Lil Yachty Enlisted An MGMT Member And Many Other Psychedelic Collaborators To Help Bring His New Album To Life

Fans are raving about Lil Yachty’s new album, Let’s Start Here. To some, the departure from his signature rap sound to the project’s psychedelic alternative rock core came as a surprise, but to the rapper and his die-hard fans, this was to be expected.

A year ago, as the musician discussed what he had planned for his next official studio project, he plainly told Atlanta jewelry store Icebox listeners should brace themselves because it would be “a non-rap album.”

Yachty went on to gush about the creative direction saying, “It’s alternative, it’s sick! I’ve always wanted to [do one], but now I’ve met all these amazing musicians and producers. It’s like a psychedelic-alternative project. It’s different, and it’s all live instrumentation. I’ve changed my entire dynamic. I’m telling you, with this album and on, I’m creating music a whole lot differently.”

Fast forward to today, and Let’s Start Here is available across streaming platforms, and the list of the musicians and producers that he worked with has been revealed. While Lil Yachty co-produced the entire album, the project features a list of heavy hitter guest producers, including Justin Raisen, Sad Pony, Patrick Wimberly, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait, Nick Hakim, Magdalena Bay, and Jam City.

As far as writing credit goes, Lil Yachty has been the go-to rap pen for the new wave of rappers including the City Girls, but artists Mac DeMarco and Alex G are also given co-writing credit. During the initial announcement, Yachty did not list any guest vocal features. Still, after listening to the album, music buffs will recognize recording artists Foushée, Diana Gordon, Teezo Touchdown, and Justine Skye all made an appearance on it despite their names not being listed in the titles.

Details about the featured instrumentalist featured on the project are still being revealed, but one standout musical guest includes MGMT’s Ben Goldwasser, who played the keyboard on the album.

When discussing the inspiration behind the album and his robust approach, Yachty sternly replied, “I wanted to be taken seriously as an artist, not just some SoundCloud rapper. Not some mumble rapper, not just some guy that made one hit.”

View the official tracklist with unlisted guests added below.

1. “The Black Seminole”2. “The Ride” Feat. Teezo Touchdown3. “Running Out of Time” Feat. Justine Skye4. “Pretty” Feat. Fousheé5. “Failure”6. “The Zone” Feat. Justine Skye7. “We Saw the Sun!”8. “Drive Me Crazy!” Feat. Diana Gordon9. “I’ve Officially Lost Vision!!!!” Feat. Diana Gordon10. “Say Something”11. “Paint the Sky”12. “Should I B?”13. “The Alchemist” Feat. Fousheé14. “Reach the Sunshine” Feat. Daniel Caesar

Let’s Start Here is out now via Quality Control. Get it here.