When this writer was growing up, the rap/hip-hop movement was an exciting proposition, telling stories from the streets enhanced by patching in sonic ideas from anywhere in music history – blues, classical, electronics, jazz, rock... a little like the pioneers of prog, huh?
But at some point the mainstream scene’s colour palette went monochrome with producer-performers seemingly happy enough if they created a beat and could spit some lyrics over it.
In the last decade a new generation of rapper-writer-performers has blossomed, including Georgia’s Miles Parks McCollum, aka Lil Yachty. Growing up with the sounds of Lenny Kravitz, Coldplay, John Coltrane and Radiohead, then inspired by Tame Impala’s psych rock and pop, Yachty identified a watershed moment when he and his teenage peers “came in with colourful hair, dressing different and basically said, ‘Move out the way, old fucks. We on some other shit.’”
That other shit, for Yachty, would soon include getting deep into Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon, which became a touchstone for his fifth album, Let’s Start Here, released in 2023. He’s said the title refers to beginning the second chapter in his career.
The Black Seminole seems to sum up the whole of The Dark Side Of The Moon in one piece
Going viral in 2015 with a style he called “bubblegum trap,” he expanded his skills to co-writing and production then started moving in bigger urban circles. But by 2022 he was eager to collaborate with indie heads Chairlift, Mac DeMarco and MGMT, and neo-soul artists Daniel Caesar and Unknown Mortal Orchestra to apply more craft, creating something “by myself, of myself... and be respected for it,” as he told Zane Lowe.
Compared to his previous work, Let’s Start Here was a wild pivot resulting in a pretty impressive psychedelic rock record. Across the album, Yachty raps a little and sings more – he’s not the greatest vocalist, but there’s an honesty and vulnerability here, under heavy tremolo effect.
Lead track The Black Seminole seems to sum up the whole of The Dark Side Of The Moon in one piece – cool Hammond chords, groovy distorted bass, dreamy Nick Mason drum patters and, by end, a stunning The Great Gig In The Sky-style vocal performance by Diana Gordon. The LP then dips into Weeknd-like electro pop, Thundercat funk, jazz poetry and Massive Attack drama before Reach The Sunshine’s astral-cinematic finale.
It’s the monochrome palette fed through a prism, then; and 26-year-old Yachty joins the like-minds of Solange, Frank Ocean, André 3000, Tyler, The Creator, Willow –and Kid Cudi, who released two Dark Side-influenced albums in 2009 and 2010 – as a risk-taker with a thirst for growth.
“I wanted to show the most love to The Dark Side Of The Moon without it being The Dark Side Of The Moon, ’cos I’m my own person,” Yachty said in 2023. Mission accomplished.
