Album Review: Lil Yachty-Teenage Emotions

Of all the pop/trap rappers that have drawn the ire of "real" hip-hop fans recently, Lil Yachty has arguably received the most criticism. Seemingly every bitter old-timer (Joe Budden, Ebro and Charlamagne tha God,  who dubbed Yachty the "poster child for wack rappers") in the hip-hop community has come out of the woodwork to yell at Lil Boat about the quality of music and his "lack of respect" for the genre's legends (Yachty famously said in an interview with Pitchfork last November that he believes Notorious B.I.G. is overrated).

As ashamed as I am to admit it, I'm also guilty of hopping aboard the trendy Lil Yachty hate train. I spent the latter half of 2016 extensively ripping his Lil Boat mixtape and declaring him the worst rapper in the game right now. However over the last few months, I've completely changed my tune on Yachty. He's a festively jovial 19-year old kid that is solely focused on having fun with his music and hating him because of that is a dick move. This personal Lil Boat renaissance has culminated with my enjoyment of Yachty's strange, messy and wildly infectious debut studio album Teenage Emotions.

If Yachty intended Teenage Emotions to be a metaphor for the perpetual confusion that defines adolescence, then he pretty much nailed it. Despite having no clear musical direction and enough poorly-mixed AutoTune to fill 12 Brokencyde records, this 21-track behemoth managed to win me over with its disarming charm. Whether Yachty is crooning about lost love behind '80-inspired synthfunk beats ("Bring it Back", "Girl in the Yellow"), throwing his hat into the increasingly crowded tropical pop arena ("Better", "Forever Young") or making club bangers that showcase his poor knowledge of woodwind instruments ("Peek a Boo"), this record manages to be consistently loose, catchy and engaging. Given how many stone-serious, borderline depressing hip-hop releases I've heard over the last few months, it was honestly cathartic to hear something that was as pleasant and beautifully unhinged as Teenage Emotions.  

The ability to make such a scattershot record work without any truly crippling hiccups is a testament to Yachty's immense likability. There's so much organic joy behind what he's doing that it becomes very easy to forgive all of the tonal inconsistencies and questionable production choices that would've otherwise derailed this record. Even the lesser tracks ("Made of Glass", "Moments in Time", "No More") have a strange, radiant quality that prevents them from being serious missteps. As long as Yachty can retain his positive energy and lovable weirdness, I'll continue to have a blast listening to his music. 

It might not be the most cohesive or essential hip-hop release to come out in 2017, but Teenage Emotions injected some much-needed sunshine into a year that has been full of dread, mass hysteria and alarming amounts of hate. While I'm sure that plenty of people will find this record to be an obnoxious disaster that insults the integrity of the hip-hop genre, it put a huge smile on my face for hour and in the world of music, sometimes that's all you need.  

3.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Peek a Boo (feat. Migos)
2.Forever Young (feat. Diplo)
3.Priorities