Lil Yachty‘s latest album, Let’s Start Here, sees him take on psychedelic rock, a genre outside the hip-hop that helped him into the industry. He entered the game as a rebellious young star, and was labeled a mumble and Soundcloud rapper, but says he’s “always been so much more than just hip-hop.”

He tells Billboard that with his new album, he “wanted to show people a different side of me — and that I can do anything, most importantly.” And he says he did just that.

“I did what I really wanted to do, which was create a body of work that reflected me,” Yachty says. “My idea was for this album to be a journey: Press play and fall into a void.”

Yachty dropped Let’s Start Here back in January, but he says he turned the album in “a long time ago.” Though he went through a few titles and had to forfeit his rollout after an unexpected leak, he says he was confident with the album, especially after seeing the reactions from Kendrick LamarJ.ColeDrakeCardi BKid CudiA$AP Rocky and Tyler, The Creator.

“I was always kind of nervous to put out music, but now I’m on some other sh**,” Yachty says. “It was a lot of self-assessing and being very real about not being happy with where I was musically, knowing I’m better than where I am. Because the sh** I was making did not add up to the sh** I listened to.

“I just wanted more,” he continues. “I want to be remembered. I want to be respected.”

His next goal is to perform the album live with the help of an all-female band. “The show has to match the album,” he says. “It has to be big.”

 

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