lil yachty still here

Lil Yachty Reveals AI-Generated Album Cover for ‘Let’s Start Here,’ Depicting Demented Boardroom of Executives

By Yousef Srour

Yousef Srour

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Lil Yachty has revealed the artwork and release date for his forthcoming album, “Let’s Start Here,” set to debut Jan. 27 on Quality Control Music and Motown Records.

Ever the provocateur, the rapper’s new cover art previews an AI-generated image of what seems to be seven executives sitting next to each other in suits. With malformed faces akin to a psychedelic trip down the rabbit hole, the artwork seems unremarkable upon first glance. However, the longer you stare at their faces, they look inhuman, with contorted facial features and warped smiles.

The post is captioned : “Let’s Start Here. – 1/27  Chapter 2. Thank You for the patience,” hinting at a potential redux of an already teased album, collectively referred to as “Sonic Ranch.” On Dec. 25, Yachty’s latest album was leaked by Leaked.cx, much to the Michigan rapper’s disappointment. He took to Twitter later that day to post a half-hearted sad-face emoji to express anguish in the untimely launch of a potentially seminal work within his discography.

In an interview with Icebox last year , the “ Minnesota ” rapper has expressed that his “new album is a non-rap album,” hence the second chapter that he alludes to in his Instagram post. Yachty explains: “It’s alternative, it’s sick!” After recently collaborating with artists such as Tame Impala, he’s been in the process of creating a “psychedelic alternative project… [with] all live instrumentation.”

Slowly shedding major label support, Yachty now has his own label and creative consultant company, Concrete Records and Concrete Family, respectively. Working closely with Concrete Family, Yachty teamed up with the General Mills cereal brand in 2020 for a limited collaboration with Reese’s Puffs and has an undisclosed sneaker set to be released at a later date. Similar to his 2021 mixtape, “Michigan Boat Boy,” which featured almost solely Detroit artists including Rio Da Yung OG and Babyface Ray, Yachty plans to also release a mixtape with the Concrete Boys collective sometime this year.

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‘Let’s Start Here’ is a reset for Lil Yachty’s sound

Lil Yachty reinvents his sound in “Let’s Start Here,” but his lyrics show that old habits die hard.

Aaliya Luthra

Lil Yachty’s newest psychedelic-rock album features 14 tracks including “the BLACK seminole.” and “The Alchemist.”(Illustration by Aaliya Luthra)

Sandy Battulga , Music Editor Feb 2, 2023

Since the release of hit singles “One Night” and “Minnesota,” Lil Yachty has based his lucrative musical career on mumble rap, a genre often defined by its simple rhymes and prevalence on SoundCloud . Lil Yachty — whose real name is Miles Park McCollum — has maintained that being known as a SoundCloud rapper is not enough for him. 

“I’m not a rapper — I’m an artist,” he said to The New York Times in a 2016 interview . “And I’m more than an artist. I’m a brand.” 

In his new album “Let’s Start Here,” Lil Yachty breaks out of the constraints of SoundCloud mumble rap once and for all. Sound-wise, the album is rooted in psychedelic rock. The first track, “the BLACK seminole.,” has a reverberating bass line that sweeps across the entire song, providing a syrupy tone that coats the rest of the album. Lil Yachty has cited Pink Floyd as a major inspiration for this album. This influence is especially evident in “the BLACK seminole.,” which features a virtuosic guitar solo, fast-paced synthesizer melody and epic vocal aria. 

This album experiments with composition and ambient soundscapes in an intriguing way. The fifth track, “:(failure(:,” showcases cavernous drones and guitar chords, over which Lil Yachty speaks, ruminating on failure and what it’s like to be “rich and famous.” The song was written in part by Alex G and Mac DeMarco, so it has a psychedelic and almost spiritual sound. For every serene moment in “Let’s Start Here,” however, “IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!” is a track filled with the chaos to match. The song touches on classical music, glitch music, hard rock and R&B — all within its runtime of just over five minutes. The song ends with an air of calm though, with a minute-long recording of a person walking outside, while a string section plays a meditative composition. “Let’s Start Here” leaves no stone unturned, exhibiting varying levels of intensity and pacing that make the album a feast for the ears.

Although the diversity of sound in the album is exciting and original, its lyrical content doesn’t break away from the mumble rap mold nearly as much as it could. Lil Yachty is known for his music’s refreshingly youthful and goofy perspective, but this lyric construction strategy seems out of place amid the more mature and developed sonic environment he established in “Let’s Start Here.” The album has the beginnings of a more introspective and thoughtful reflection on his life compared to his previous work, but Lil Yachty’s muscle memory of writing simple rhymes that revel in adolescence seems to overtake the full realization of a truly contemplative tone. 

“The Alchemist,” for example, is the second to last track, and it depicts two different characters: one cocky and one vulnerable. Lil Yachty returns to his background in mumble rap, energetically delivering lines like, “No need to brag, but I knew that I was built for this / I know now that most men would kill for this / Seamlessly, I walk around infamous” and “Papa made a young pimp, I’m outside / Southside, tote a shank, I’ma up rank / Lemonade pink seats in a fish tank.” These verses ooze the positivity that Lil Yachty is known for, providing a familiar tone to fans that were originally attracted to the artist because of his easy confidence. In between the rapper’s verses, though, R&B singer Fousheé provides a different attitude, softly singing, “It feels good / Don’t need no harm, this for shits and giggles / My taxes in on time” and “​​Up on my cloud / My feet don’t touch the ground / Don’t try to shoot me down / I’m only a human / It’s my first go ’round in this thing.” She articulates sentiments that Lil Yachty doesn’t usually associate himself with such as sensitivity and domesticity. This song offers listeners insight, if brief, into the Lil Yachty behind the curated brand he has built around himself. 

Most of the songs on the album revolve around a boyish infatuation with women, like in “WE SAW THE SUN!” Once again, the instrumentation is what keeps the listener’s attention. A hypnotic guitar introduces the track, and Lil Yachty’s voice is fragmented into a rhythmic accompaniment. The song ends with a snippet of Bob Ross speaking: “Just let your imagination run wild, let your heart be your guide / In the time you sit around worrying about it and trying to plan a painting, you could’ve completed a painting already.” But the lyrics of this track don’t measure up against the complexities of its composition. Lil Yachty’s verses are juvenile, still reflecting his past projects: “Few more drops up on your tongue / At night, too many that can’t be undone / Head spun, meanwhile, you’re done / Had a little too much fun / I cannot stop touching you / This just took my high to the moon.” 

Despite the lack of development in his lyricism, Lil Yachty has showcased incredible dexterity in shaping this album’s sonic landscape. The last track of “Let’s Start Here” indicates that more complex lyrics may be on the way. “REACH THE SUNSHINE” features Daniel Caesar, who starts the song off with an interpolation of Radiohead’s “Pyramid Song.” “Staring in the mirror and what do I see? / A three-eyed man staring back at me / Two for the flesh and one for the soul / But where did man go? I’m tryna fill that hole,” the song drones. The track ends on the fourth note of the scale instead of the tonic, so it leaves the track — and the album — unresolved. The listener walks away craving more, but thankfully — as the title of this album suggests — this new era of Lil Yachty is just getting started.

Contact Sandy Battulga at [email protected] .

Sandy is a sophomore double-majoring in comparative literature and social and cultural analysis. When she's not complaining about her love-hate relationship...

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Let’s Start Here.

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Music Features

Lil yachty's delightfully absurd path to 'let's start here'.

Matthew Ramirez

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 29: Lil Yachty performs on the Stage during day 2 of Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival 2017 at Exposition Park on October 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Rich Fury/Getty Images hide caption

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 29: Lil Yachty performs on the Stage during day 2 of Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival 2017 at Exposition Park on October 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.

Lil Yachty often worked better as an idea than a rapper. The late-decade morass of grifters like Lil Pump, amidst the self-serious reign of Future and Drake (eventual Yachty collaborators, for what it's worth), created a demand for something lighter, someone charismatic, a throwback to a time in the culture when characters like Biz Markie could score a hit or Kool Keith could sustain a career in one hyper-specific lane of rap fandom. Yachty fulfilled the role: His introduction to many was through a comedy skit soundtracked by his viral breakout "1 Night," which tapped into the song's deadpan delivery and was the perfect complement for its sleepy charm. The casual fan knows him best for a pair of collaborations in 2016: as one-half of the zeitgeist-defining single "Broccoli" with oddity D.R.A.M., or "iSpy," a top-five pop hit with backpack rapper Kyle. Yachty embodied the rapper as larger-than-life character — from his candy-colored braids to his winning smile — and while the songs themselves were interesting, you could be forgiven for wondering if there was anything substantial behind the fun, the grounds for the start of a long career.

As if to supplement his résumé, Yachty seemed to emerge as a multimedia star. Perhaps you remember him in a Target commercial; heard him during the credits for the Saved by the Bell reboot; spotted him on a cereal box; saw him co-starring in the ill-fated 2019 sequel to How High . TikTok microcelebrity followed. Then the sentences got more and more absurd: Chef Boyardee jingle with Donny Osmond; nine-minute video cosplaying as Oprah; lead actor in an UNO card game movie. Somewhere in a cross-section of pop-culture detritus and genuine hit-making talent is where Yachty resides. That he didn't fade away immediately is a testament to his charm as a cultural figure; Yachty satisfied a need, and in his refreshingly low-stakes appeal, you could imagine him as an MTV star in an alternate universe. Move the yardstick of cultural cachet from album sales to likes and he emerges as a generation-defining persona, if not musician.

Early success and exposure can threaten anyone's career, none so much as those connected to the precarious phenomenon of SoundCloud rap. Yachty's initial peak perhaps seeded his desire years later to sincerely pursue artistry with Let's Start Here , an album fit for his peculiar trajectory, because throughout the checks from Sprite and scolding Ebro interviews he never stopped releasing music, seemingly to satisfy no one other than himself and the generation of misfits that he seemed to be speaking for.

But to oversell him as a personality belittles his substantial catalog. Early mixtapes like Lil Boat and Summer Songs 2 , which prophetically brought rap tropes and pop sounds into harmony, were sustained by the teenage artist's commitment to selling the vibe of a track as he warbled its memorable hook. It was perhaps his insistence to demonstrate that he could rap, too, that most consistently pockmarked his output during this period. These misses were the necessary growing pains of a kid still finding his footing, and through time and persistence, a perceived weakness became a strength. Where his peers Lil Uzi Vert and Playboi Carti found new ways to express themselves in music, Yachty dug in his heels and became Quality Control's oddball representative, acquitting himself on guest appearances and graduating from punchline rapper to respectable vet culminating in the dense and rewarding Lil Boat 3 from 2020, Yachty's last official album.

Which is why the buzzy, viral "Poland" from the end of 2022 hit different — Yachty tapped back into the same lively tenor of his early breakthroughs. The vibrato was on ten, the beat menaced and hummed like a broken heater, he rapped about taking cough syrup in Poland, it was over in under two minutes and endlessly replayable. Yachty has already lived a full career arc in seven years — from the 2016 king of the teens, to budding superstar, to pitchman, to regional ambassador. But following "Poland" with self-aware attempts at similar virality would be a mistake, and you can't pivot your way to radio stardom after a hit like that, unless you're a marketing genius like Lil Nas X. How does he follow up his improbable second chance to grab the zeitgeist?

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Lil yachty, 'poland'.

Let's Start Here is Lil Yachty's reinvention, a born-again Artist's Statement with no rapping. It's billed as psychedelic rock but has a decidedly accessible sound — the sun-kissed warmth of an agreeable Tame Impala song, with bounce-house rhythms and woozy guitars in the mode of Magdalena Bay and Mac DeMarco (both of whom guest on the album) — something that's not quite challenging but satisfying nonetheless. Contrast with 2021's Michigan Boy Boat , where Yachty performed as tour guide through Michigan rap: His presence was auxiliary by function on that tape, as he ceded the floor to Babyface Ray, Sada Baby and Rio Da Yung OG; it was tantalizing curation, if not a work of his own personal artistry. It's tempting to cast Let's Start Here as another act of roleplay, but what holds this album together is Yachty's magnetic pull. Whether or not you're someone who voluntarily listens to the Urban Outfitters-approved slate of artists he's drawing upon, his star presence is what keeps you engaged here.

Yachty has been in the studio recording this album since 2021, and the effort is tangible. He didn't chase "Poland" with more goofy novelties, but he also didn't spit this record out in a month. Opener (and highlight) "The Black Seminole" alternates between Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix-lite references. It's definitely a gauntlet thrown even if halfway through you start to wonder where Yachty is. The album's production team mostly consists of Patrick Wemberly (formerly of Chairlift), Jacob Portrait (of Unknown Mortal Orchestra), Jeremiah Raisen (who's produced for Charli XCX, Sky Ferreira and Drake) and Yachty himself, who's established himself as a talented producer since his early days. (MGMT's Ben Goldwasser also contributed.) The group does a formidable job composing music that is dense and layered enough to register as formally unconventional, if not exactly boundary-pushing. Yachty frequently reaches for his "Poland"-inspired uber-vibrato, which adds a bewitching texture to the songs, placing him in the center of the track. Other moments that work: the spoken-word interlude "Failure," thanks to contemplative strumming from Alex G, and "The Ride," a warm slow-burn that coasts on a Jam City beat, giving the album a lustrous Night Slugs moment. "I've Officially Lost Vision" thrashes like Yves Tumor.

Yet the best songs on Let's Start Here push Yachty's knack for hooks and snaking melodies to the fore and rely less on studio fireworks — the laid-back groove of "Running Out of Time," the mournful post-punk of "Should I B?" and the slow burn of "Pretty," which features a bombastic turn from vocalist Foushee. That Yachty's vaunted indie collaborators were able to work in simpatico with him proves his left-of-center bonafides. It's a reminder that he's often lined his projects with successful non-rap songs, curios like "Love Me Forever" from Lil Boat 2 and "Worth It" from Nuthin' 2 Prove . That renders Let's Start Here a less startling turn than it may appear at first glance, and also underlines his recurring talent for making off-kilter pop music, a gift no matter the perceived genre.

At a listening event for the record, Yachty stated: "I created [this] because I really wanted to be taken seriously as an artist. Not just some SoundCloud rapper, not some mumble rapper. Not some guy that just made one hit," seemingly aware of the culture war within his own genre and his place along the spectrum of low- to highbrow. To be sure, whether conscious of it or not, this kind of mentality is dismissive of rap music as an artform, and also undermines the good music Yachty has made in the past. Holing up in the studio to make digestibly "weird" indie-rock with a cast of talented white people isn't intrinsically more artistic or valid than viral hits or a one-off like "Poland." But this statement scans less as self-loathing and more as a renewed confidence, a tribute to the album's collective vision. And people like Joe Budden have been saying "I don't think Yachty is hip-hop " since he started. So what if he wants to break rank now?

Lil Yachty entered the cultural stage at 18, and has grown up in public. It adds up that, now 25, he would internalize all the scrutiny he's received and wish to cement his artistry after a few thankless years rewriting the rules for young, emerging rappers. Let's Start Here may not be the transcendent psychedelic rock album that he seeks, but it is reflective of an era of genreless "vibes" music. Many young listeners likely embraced Yachty and Tame Impala simultaneously; it tracks he would want to bring these sounds together in a genuine attempt to reach a wider audience. Nothing about this album is cynical, but it is opportunistic, a creation in line with both a shameless mixed-media existence and his everchanging pop alchemy. The "genre" tag in streaming metadata means less than it ever has. Credit to Yachty for putting that knowledge to use.

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With ‘Let’s Start Here,’ Lil Yachty Emerges as Music’s Boldest Creative Director

By Jeff Ihaza

Lil Yachty is rich. The 25-year-old musician posts TikToks featuring exotic Italian furniture, and goes vintage shopping with Drake. By the time he graduated high school, he’d already bought his mom a house. He caused a mild international incident with his viral hit “Poland,” a loosie released late last year in which he croons, with impossible sincerity, about bringing illegal pharmaceuticals into Poland. One couldn’t imagine a more charmed Gen Z existence. And yet, on “:(failure(:,” an early interlude from his left-turn of a new album, Let’s Start Here, he says that he’s “seen failure a few times/More recently than before, actually.”

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Cast in this new light, the quality that once made it hard for detractors to take him seriously has become Lil Yachty’s greatest strength. His playful vocal acrobatics, his freewheeling gestures into key ranges he might be less than suited for, create a listening experience rooted in feeling. So we open Let’s Start Here with “the BLACK seminole.,” in which Yachty sprinkles sparse musings from history. The title references Afro-Seminole people, free Africans who lived among Seminole groups in what is now Florida. Yachty’s idea fragments ooze together in the psychedelic groove, careful to keep the theoretical framework loose, allowing the words “Black” and “sex symbol” to float off into space carrying only as much weight as they need to. The statement retains potency in its aloofness. It isn’t unheard of to see rappers treading indie-rock terrain, though the efforts tend to have the sheen of corporate crossover. With instrumentation from Chairlift’s Patrick Wimberly, Yachty rolls in like a Black cowboy in a way that feels unforced. “A Black man with mouths to feed,” he whispers.

Oohs and ahhs stretch to the heavens with intention — like on standout “pRETTY,” which is already proving to be a hit on TikTok, and sounds like a slowed bedroom cut from the cult label Naked Music. Percussion rumbles gently over the staggering two-step, while a sensual, otherworldly warble breaks through the clouds like a ray of sunshine in spring. 

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You could call Let’s Start Here a rebuke of the notion that listeners have abandoned the full-length album. The record’s tight 57 minutes feel as cohesive a project as any artist has released in the streaming era. Yachty’s genuine adoration of his musical inspirations is like the Gen Z alchemy of Pinkpantheress, able to turn familiar source material into something entirely new. 

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How Lil Yachty Ended Up at His Excellent New Psychedelic Album Let's Start Here

By Brady Brickner-Wood

The evening before Lil Yachty released his fifth studio album,  Let’s Start Here,  he  gathered an IMAX theater’s worth of his fans and famous friends at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City and made something clear: He wanted to be taken seriously. Not just as a “Soundcloud rapper, not some mumble rapper, not some guy that just made one hit,” he told the crowd before pressing play on his album. “I wanted to be taken serious because music is everything to me.” 

There’s a spotty history of rappers making dramatic stylistic pivots, a history Yachty now joins with  Let’s Start Here,  a funk-flecked psychedelic rock album. But unlike other notable rap-to-rock faceplants—Kid Cudi’s  Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven  comes to mind, as does Lil Wayne’s  Rebirth —the record avoids hackneyed pastiche and gratuitous playacting and cash-grabbing crossover singles; instead, Yachty sounds unbridled and free, a rapper creatively liberated from the strictures of mainstream hip-hop. Long an oddball who’s delighted in defying traditional rap ethos and expectations,  Let’s Start Here  is a maximalist and multi-genre undertaking that rewrites the narrative of Yachty’s curious career trajectory. 

Admittedly, it’d be easy to write off the album as Tame Impala karaoke, a gimmicky record from a guy who heard Yves Tumor once and thought: Let’s do  that . But set aside your Yachty skepticism and probe the album’s surface a touch deeper. While the arrangements tend toward the obvious, the record remains an intricate, unraveling swell of sumptuous live instruments and reverb-drenched textures made more impressive by the fact that Yachty co-produced every song. Fielding support from an all-star cast of characters, including production work from former Chairlift member Patrick Wimberly, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait, Justin Raisen, Nick Hakim, and Magdalena Bay, and vocals from Daniel Caesar, Diana Gordon,  Foushée , Justine Skye, and Teezo Touchdown, Yachty surrounds himself with a group of disparately talented collaborators. You can hear the acute attention to detail and wide-scale ambition in the spaced-out denouement on “We Saw the Sun!” or on the blistering terror of “I’ve Officially Lost Vision!!!!” or during the cool romanticism of “Say Something.” Though occasionally overindulgent,  Let’s Start Here  is a spectacular statement from hip-hop’s prevailing weirdo. It’s not shocking that Yachty took another hard left—but how exactly did he end up  here ?

In 2016, as the forefather of “bubblegum trap” ascended into mainstream consciousness, an achievement like  Let’s Start Here  would’ve seemed inconceivable. The then 18-year-old Yachty gained national attention when a pair of his songs, “One Night” and “Minnesota,” went viral. Though clearly indebted to hip-hop trailblazers Lil B, Chief Keef, and Young Thug, his work instantly stood apart from the gritted-teeth toughness of his Atlanta trap contemporaries. Yachty flaunted a childlike awe and cartoonish demeanor that communicated a swaggering, unbothered cool. His singsong flows and campy melodies contained a winking humor to them, a subversive playfulness that endeared him to a generation of very online kids who saw themselves in Yachty’s goofy, eccentric persona. He starred in Sprite  commercials alongside LeBron James, performed live shows at the  Museum of Modern Art , and modeled in Kanye West’s  Life of Pablo  listening event at Madison Square Garden. Relishing in his cultural influence, he declared to the  New York Times  that he was not a rapper but an  artist. “And I’m more than an artist,” he added. “I’m a brand.”

 As Sheldon Pearce pointed out in his Pitchfork  review of Yachty’s 2016 mixtape,  Lil Boat , “There isn’t a single thing Lil Yachty’s doing that someone else isn’t doing better, and in richer details.” He wasn’t wrong. While Yachty’s songs were charming and catchy (and, sometimes, convincing), his music was often tangential to his brand. What was the point of rapping as sharply as the Migos or singing as intensely as Trippie Redd when you’d inked deals with Nautica and Target, possessed a sixth-sense for going viral, and had incoming collaborations with Katy Perry and Carly Rae Jepsen? What mattered more was his presentation: the candy-red hair and beaded braids, the spectacular smile that showed rows of rainbow-bedazzled grills, the wobbly, weak falsetto that defaulted to a chintzy nursery rhyme cadence. He didn’t need technical ability or historical reverence to become a celebrity; he was a meme brought to life, the personification of hip-hop’s growing generational divide, a sudden star who, like so many other Soundcloud acts, seemed destined to crash and burn after a fleeting moment in the sun.

 One problem: the music wasn’t very good. Yachty’s debut album, 2017’s  Teenage Emotions, was a glitter-bomb of pop-rap explorations that floundered with shaky hooks and schmaltzy swings at crossover hits. Worse, his novelty began to fade, those sparkly, cheerful, and puerile bubblegum trap songs aging like day-old french fries. Even when he hued closer to hard-nosed rap on 2018’s  Lil Boat 2  and  Nuthin’ 2 Prove,  you could feel Yachty desperate to recapture the magic that once came so easily to him. But rap years are like dog years, and by 2020, Yachty no longer seemed so radically weird. He was an established rapper making mid mainstream rap. The only question now was whether we’d already seen the best of him.

If his next moves were any indication—writing the  theme song to the  Saved by the Bell  sitcom revival and announcing his involvement in an upcoming  movie based on the card game Uno—then the answer was yes. But in April 2021, Yachty dropped  Michigan Boat Boy,  a mixtape that saw him swapping conventional trap for Detroit and Flint’s fast-paced beats and plain-spoken flows. Never fully of a piece with his Atlanta colleagues, Yachty found a cohort of kindred spirits in Michigan, a troop of rappers whose humor, imagination, and debauchery matched his own. From the  looks of it, leaders in the scene like Babyface Ray, Rio Da Yung OG, and YN Jay embraced Yachty with open arms, and  Michigan Boat Boy  thrives off that communion. 

 Then “ Poland ” happened. When Yachty uploaded the minute-and-a-half long track to Soundcloud a few months back, he received an unlikely and much needed jolt. Building off the rage rap production he played with on the  Birthday Mix 6  EP, “Poland” finds Yachty’s warbling about carrying pharmaceutical-grade cough syrup across international borders, a conceit that captured the imagination of TikTok and beyond. Recorded as a joke and released only after a leaked version went viral, the song has since amassed over a hundred-millions streams across all platforms. With his co-production flourishes (and adlibs) splattered across Drake and 21 Savage’s  Her Loss,  fans had reason to believe that Yachty’s creative potential had finally clicked into focus.

 But  Let’s Start Here  sounds nothing like “Poland”—in fact, the song doesn’t even appear on the project. Instead, amid a tapestry of scabrous guitars, searing bass, and vibrant drums, Yachty sounds right at home on this psych-rock spectacle of an album. He rarely raps, but his singing often relies on the virtues of his rapping: those greased-vowel deliveries and unrushed cadences, the autotune-sheathed vibrato. “Pretty,” for instance, is decidedly  not  a rap song—but what is it, then? It’s indebted to trap as much as it is ’90s R&B and MGMT, its drugged-out drums and warm keys able to house an indeterminate amount of ideas.

Yachty didn’t need to abandon hip-hop to find himself as an artist, but his experimental impulses helped him craft his first great album. Perhaps this is his lone dalliance in psych rock—maybe a return to trap is imminent. Or, maybe, he’ll make another 180, or venture deeper into the dystopia of corporate sponsorships. Who’s to say? For now, it’s invigorating to see Yachty shake loose the baggage of his teenage virality and emerge more fully into his adult artistic identity. His guise as a boundary-pushing rockstar isn’t a new archetype, but it’s an archetype he’s infused with his glittery idiosyncrasies. And look what he’s done: he’s once again morphed into a star the world didn’t see coming.

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How To Buy Tickets For Broccoli City Festival 2024

Earlier this week, Broccoli City announced its 2024 lineup featuring Megan Thee Stallion , Gunna , PartyNextDoor , and Kaytranada . The festival will move to a new venue, Audi Field in Washington, DC, and take over two days, July 27 and 28. In addition to featuring some of the biggest names in music, like Lil Yachty, Victoria Monét, and Key Glock, the festival will also feature multiple “experiences” based on popular party promotions like Soulelection and Everyday People, as well as a country-fried HoeDown with “Buckle Bunny” singer Tanner Addell and TrapSoul Karaoke with Bryson Tiller.

Here’s how to buy tickets for what has quickly become one of 2024’s hottest festivals.

Chase Bank members can buy up to four passes right now via a pre-sale while supplies last starting at $225. For the rest, passes can be purchased starting on March 21 at 10am ET, with reserved seating passes and field access passes. Reserved seated passes will not have field access and start at $225, while field access doesn’t get reserved seating and starts at $235. Basically, if your feet tend to hurt at festivals (and you have no wish to invest in more comfortable footwear) or you don’t care about being close to the stage, you can save a few bucks on your tickets and spend them at concessions.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Broccoli City (@broccolicity)

For a map and more information concerning tickets, you can visit bcfestival.com .

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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Bobbi Althoff Denies Copying Funny Marco in New Interview: ‘I Had Never Seen You At All’

During an 'Open Thoughts' sit-down, Althoff also presented Marco with a plastic bag full of cash.

View this video on YouTube

Bobbi Althoff disagrees with any accusation saying she took Funny Marco ’s interview style and ran with it.

In a recent interview featuring Althoff and Marco both, as seen above, the former was asked how she feels about such comments.

“I say to that, that you took my stuff,” she joked on a recent episode of Marco’s Open Thoughts . “No, I know you didn’t. But to be fair, I couldn’t take your stuff because I had never seen you at all when I was already doing [videos].”

View this photo on Instagram

Per Althoff, who previously had Marco on an episode of her own Really Good Podcast series, she was actually introduced to Marco’s work through a friend who considered them both “so similar.” In fact, this was Althoff’s introduction to Marco’s interviews. 

As for Marco, he shared a similar take on the topic, ultimately leading to Althoff expressing gratitude for their prior interview together having taken her “to different levels.” She also presented Marco with a gift in the form of a plastic bag full of cash.

Of course, when it comes to the interview styles employed by Althoff and Marco, it's only right to tip several hats toward the Zach Galifianakis-starring Between Two Ferns , which made its debut back in 2008. One could rather easily argue that this performance art, or at least performance art-adjacent, interview style is not exactly a recent invention. Still, plenty of Internet personalities have taken on the form and made it their own, both Althoff and Marco included.

As for the Althoff comparisons, Lil Yachty made headlines last year for playfully making fun of Marco in connection with her post-interview success.

"Were you jealous that she just surpassed you and completely obliterated your existence?" Yachty joked to Marco at the time.

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Cole also reflected on receiving conflicting advice from Jay-Z regarding his debut album.

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J. Cole is still on the road as part of Drake’s It’s All A Blur – Big as the What? Tour , and he’s teasing more music leading into his anticipated The Fall-Off album.

The Dreamville boss unleashed the second edition of his M ight Delete Later, Vol. 2 vlog recapping his travels on Monday (March 18), which includes an unreleased track featuring Cole rapping as if his rent was overdue.

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Megan thee stallion, victoria monét and partynextdoor lead 2024 broccoli city festival.

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INDIO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 23: Singer Megan Thee Stallion performs on the Main Stage during Week 2, ... [+] Day 2 of the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 23, 2022 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Coachella)

On Monday morning, the Broccoli City initiative posted on their social media accounts (previously Twitter) and Instagram to announce the 2024 lineup for their festival. Major acts such as Megan Thee Stallion, Victoria Monét, Gunna, Kaytranada, Sexyy Red, and Key Glock are scheduled to perform as headliners.

The two-day festival is set to take place at Audi Field Stadium in Washington, D.C. on July 27 and 28.

Megan Thee Stallion's presence is fitting, as she recently had a chart-topping song "Hiss" and is set to embark on her first-ever headlining tour this May, appropriately titled, The Hot Girl Summer Tour.

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Victoria Monét is thriving in her career, having earned multiple prestigious awards such as three Grammys and two NAACP Image Awards. Her debut album Jaguar II 's third single, "Oh My Mama," reached RIAA platinum status with over 1 million sales and streaming units.

Broccoli City promises to reimagine the festival experience with not only a star-studded line-up but also eccentric live experiences.

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Issa Rae is set to lead an experience hosted by Desi Banks and Funny Marco, Bryson Tiller will be hosting a Trapsoul Karaoke, while the Amapiano Princess, Uncle Waffles is set to showcase their groundbreaking disc jockey experience.

Founded by North Carolina natives Brandon McEachern and Marcus Allen, Broccoli City started as a streetwear brand with its name spawning influence from the nickname of their city, Greensboro. In 2010, the duo held their first concert in Los Angeles, where they became ambassadors for Earth Day, and an up-and-coming Kendrick Lamar took to the stage.

The brand soon evolved into an initiative that takes on a grassroots approach “with a relentless focus on empowering and inspiring thriving urban communities.”

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In 2013, they teamed up with Darryl Perkins and Jermon Williams of Washington, D.C. to officially launch the Broccoli City Festival, headlined by Big K.R.I.T. Later in 2018, they partnered with Live Nation Urban. They went on to feature several headliners such as DaBaby, Cardi B, Ari Lennox, Burna Boy, 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert, Wizkid, Summer Walker, Wale, Jazmine Sullivan, City Girls, Ice Spice, Rema, and more—suiting an Afro-diasporic ambiance.

Chase cardholders can access reserved seating tickets, Club Broccoli passes, and VIP tickets. Presale tickets are currently available, and prospective attendees can use the layaway platform Klarna to purchase their tickets.

Official 2024 lineup for the Broccoli City Festival

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Bobbi Althoff Denies Copying Funny Marco in New Interview: ‘I Had Never Seen You At All’

Bobbi Althoff disagrees with any accusation saying she took Funny Marco ’s interview style and ran with it.

In a recent interview featuring Althoff and Marco both, as seen above, the former was asked how she feels about such comments.

“I say to that, that you took my stuff,” she joked on a recent episode of Marco’s Open Thoughts . “No, I know you didn’t. But to be fair, I couldn’t take your stuff because I had never seen you at all when I was already doing [videos].”

Per Althoff, who previously had Marco on an episode of her own Really Good Podcast series, she was actually introduced to Marco’s work through a friend who considered them both “so similar.” In fact, this was Althoff’s introduction to Marco’s interviews. 

As for Marco, he shared a similar take on the topic, ultimately leading to Althoff expressing gratitude for their prior interview together having taken her “to different levels.” She also presented Marco with a gift in the form of a plastic bag full of cash.

Of course, when it comes to the interview styles employed by Althoff and Marco, it's only right to tip several hats toward the Zach Galifianakis-starring Between Two Ferns , which made its debut back in 2008. One could rather easily argue that this performance art, or at least performance art-adjacent, interview style is not exactly a recent invention. Still, plenty of Internet personalities have taken on the form and made it their own, both Althoff and Marco included.

As for the Althoff comparisons, Lil Yachty made headlines last year for playfully making fun of Marco in connection with her post-interview success.

"Were you jealous that she just surpassed you and completely obliterated your existence?" Yachty joked to Marco at the time.

More on this

Schoolboy Q Shuts Down Bobbi Althoff Interview Suggestion: 'F*ck Outta Here' Joe Price · Feb. 26, 2024

Watch Lil Yachty Playfully Troll Funny Marco About Bobbi Althoff Having ‘Completely Obliterated Your Existence' Trace William Cowen · Sept. 27, 2023

Bobbi Althoff Responds to Criticism of Her Podcasting Technique: 'People Didn’t Get That It Was a Bit' tara mahadevan · Jan. 18, 2024