Lil Yachty: Great tunes, shame about the puerile lyrics

Teenage Emotions
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Artist: Lil Yachty
Genre: Hip-Hop & Rap
Label: Virgin EMI/Quality Control/Motown

Lil Yachty deals in sounds rather than stanzas. While they won’t be giving the Atlanta teenage trap star any prizes for the lyrical flights of fancy on his debut album, it’s a different story with how Miles Parks McCollum plays his musical cards.

Again and again, he shows a great talent for shaping infectious, catchy, zesty, psychedelic and sweetened textures that fit snugly around his lines. There are times when he does a passable impersonation of Frank Ocean or Drake, such as on Bring it Back and X-Men, but that's more to do with the tone than how McCollum deals with specific themes. Instead of any strong wordplay or insights, McCollum talks about sex, money and drugs in ways that are depressingly familiar and juvenile.

An instrumental version of the album would be a blast as you wouldn’t then have to contend with McCollum’s inarticulate flow.