Lil Yachty – Teenage Emotions (Album Review)

Dear Readers,

This is an open letter to you guys to explain the possible favorable review I have given Yachty’s album.

Readers, I once felt like you when it came to Lil Yachty: I also thought he was this young kid that was not necessarily fond of the hard work that the pioneers of rap helped create, almost making a mockery of the genre with his wild and crazy antics. But one day I took the time to look at music from the red braided (probably snotty nosed) kids point of view, and found solace….

When you think about it, Yachty represents what rap is all about: Free, no rules, say what you wanna. While the results of this style translated to lots of poor quality music from him, I can respect it, because at one time America probably felt this way about every single rap song that was released. So as I begin to rate this album, I will look at it from a Rugrats point of view. Lets start the show!

TOP 5

5. ALL AROUND ME

This song is almost like a victory lap for Yachty, as he lets the people know that he’s living good despite what all the naysayers say. The chorus is motivational, and pretty straightforward (Which is saying a lot, cause this n—a is never straightforward in his approach.) I can probably do without Yachty’s verse, but he won me over with the chorus.

Kamaiyah sounds extremely numb vocally, but content-wise, she carries on Yachty’s spirit.

YG has a very supportive verse on this song, and he is definitely someone you want to support you because he has no problem spraying for you. It is a bit surprising that he’s on a song that sounds like this, but then again, he was recently on a Mariah Carey song too.

I f–ks with this one for sure.

4. RUNNING WITH A GHOST

Grace is really good on this song, and probably the real MVP on it. She was able to provide Yachty with that top 40 sound on the chorus that every rapper covets nowadays.

This is probably the most tamed I’ve heard Yachty before, and I really like it! He takes his time in speaking his words, keeping his outlandish s–t out of the picture this time around. While I can never see Yachty being in a relationship with someone like Grace, surprisingly, they have some really good musical chemistry here.

This is a real solid song/filler for this album.

3. BETTER

What an extremely positive song by Yachty! Who knew he had some Bob Marley in him?

Yachty absolutely nails the melody of this song; so much so, that it made me proud of this n—a! All his lyrics flow very well, making me convinced that he didn’t write this s–t.

Stefflon Don definitely completes the whole island-feel of the track, providing this perfect reggae rendition on her verse.

This is easily Yachty’s most impressive song singing-wise.

2. PEEK A BOO

If you literally replace Yachty saying ‘Peek-A-Boo’ with anything else, this song would be complete fire.

Yes we all know the content on the chorus is dumb, but that doesn’t take away from it being catchy as s–t! I personally enjoy this song for both its mobbin theme, and its swerviness (Another one of my made up words).

Yachty follows the whole mobbin theme on his verse, aggressively pointing out the savage behavior he is capable of doing. When Yachty wants to sound like a trouble maker, he is really good at it right?

Migos definitely neutralizes the song for fair weather fans like myself, instilling their ever so popular swag into it. By the time you hear all of their parts, you will feel like it is actually their song.

I generally like this joint (no bulls–t)

1. X-MEN

‘X-MEN’ definitely goes hard as f–k!

You get the whole ‘kill-a-rapper’ version of Yachty in this song, which is the version that is ready to throw haymakers galore at the haters. I cannot stress how confident Yachty sounds when he raps like this, something that has to resonate with rap fans when you hear it (regardless if you like him or not.).

Evander Griim’s chorus is explosive! It gasses up Yachty well, and when Yachty gets gassed up he is pretty enjoyable to listen to rap-wise. Judging by Evander’s short catalog, it looks like he could be a club legend when he decides to hang it up for good.

I think this is a guaranteed club banger.

SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. LIKE A STAR (4/5)

2. DN FREESTYLE (3.7/5)

3. PEEK-A-BOO (4.8/5)

4. DIRTY MOUTH (3.9/5)

5. HARLEY (4/5)

6. ALL AROUND ME (4.5/5)

7. SAY MY NAME (3.8/5)

8. ALL YOU HAD TO SAY (3.6/5)

9. BETTER (5/5)

10. FOREVER YOUNG (3.9/5)

11. LADY IN YELLOW (4/5)

12. MOMENTS IN TIME (3.3/5)

13. OTHA S–T (N/A)

14. X-MEN (4.8/5)

15. BRING IT BACK (2/5)

16. RUNNING WITH A GHOST (4.6/5)

17. FYI (KNOW NOW) (4.2/5)

18. PRIORITES (3.8/5)

19. NO MORE (3.7/5)

20. MADE OF GLASS (3.2/5)

21. MOMMA (4/5)

OVERALL RATING (7.2/10)

YOU GUYS HAVE TO TRUST ME ON THIS ONE….THIS IS NOT A BAD ALBUM!

Yachty has always had a glimmer of potential, and on this album he certainly lives up to it. You get the best version of Yachty on it, which is saying a lot cause this s–t could’ve easily been a disaster.

Here’s the thing: Before listening to this album, you must accept it for what it is – An album that was made by a youthful dude that doesn’t real care about your traditional rap s–t. Once you can look at it that way, you will be a lot more looser in your perception of it.

I truly think that this is a fun album to listen to (How many albums can you truly say is a fun experience?). Yachty is a free spirit on it, experimenting with sounds that is probably over his head. Overall, he doesn’t care what people thinks, which definitely gives him some points here – in the end of the day though, his talent level is not up to par, which makes the album an A for effort but a C overall.