Lil Yachty says he “wanted to show people a different side of me” on ‘Let’s Start Here’

Lil Yachty‘s latest album, Let’s Start Here, sees him take on psychedelic rock, a genre outside the hip-hop that helped him into the industry. He entered the game as a rebellious young star, and was labeled a mumble and Soundcloud rapper, but says he’s “always been so much more than just hip-hop.”

He tells Billboard that with his new album, he “wanted to show people a different side of me — and that I can do anything, most importantly.” And he says he did just that.

“I did what I really wanted to do, which was create a body of work that reflected me,” Yachty says. “My idea was for this album to be a journey: Press play and fall into a void.”

Yachty dropped Let’s Start Here back in January, but he says he turned the album in “a long time ago.” Though he went through a few titles and had to forfeit his rollout after an unexpected leak, he says he was confident with the album, especially after seeing the reactions from Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, Drake, Cardi B, Kid Cudi, A$AP Rocky and Tyler, The Creator.

“I was always kind of nervous to put out music, but now I’m on some other sh**,” Yachty says. “It was a lot of self-assessing and being very real about not being happy with where I was musically, knowing I’m better than where I am. Because the sh** I was making did not add up to the sh** I listened to.

“I just wanted more,” he continues. “I want to be remembered. I want to be respected.”

His next goal is to perform the album live with the help of an all-female band. “The show has to match the album,” he says. “It has to be big.”

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