From the underground rap scene to a household name, American rapper Yeat has a thirst to mark himself as a leading rap artist of the decade, and his chart-topping studio album ADL is paving that path. On March 27, Yeat released his sixth studio album in six years, the double album “A Dangerous Lyfe” and “A Dangerous Love.” It debuted at number five on the Billboard top 100, and many are torn on whether the album reached its full potential or just missed the mark. The album blends ambient pop, rage, trap, and hip hop to create a unique sound with a diverse range of featured artists. However, the album also feels repetitive at some points and sacrifices lyrical depth by placing so much weight on overall production.
Yeat began his music journey on SoundCloud, eventually gaining traction as some of his songs began blowing up on social media. Now, Yeat has secured his status in the rap community. An album review by UMusic mentions “Yeat finding his previous music to be low effort: ‘slop’ to be precise.” Many fans found this statement disrespectful, especially when these songs are what gave him his platform. With his new album, Yeat is not trying to erase his past but wants to emphasize his entrance into a new era of artistry. With synth-based sounds and unique vocals, he has risen to mainstream status and secured collaborations with relevant artists on ADL.
These featured artists are one of the many unique aspects of the album. Some particularly unlikely artists include Grimes, Kylie Jenner, and Elton John. “Lose Control,” featuring Elton John, resulted in him “[returning] to the bubbling hot 100 register at No.23,” According to Forbes. This chart measures popular songs in the country that have yet to reach the Billboard charts. Many fans were unsure of whether the two artists mesh well together with their dramatically different musical styles. Dazed brings up that Yeat may have been “motivated more by the optics of having Elton John on a Yeat album, than excitement for what it would sound like.” I agree that Elton John did not add much to the song vocally, being used more for his prestige. Other collaborations, like Don Toliver, were smash hits. Griddle has made its way to the third top spot on most-streamed Yeat songs with over 13 million streams. Don Toliver’s smooth, melodic voice contrasts well with Yeat’s distinctive auto-tuned vocals. The backing glitchy, almost futuristic synth melody brings their voices together.
Overall, the wide range of both praise and criticism this album received raises the universal truth that artists will never be able to please everyone in creating music. They will always end up either “unoriginal,” or, if they are far too different from their past, “unrecognizable” from the artist they once were. Based on this, I think Yeat has and continues to recognize his roots as an underground SoundCloud rapper, while also continuing to develop and perfect his sound to create music he enjoys producing, which has allowed him to continue breaking through.
