one is pretty standard and nothing special overall, but I think it’s helped by some relatively fun, autotune-assisted vocal performances. Sure, Yachty still sounds a little bit sleepy on this one, but the added autotune-effects actually allow him to unlock his character and charisma a bit better, and Trippie Redd has some nice moments vocally here. While it’s a case of “too little, too late” here, I do think this was a good track to end the album on.
Yeahhhhhhhh, definitely wasn’t digging this record. As I said in the beginning, I’ve never really been all that interested in Lil Yachty as an artist on his own, but I was hoping he would be able to inject some of his character and innocence into this album. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s the case; outside of some scattered instances, most of this record just comes off to me as Yachty rapping, rather sleepily, over some standard, by-the-numbers, wallpaper trap beats. It feels like his usual blissful production and fun autotuned-crooning that brought him into the limelight just aren’t here, and that’s a disappointment to me. It just makes this album tough for me to love, and it makes me wonder how long we’re gonna keep listening to these by-the-numbers “Soundcloud rappers” put out generic albums before we demand some more personality.
To that point, I can’t help but wonder where Yachty will go from here. Sure, he had some success off of the first “Lil Boat,” but it seems like the common consensus was that “Teenage Emotions” was not a strong enough follow-up, and with “Lil Boat 2,” it feels like Yachty is just phoning it in. How many more sub-par records will he put out before people tire of him? Being a sequel to “Lil Boat,” I was hoping for some more screwball fun with this album, but it just feels so painstakingly bland, and it leaves me yearning for more. I want to see more tracks that have more fun, oddball production, and less by-the-numbers trap beats. I want Yachty to not sleepwalk through the tracks and bring that autotuned-crooning that made some of his previous songs so fun. I want the other features to bring the level of energy that Lil Pump brings on “BABY DADDY.” Until that happens, though, I feel like Yachty is gonna stay stuck in this rut, and he’s not going to make any more waves until he gets out of it.
Just skip this. Please.
Favorite tracks: she ready, love me forever, 66
Least favorite tracks: BOOM!, TALK TO ME NICE, POP OUT, FLEX, WHOLE lotta GUAP
Rating: Awful
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