Let's Start Here Explained

Let's Start Here
Type:studio
Artist:Lil Yachty
Cover:Let's Start Here.jpg
Released:January 27, 2023
Genre:
Length:57:16
Label:
Producer:
Prev Title:Michigan Boy Boat
Prev Year:2021
Next Title:Something Ether
Next Year:2024

Let's Start Here is the fifth studio album by American rapper Lil Yachty, released on January 27, 2023, through Motown Records and Quality Control Music. It is his first studio album since Lil Boat 3 (2020) and follows his 2021 mixtape Michigan Boy Boat. The album marks a departure from Lil Yachty's signature trap sound, being heavily influenced by psychedelic rock.

Let's Start Here received generally positive reviews from music critics. It debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200, earning 36,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.

Background and release

In a January 2022 interview, Lil Yachty said his next project would be a "non-rap album", calling it "alternative" and "like a psychedelic alternative project. It's different. It's all live instrumentation."[2] In December 2022, a project of Yachty's titled Sonic Ranch leaked on the Internet.[3]

Lil Yachty officially announced the album on Instagram on January 17, 2023, posting the cover art, title, and release date. The cover is an AI-generated photograph of men and women wearing suits in a boardroom with "contorted facial features and warped smiles",[4] the cover was created by Jon Rafman.[5] Yachty's caption referred to it as "chapter 2", with Variety calling it "a potential redux" of the leaked Sonic Ranch.[4]

On January 24, 2023, Yachty released a "thriller-style" skit in promotion of the album titled "Department of Mental Tranquility", in which he arrives at the titular department and is asked a series of questions by the receptionist in a waiting room full of people behaving erratically. He then walks down a narrow hallway and into a bright white room.[6] The album was released on January 27, 2023.[7]

Promotion

The music video for the album's tenth track "Say Something" was released on January 27, 2023.[8] It was directed by Crowns & Owls.[9] The song debuted at number 24 on the US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs.[10]

Critical reception

Let's Start Here was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received a weighted average score of 73, based on nine reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.1 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

Jeff Ihaza of Rolling Stone praised the album, stating, "The rapper and musician's ambitious left-turn incorporates experimental rock and jazz with near-flawless execution, arriving at something that feels genuinely brand-new".[11] Exclaim! critic Alex Hudson said, "Sure, he did appear on a Tame Impala remix last year, but few could have expected such a vivid and exploratory psych album as Let's Start Here". Fred Thomas of AllMusic praised the album, stating, "The cluttered labyrinth of weird experiments is held together by Yachty himself, still exhibiting the bold personality and curious spirit he showed on trap beats when singing emotively over psychedelic rock instrumentals". Tom Johnson from Beats Per Minute enjoyed the album, saying, "While opinions will certainly be divided on Let's Start Here, it's undeniable that a rapper hasn't committed so impressively and effortlessly to a rock genre since Kid Cudi's Nirvana-inspired Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven. If anyone was going to do something this unexpected it was going to be Yachty". Robin Murray of Clash remarked that the album abandons Yachty's previous "straight-up rap for half-sung, half-spoken interludes", finding that "the results – though patchy – contain some of his best work yet". Murray concluded that with "every clipped, Silk Sonic esque moment – step forward 'drive ME crazy!' – there are moments of meandering musicality, and uncertain songcraft" but overall it "seems to point to a fresh beginning for Lil Yachty". Connor Flynn of Spectrum Culture said, "Despite its flaws, the album successfully blends psych and hip hop and puts a new spin on an old sound".

Reviewing the album for HipHopDX, Rebecca Barglowski stated, "Let's Start Here is exciting at the first listen because the style is new to Lil Yachty himself. Alas, the shiny sheen of new experiences tends to dull over time and with repetition". Alphonse Pierre of Pitchfork described the album as "a highly manicured and expensive blend of Tame Impala-style psych-rock, A24 synth-pop, loungey R&B, and Silk Sonic-esque funk, a sound so immediately appealing that it doesn't feel experimental at all". While Pierre complimented Yachty's "versatility" and for giving the "standout performance" on the "crowded project", Pierre remarked that he found Yachty's 2022 single "Poland" "stranger than anything here". The Wires Mosi Reeves opined that Let's Start Here "has a middlebrow sensibility" despite Yachty's "pretensions", viewing the album as being most effective "when he unleashes his oddball trill, an evocative sound that bland sentiments like 'So surreal, the vibes I feel' can't quite diminish."[12]

Year-end lists

Critic/Publication! scope="col" class="unsortable"
ListRank
BillboardThe 50 Best Albums of 2023
ComplexThe Best Albums of 2023
CrackThe Top 50 Albums of the Year
EsquireThe 20 Best Albums of 2023
Exclaim!Exclaim!s 50 Best Albums of 2023
NMEThe Best Albums of 2023
Rolling StoneThe 100 Best Albums of 2023

Commercial performance

Let's Start Here debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 36,000 album-equivalent units (including 4,000 copies in pure album sales) in its first week.[13] This became Lil Yachty's third US top-10 debut on the chart.[13] The album also accumulated a total of 41.34 million on-demand streams of the album's tracks.[13]

Track listing

Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.[14]

Musicians

Technical

Charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[15] 44
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[16] 18

Release history

Region! scope="col"
DateLabel(s)Format(s)Ref.
VariousJanuary 27, 2023[17] [18]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lil Yachty's New Album Let's Start Here. Is A Wild Psychedelic Rock Odyssey. Stereogum. Breihan. Tom. January 27, 2023. January 29, 2023. January 28, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230128213802/https://www.stereogum.com/2211874/lil-yachtys-new-album-lets-start-here-is-a-wild-psychedelic-rock-odyssey/music/. live.
  2. Lil Yachty Announces New Album 'Let's Start Here'. Billboard. Mamo. Heran. January 17, 2023. January 18, 2023. January 17, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230117205354/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lil-yachty-lets-start-here-album-announcement-1235200241/. live.
  3. Web site: Lil Yachty Shared The Release Date And Creepy Cover Art For 'Let's Start Here,' His Much-Anticipated New Album. Uproxx. Gonzalez. Alex. January 17, 2023. January 18, 2023. January 17, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230117213808/https://uproxx.com/music/lil-yachty-lets-start-here-new-album/. live.
  4. Web site: Lil Yachty Reveals AI-Generated Album Cover for 'Let's Start Here,' Depicting Demented Boardroom of Executives. Variety. Srour. Yousef. January 17, 2023. January 18, 2023. January 18, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230118003921/https://variety.com/2023/music/news/lil-yachty-lets-start-here-new-album-release-date-cover-1235492650/. live.
  5. Web site: Fact Focus: Jon Rafman. Fact. February 9, 2024. March 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230329074435/https://www.factmag.com/2023/02/02/jon-rafman-fact-focus/. live.
  6. Web site: Lil Yachty Drops "Department of Mental Tranquility" Skit Ahead of Forthcoming Album. Hypebeast. Saunders. Brycen. January 24, 2023. January 26, 2023.
  7. Lil Yachty Guides Listeners on a Trippy Journey with 'Let's Start Here' Album: Stream It Now. Billboard. Mamo. Heran. January 27, 2023. January 27, 2023. January 27, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230127051700/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lil-yachty-lets-start-here-album-stream-it-now-1235206512/. live.
  8. Lil Yachty Says 'I Love You' Too Fast and Ruins the Vibe in 'Say Something' Video. Rolling Stone. Larisha. Paul. January 27, 2023. January 28, 2023. January 27, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230127205728/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lil-yachty-say-something-music-video-lets-start-here-1234669785/. live.
  9. Web site: Lil Yachty Takes Rejection To The Extreme In Bizarre 'Say Something' Video. HipHopDX. Elibert. Mark. January 28, 2023. February 4, 2023. February 4, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230204045009/https://hiphopdx.com/news/lil-yachty-rejection-extreme-bizarre-video-say-something. live.
  10. Lil Yachty Chart History: Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. Billboard. February 28, 2023. February 7, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230207012555/https://www.billboard.com/artist/lil-yachty/chart-history/ark/. live.
  11. With 'Let's Start Here' Lil Yachty Emerges as Music's Boldest Creative Director. Rolling Stone. Ihaza. Jeff. January 30, 2023. January 30, 2023. January 30, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230130184101/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/review-lil-yachty-lets-start-here-1234668246/. live.
  12. Hiphop & R&B. The Wire. Reeves. Mosi. 470. April 2023. 68–69.
  13. Tomorrow X Together Lands First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart. Billboard. Caulfield. Keith. February 5, 2023. February 12, 2023. February 5, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230205232351/https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/tomorrow-x-together-the-name-chapter-temptation-billboard-200-number-one-1235212853/. live.
  14. Let's Start Here. Vinyl liner notes. Lil Yachty. Motown and Quality Control. Motown and Quality Control. 2023. B003692801.
  15. Web site: Lil Yachty – Suomen virallinen lista. Musiikkituottajat. fi. February 5, 2023.
  16. Web site: 2023 5-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100). AGATA. lt. February 3, 2023. February 3, 2023. February 3, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230203121413/https://www.agata.lt/lt/naujienos/s5/. live.
  17. Lil Yachty Guides Listeners on a Trippy Journey with 'Let's Start Here' Album: Stream It Now. Billboard. Mamo. Heran. January 27, 2023. February 28, 2023. March 15, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230315033910/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lil-yachty-lets-start-here-album-stream-it-now-1235206512/. live.
  18. Web site: Lil Yachty – Let's Start Here. [2 LP]]. Record Store Day. February 28, 2023. February 28, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230228050839/https://recordstoreday.com/UPC/602448706614. live.