On Friday, January 27th, Miles Parks McCollum better known by his stage name “Lil Yachty,” released his newest studio album Let’s Start Here. What makes this project unique is the major pivot of the genre this album explores compared to any of his previous music. Yachty’s venture into a new melody has seemed to leave most listeners disappointed or unsatisfied considering his last official album release was nearly two years ago.

A majority of Yachty’s discography could be reasonably categorized into the genre of hip-hop/rap. Although Yachty has explored alternative sounds in the past through songs such as “Love Music” and “Breathe Deeper ft. Tame Impala,” these tracks tend to gain less attention than many of his other rap-based songs. To promote his new release, Yachty hosted a listening party at the LSC Planetarium in New Jersey. During a speech previous to the event, Yachty said, “This album is so special and dear to me. I think I created it because I wanted to be taken seriously as an artist. You know? Not just some SoundCloud rapper. Not some mumble rapper. Not some guy that just made one hit.” Love it or leave it, this album embodies a higher level of compassion and vulnerability that Yachty has not expressed previously.

I enjoyed the experience of listening to the album more than the album itself. I do not have this album added to my playlist for this exact reason. The way that every song seamlessly transitions into the next is so impressive that I feel it would be wrong to listen in broken segments. Although I would have preferred a rap album, I can’t deny how well-made this project is.

Whether you’re happy about it or not, Lil Yachty has done something many have failed to do; change. He keeps true to himself as an artist by making what he likes as opposed to what he is told to like. The truth of this is discretely expressed through the A.I.-generated album cover. This art shows about seven individuals in suits who are shown to be laughing at a pitched idea presented to the desk. It is supposed to be symbolic of the “higher-ups” in the music industry who want to push the agenda of Yachty’s already money-making music which may not follow his true passion. The distorted look on the faces of the AI-generated people may resemble the lack of life/spirit they have lost to the pursuit of capitalistic ideals.