“So surreal / The vibes I feel / It must go on / All for you,” vocalizes Lil Yachty in “paint THE sky,” the 11th track of the rapper’s experimental new album, appropriately named “Let’s Start Here.” 

Because of its unfocused-yet-creative nature, the album meets the hallmarks of traditional psychedelic-rock style. It is an exploratory project of sorts, allowing the artist to move away from hip-hop, his usual genre, and slow down to converse with the listener.

Sounds of alternative indie, funk rock and chillwave genres form the basis of Lil Yachty’s album. Rather than following a distinct storyline, the artist plays substantially with senses, emotions and feelings through each song.

Generally, the transitions between each track are seamless, representing the flowy and dynamic nature of the entire album. Lil Yachty often employs a blending function where he extends an instrumental section to segue into the next piece, tying the sounds of the entire collection together through each song’s distinct sound.

The album displays a wide range of psychedelic-indie techniques, from inventive and multidimensional use of rock instruments like electric guitar and drums to creative incorporation of trippy studio effects like reverb and distortion.

Lil Yachty’s interpretation of alternative rock rewrites the script for the bounds of a typical single-genre artist by being imaginative with instrumentation and technology. While “Let’s Start Here.” is not for fans of the artist’s traditional style of trap rap, overall, this spacey, psychedelic and electric album is definitely worth a listen.