The first time I heard of the rapper Yeat was after the release of his album “2 Alivë” on Feb. 18. Now I see him everywhere. Music fans on TikTok and Twitter were hyping him and his new album up, eventually bringing it to No. 1 on Apple Music. This rating does not make sense to me. With 20 songs and an hour runtime, the album drags quite often.
Due to the repetitive nature of the beats and lyricism, combined with the low energy of the vocals, it’s easy to become bored. Each song clocks in around three minutes, but I’m ready to skip to the next halfway through each. Many of the beats feel cluttered. While I appreciate some of the fuzzy synths and booming bass, there’s sometimes just too much noise, which is perhaps due to a poor mix or just Yeat’s choice of instruments.
This is clear from the very first song, “Poppin.” Right away, the listener is hit with a nasal-sounding synth pattern, grimey bass and piercing hi-hats. And somehow, Yeat’s vocals seem to be rhythmically off from the rest of the beat, making the whole song a mess.
There are a few highlights. The song “Narcoticz” is a little more tame, providing a nice break from all the noise in the previous tracks. While it’s not the best, Yung Kayo’s feature is definitely one of the record’s highlights. He brings the much-needed energy that Yeat lacks while also outperforming him in flow and delivery.
“Smooktobër” and “Still countin” are probably my favorite instrumentals on the album. To me, they mirror the successful production of Playboi Carti’s sound. Their placement at the very end of the album almost caused me to forget how much I disliked the rest of it. I’m not certain whether or not the hype surrounding this Yeat album was legitimate. Perhaps his previous records were better and more deserving of the excitement. But this album is loud, obnoxious and boring. Besides the few songs that were not so bad, I definitely would not want to revisit this album again.
RATING: 3/10
FAVORITE TRACKS: SMOOKTOBËR,
STILL COUNTIN
LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS: POPPIN,
OUTSIDË, NVR AGAIN, LUH GËEK
