Rapper Of The Month: Yeat (Feb. '24)

Written By: Anthony Seaman            

 Despite being line for line one of the only working rappers so linguistically challenged that any of the bubbling IG model-rapper hybrids could sound poetic, Yeat has been the star of February. Yes, Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign wasted our time with a blockbuster train wreck, YL and Starker continued their hot streak, Little Simz synthesized a warehouse party into an EP, and Icewater Vezzo keeps running plays from Newberry to Monroe, but none of them continued doing what great rappers do; force us to ask questions. Despite speaking in elementary level declarative statements about his lack of sobriety and property ownership, 2093 as a whole forces curiosity. Is there where rap is going? Is this the first new age rapper that exploded during the pandemic who attempted to create a big tent statement album? Is releasing an album in waves instead of the now more accepted standard to deluxe combo going to be the new normal? If this really is the future, are we sure it's one we really want to live in? How long until this artist follows the path of every fame junkie in his peer group (regardless of artistic discipline) and begins selling us products for other corporations so he can follow through on his newest persona; the Psycho CEO?

            Whenever a pop star announces an accompanying short film with their album it’s an egotistical dud that falls flat emotionally for the sake of ticking higher on social media metrics. 2093 is one of the few records that deserved a pocket emptying multi-media rollout. A short film, an art installation, hell even a PC game would push many of the points home. Y2K nostalgia, the birth of a new rap boundary pusher, a budding fashionista with an actually interesting aesthetic, and, dare I say, the next one to hold the crown once Drake finally gives us some breathing room. Creating a perfect system that makes your eyes go wide and your jaw drop so often that you never have time to focus on the shortcomings of the lead artist is a Travi$ Scott move turned contemporary hip-hop staple. Say very little, and let all the moving parts around you do the talking. Without any real accompanying videos or content at the time of this article, something feels missing from the 2093 experience. We still get Future, Lil Wayne and Drake lighting up their features, an uncredited Childish Gambino interlude, orchestral strings all acting as big swings the bit crushed Soundcloud bred party boys of his ilk have never even sniffed. It's another notch in his belt holding himself above the Slayworld collective that Yeat was affiliated with for many years before gaining larger notoriety. The crew has from their solemn corners guided the sound of underground hip-hop the last few years, but star status has evaded them all thanks to criminal issues and scandalous allegations into sexual misconduct. Keeping his nose clean while feverishly chasing more ambitious soundscapes has allowed the collective's fanbase to focus more on Yeat, while bringing in an exponentially growing crowd of onlookers in the process. 

            Hip-hop artists who have mattered the most pushed the envelope not just with the sounds on their CD’s but in the context surrounding the record's release. In this young decade few stars have toyed with world building quite like Tyler The Creator while the Kendricks and Drakes and Futures of the world have rested on not creating worlds but rather leaning into certain fashion pieces or hairstyles to contrast from one shameful “era” to the next. Now showing his face in public proudly and leaning into (shockingly interesting) AI B-role content, the Portland raised studio rat has materialized something you can feel to match what he lets us see. The anxiety of what the future might hold is played upon in faux news clips and crop circles doubling as album promo. On the cover he’s dawning a leather trench coat fit for a Gotham madman. Greens, grays, neon yellows all work in unison to show a real concentrated sci-fi pastiche that his beat selection has always alluded to. With turban or digitally altered skelton to hide behind, he’s looking onward to a kingdom dying right as he’s taking the throne. Production choices have always felt a step removed from the modern coil in a world where hackers know the truth but the government hasn’t targeted their demise quite yet. 2093 is what happens when those hackers are all deleted and all that’s left is to join the enemy for survival. Our hero numbs himself to assimilate into a story where this machinist world feels normal, burning out any last specs of his humanity to hold pride in his successes while rarely reeling from his shortcomings. Charisma isn’t a superpower in his lexicon, and that’s what makes this operatic expansion of self more interesting; the more removed from reality he sounds the farther into his creation you dive. He’s the only rapper who can pull off apathy without forcing you to cringe. His soul has been de-rezzed into a test tube and locked away in a vault never to be felt again, making his vessel the perfect avatar for the sounds of dystopia. 

            For two straight weeks Yeat topped the Billboard charts, slow dripping all 28 tracks over a weekend with some only being available for purchase through his website. No single has taken off the way “Out The Way” or “Poppin” did on previous albums, but that seems intentional. The focus isn’t on increased stardom, but if it comes this time around it’ll be on the merits of an artistic risk from a young innovator looking to blaze his own way.