Photo courtesy of Anton Mak, Wikipedia
The rap landscape maintains some familiar faces in 2018 with the release of Lil Yachty’s “Nuthin’ 2 Prove.”
The project is Yachty’s second studio album this year, and his third since the release of “Teenage Emotion” in May of 2017.
Yachty has kept up a prolific pace of material released, following a similar pattern to Quality Control Music label-mates Migos in distributing an impressive amount of songs and albums in a short period of time.
While Yachty has wasted no time getting his name and style out into the public for us to see, its the overwhelming exposure that may end up hurting his musical output, which is not lost on this album.
Yachty is a growing figurehead in the continuously popular trap genre in hip-hop music. While particularly low on lyrical excellence or biting social criticism, Yachty’s name has been made in his extremely catchy and fun songs that are both earnest and make no attempts to be something they are not.
The music was created for social environments and has a confident pride in not taking itself too seriously. What makes “Nuthin’ 2 Prove” just a bit disappointing, however, is both the pivot in direction Yachty takes and the fatigue of yet another one of his projects that may have arrived far too soon.
“Nuthin’ 2 Prove” noticeably takes a turn when Yachty goes a bit off course where a large chunk of the album focuses on the expected trap rapping while the following half switches to the popular auto-tune crooning and singing. This in and of itself wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows, but there is no relevant transition or real explanation for it.
The album is split into two distinct parts and angles but neither half seems to have any real reason for comparison between each other. Though each section is certainly adequate in its own right, it still feels like they were two separately recorded projects that were more or less stitched together to create this 15-track album.
Odd structure aside, the album is not without its enjoyable songs and sections. Though Yachty seems to get lost in his own experimentation here and there, he does not fail to deliver catchy and quality material.
“Worth It” is where Yachty begins the album’s singing half, and it will easily recapture his initial draw, especially to his fan base.
The lighthearted and gentle production value wonderfully compliment Yachty’s croons to a nameless woman where he assures her that she is perfect to him as she is. The sincere and even funny lyrics remind the listener why Yachty is still a unique voice despite adopting a tedious subgenre in rap.
Another bright spot is the “Who Want The Smoke?” featuring label mates Cardi B and Offset. Yachty takes a backseat on this however. Cardi B continues to dominate songs, whether she’s a guest or not, with her infectious charisma.
Despite the album featuring numerous upcoming rap artists such as Trippie Redd and Juice WRLD and a blazingly aggressive verse from Offset, Cardi still commands a large share of attention and respect. Still, having guests outclass the title artist on a track is far from an insult; Cardi B and Offset’s contribution definitely pulls its share in the album’s positives.
Where “Nutin’ 2 Prove” falls however is not necessarily its musical content but its timing. Yachty has released a sizeable amount of content in just the past year. As previously stated, Yachty is a very likeable and fun artist, but he still hasn’t quite left the comfortable niche he created for himself.
Despite the enjoyable material and fun attitude in the music, it may simply be too much. Yachty, for as many real qualities that he has, is not compelling enough to slug through several albums and hours of tracks. He has a strong one-dimension, but at the moment, it is still a single dimension.
All the cute and fun music starts to grow grating and taxing when it starts to pile on. Yachty absolutely has a voice that should continue in this industry, but perhaps it would serve him well to pace himself a bit. Musical growth is wonderful, but it should gestate and have a plan.
Throwing a tidal wave of raps at listeners is a surefire way to burnout rather than find something that sticks. In any case, while “Nuthin 2 Prove” may not necessarily pull in new fans, the established fan base will surely find exciting and entertaining moments in Lil Yachty’s latest release.
4 stars
ncowling@ramapo.edu
