Lil Yachty realized why he surprised a lot of listeners with the release of his rock album Let’s Start Here.
The Quality Control Music artist considered how music fans viewed him in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. Lil Yachty said he understood why some people thought he didn’t take music seriously based on his earlier work.
“I know that people don’t really understand how much I love music and how much it’s my life,” he told Lowe. “And I get it from some of the songs that I may have made early in my career that may seem like otherwise. And the majority of these artists coming out don’t care about music. It’s just for fun or money or TikTok blow-up. So, it’s easy to box in.”
Lil Yachty explained how the creation of Let’s Start Here was transformative for him. The 25-year-old rapper took inspiration from Pink Floyd and made an album vastly different from past projects.
“I learned so much making this album … I took a completely different approach with this album than I ever did in the process of creating something,” he said. “And I’ve grown so much and I’ve changed so much as an adult in this process. So, it all plays a factor and it all shows in this album.”
Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here debuted at No. 1 on three Billboard rock charts. It was his first project to reach the top of any Billboard album chart.