lil yachty new album sales

Lil Yachty's First Week Sales Projections For "Let's Start Here"

Lil Yachty just made a massive cultural splash with his latest album, Let's Start Here . Moreover, the psych-rock album turned heads for Yachty's diversion into a different genre for a whole project. Still, predictions for its first week chart performance indicate a modest start with a lot of potential for growth.

Furthermore, reports predict that Let's Start Here will push anywhere from 19,000 to 24,000 copies in its first week. Of course, these copies are album equivalent units taking into account streaming, physical sales, and more. However, some may consider these numbers underwhelming. After all, Yachty's last studio release Lil Boat 3 sold around 30,000 copies in its first week.

Still, numbers don't show just how awe-inspiring, thoughtful, and creative Let's Start Here is. Overall, the album is a hazy but vibrant exploration of mental isolation, love, idiosyncrasy, and finding yourself in a world full of feedback static. While Yachty's vocal performance is odd in the traditional sense, his animated and hazy voice fit well on the trippy instrumentation. Many already made their jokes on Twitter: Purple Floyd, The Wock Side Of The Moon, the whole nine yards.

Moreover, the team behind Let's Start Here shows how deeply Yachty rooted himself in all kinds of music over the years. For example, the album features Fousheé, Daniel Caesar, Teezo Touchdown, Diana Gordon, and Justine Skye. Also, it includes producers, collaborators, and band members including (and related to) Yves Tumor, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Magdalena Bay, MGMT, Alex G, and Mac DeMarco. While the Atlanta native certainly deserves all the praise he's getting, let's not forget he didn't do it alone.

Also, Lil Yachty recently spoke on what this album means to him at a listening event.

“This album is so special and dear to me,” he remarked presumably before the album played. “I think I created it just because I really wanted to be taken serious as an artist, you know. Not just some SoundCloud rapper, not some mumble rapper. Not some guy that just made one hit. You know, I wanted to be really taken serious because music is, like, everything to me. You know, I respect all walks of music, not just rap and hip-hop, everything. 

“So I think I wanted to make something to show the world just how great it was to me,” Yachty continued. “If we just gonna be honest, I mean, I had n***as that were copying the swag. I just felt like ‘Okay, cool, everyone can do this, that’s fine, but I’m gonna show y’all what y’all can’t do.’ You feel me? That’s what’s on this other side. I hope y’all are good, I hope everybody got the shrooms in your body. You feel me? Like I said, just no flashes, and… see you n***as on the other side.”

Still, what did you think of Lil Yachty's first week sales projections for his new album, Let's Start Here ? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, as always, come back to HNHH for the latest album drops, numbers discussions, and more amazing music.

• alternative rock
• First week sales projections
• psychedelic

Find anything you save across the site in your account

How Lil Yachty Ended Up at His Excellent New Psychedelic Album Let's Start Here

The evening before Lil Yachty released his fifth studio album,  Let’s Start Here,  he  gathered an IMAX theater’s worth of his fans and famous friends at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City and made something clear: He wanted to be taken seriously. Not just as a “Soundcloud rapper, not some mumble rapper, not some guy that just made one hit,” he told the crowd before pressing play on his album. “I wanted to be taken serious because music is everything to me.” 

There’s a spotty history of rappers making dramatic stylistic pivots, a history Yachty now joins with  Let’s Start Here,  a funk-flecked psychedelic rock album. But unlike other notable rap-to-rock faceplants—Kid Cudi’s  Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven  comes to mind, as does Lil Wayne’s  Rebirth —the record avoids hackneyed pastiche and gratuitous playacting and cash-grabbing crossover singles; instead, Yachty sounds unbridled and free, a rapper creatively liberated from the strictures of mainstream hip-hop. Long an oddball who’s delighted in defying traditional rap ethos and expectations,  Let’s Start Here  is a maximalist and multi-genre undertaking that rewrites the narrative of Yachty’s curious career trajectory. 

Admittedly, it’d be easy to write off the album as Tame Impala karaoke, a gimmicky record from a guy who heard Yves Tumor once and thought: Let’s do  that . But set aside your Yachty skepticism and probe the album’s surface a touch deeper. While the arrangements tend toward the obvious, the record remains an intricate, unraveling swell of sumptuous live instruments and reverb-drenched textures made more impressive by the fact that Yachty co-produced every song. Fielding support from an all-star cast of characters, including production work from former Chairlift member Patrick Wimberly, Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait, Justin Raisen, Nick Hakim, and Magdalena Bay, and vocals from Daniel Caesar, Diana Gordon,  Foushée , Justine Skye, and Teezo Touchdown, Yachty surrounds himself with a group of disparately talented collaborators. You can hear the acute attention to detail and wide-scale ambition in the spaced-out denouement on “We Saw the Sun!” or on the blistering terror of “I’ve Officially Lost Vision!!!!” or during the cool romanticism of “Say Something.” Though occasionally overindulgent,  Let’s Start Here  is a spectacular statement from hip-hop’s prevailing weirdo. It’s not shocking that Yachty took another hard left—but how exactly did he end up  here ?

In 2016, as the forefather of “bubblegum trap” ascended into mainstream consciousness, an achievement like  Let’s Start Here  would’ve seemed inconceivable. The then 18-year-old Yachty gained national attention when a pair of his songs, “One Night” and “Minnesota,” went viral. Though clearly indebted to hip-hop trailblazers Lil B, Chief Keef, and Young Thug, his work instantly stood apart from the gritted-teeth toughness of his Atlanta trap contemporaries. Yachty flaunted a childlike awe and cartoonish demeanor that communicated a swaggering, unbothered cool. His singsong flows and campy melodies contained a winking humor to them, a subversive playfulness that endeared him to a generation of very online kids who saw themselves in Yachty’s goofy, eccentric persona. He starred in Sprite  commercials alongside LeBron James, performed live shows at the  Museum of Modern Art , and modeled in Kanye West’s  Life of Pablo  listening event at Madison Square Garden. Relishing in his cultural influence, he declared to the  New York Times  that he was not a rapper but an  artist. “And I’m more than an artist,” he added. “I’m a brand.”

 As Sheldon Pearce pointed out in his Pitchfork  review of Yachty’s 2016 mixtape,  Lil Boat , “There isn’t a single thing Lil Yachty’s doing that someone else isn’t doing better, and in richer details.” He wasn’t wrong. While Yachty’s songs were charming and catchy (and, sometimes, convincing), his music was often tangential to his brand. What was the point of rapping as sharply as the Migos or singing as intensely as Trippie Redd when you’d inked deals with Nautica and Target, possessed a sixth-sense for going viral, and had incoming collaborations with Katy Perry and Carly Rae Jepsen? What mattered more was his presentation: the candy-red hair and beaded braids, the spectacular smile that showed rows of rainbow-bedazzled grills, the wobbly, weak falsetto that defaulted to a chintzy nursery rhyme cadence. He didn’t need technical ability or historical reverence to become a celebrity; he was a meme brought to life, the personification of hip-hop’s growing generational divide, a sudden star who, like so many other Soundcloud acts, seemed destined to crash and burn after a fleeting moment in the sun.

 One problem: the music wasn’t very good. Yachty’s debut album, 2017’s  Teenage Emotions, was a glitter-bomb of pop-rap explorations that floundered with shaky hooks and schmaltzy swings at crossover hits. Worse, his novelty began to fade, those sparkly, cheerful, and puerile bubblegum trap songs aging like day-old french fries. Even when he hued closer to hard-nosed rap on 2018’s  Lil Boat 2  and  Nuthin’ 2 Prove,  you could feel Yachty desperate to recapture the magic that once came so easily to him. But rap years are like dog years, and by 2020, Yachty no longer seemed so radically weird. He was an established rapper making mid mainstream rap. The only question now was whether we’d already seen the best of him.

If his next moves were any indication—writing the  theme song to the  Saved by the Bell  sitcom revival and announcing his involvement in an upcoming  movie based on the card game Uno—then the answer was yes. But in April 2021, Yachty dropped  Michigan Boat Boy,  a mixtape that saw him swapping conventional trap for Detroit and Flint’s fast-paced beats and plain-spoken flows. Never fully of a piece with his Atlanta colleagues, Yachty found a cohort of kindred spirits in Michigan, a troop of rappers whose humor, imagination, and debauchery matched his own. From the  looks of it, leaders in the scene like Babyface Ray, Rio Da Yung OG, and YN Jay embraced Yachty with open arms, and  Michigan Boat Boy  thrives off that communion. 

 Then “ Poland ” happened. When Yachty uploaded the minute-and-a-half long track to Soundcloud a few months back, he received an unlikely and much needed jolt. Building off the rage rap production he played with on the  Birthday Mix 6  EP, “Poland” finds Yachty’s warbling about carrying pharmaceutical-grade cough syrup across international borders, a conceit that captured the imagination of TikTok and beyond. Recorded as a joke and released only after a leaked version went viral, the song has since amassed over a hundred-millions streams across all platforms. With his co-production flourishes (and adlibs) splattered across Drake and 21 Savage’s  Her Loss,  fans had reason to believe that Yachty’s creative potential had finally clicked into focus.

 But  Let’s Start Here  sounds nothing like “Poland”—in fact, the song doesn’t even appear on the project. Instead, amid a tapestry of scabrous guitars, searing bass, and vibrant drums, Yachty sounds right at home on this psych-rock spectacle of an album. He rarely raps, but his singing often relies on the virtues of his rapping: those greased-vowel deliveries and unrushed cadences, the autotune-sheathed vibrato. “Pretty,” for instance, is decidedly  not  a rap song—but what is it, then? It’s indebted to trap as much as it is ’90s R&B and MGMT, its drugged-out drums and warm keys able to house an indeterminate amount of ideas.

Yachty didn’t need to abandon hip-hop to find himself as an artist, but his experimental impulses helped him craft his first great album. Perhaps this is his lone dalliance in psych rock—maybe a return to trap is imminent. Or, maybe, he’ll make another 180, or venture deeper into the dystopia of corporate sponsorships. Who’s to say? For now, it’s invigorating to see Yachty shake loose the baggage of his teenage virality and emerge more fully into his adult artistic identity. His guise as a boundary-pushing rockstar isn’t a new archetype, but it’s an archetype he’s infused with his glittery idiosyncrasies. And look what he’s done: he’s once again morphed into a star the world didn’t see coming.

Things you buy through our links may earn  Vox Media  a commission.

Lil Yachty’s Great Gig in the Sky

Since the release of his Lil Boat mixtape in 2016, Lil Yachty has cultivated a peculiar rap career that has benefited from versatile musical interests. The Atlanta rapper, singer, and producer’s early work juggled booming southern trap drums, gauzy synths, unclearable samples , and melodic sensibilities on loan from children’s television. Shifting listlessly between disaffected snark and sweet repose, the best songs answered the question of what Brian Wilson’s teenage symphonies might’ve sounded like if he’d grown up hanging around the Migos. On future projects, Yachty leaned into the gruff anthems of his labelmates on Atlanta’s Quality Control Music, toughening up on 2018’s Lil Boat 2 in some of the ways Drake did on Scorpion the same year, this after dividing critics and listeners with the synthpop and reggae excursions on Yachty’s 2017 debut studio album Teenage Emotions .

Restlessness saves his catalog from the pedestrian work of peers chasing the sound of a beloved early mixtape. Lil Yachty is always up to something , quietly penning an undisclosed piece of the City Girls smash “Act Up,” or producing a chunk of Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss , or logging an unlikely chart hit about sneaking promethazine through customs . He’s a lightning rod for guys who see a new wave of absurdists and crooners as a displacement of rap traditionalism (rather than a continuation of a detailed history within it); he knows what the fans are into and where they’re getting into it online, so accusations about his music ruining hip-hop are complicated by every unforeseen success. The work varies greatly in style as well as quality, but being difficult to pin down also buys him freedom to make unusual plays.

Let’s Start Here , his fifth album and first full-length excursion into psychedelic rock, didn’t spawn entirely from nowhere, and not just because it sprung a leak under the name Sonic Beach a few weeks back. His appearance on a remix for Tame Impala’s Slow Rush jam “Breathe Deeper” hits a few of the markers the new album visits: the taste for psychotropic drugs and the interaction between the shimmering sound achieved by an elaborate pedal board and raps that feel both lightly thought through and also spirited and spontaneous. The first song, “The Black Seminole,” outlines the project’s guiding ethos, from its burbling, delay-drenched analog-synthesizer sound to the trippy changes and show-stopping vocal performance by “Bad Habit” co-writer Diana Gordon — all of which amount to an attempt to jam every idea housed in Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon into a single seven-minute performance. Bolstered by memorable spots from Gordon (who gives the Clare Torry screams in “Failure” and “Seminole” her all), Fousheé (whose softCORE album served rockers like “Die” and “Bored” that share Yachty’s love of walls of noise), and Justine Skye, the new album makes more space for women in its love songs than most rappers percolating on the charts tend to care to now. (Note also the presence of one Daystar Peterson in the credits as a co-writer on “Paint the Sky.”)

Let’s Start Here journeys back in time and out to space and sometimes up its own ass. It’s a drug odyssey that delightfully defies expectations whenever it’s not overindulging, taking its adulation for its influences from pastiche to parody, pushing its sound from psych to cacophony. Much will be made of Kevin Parker’s impact here, because Tame is also a project about savvily jumbling ideas from other eras and getting synthesizers to feel as delicately enveloping as puffs of smoke. It’s also an oversimplification of the scope of Let’s Start Here to call it Lil Yachty’s Tame album. Patrick Wimberly co-produced every song, and the snap of the drum sound and the flair for gooey horn accompaniment are assets Chairlift — Wimberly’s former group with Caroline Polachek and Aaron Pfenning — used to employ. U.K. producer Jam City and Yves Tumor collaborator Justin Raisen sat in on a lot of these, too; the maximalist sonics and the mix of love songs and acid-addled horror here are both a result of its pick of personnel and an authentic re-creation of the wild fluctuations of a lurid trip.

Its intriguing bio- and band chemistry are Let’s Start Here ’s gift and curse. “Running Out of Time” kicks off with drums that feel like Thundercat’s “Them Changes” (which, in turn, feels like Paul McCartney’s “Arrow Through Me”) and a bubbly bass line evoking “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers. Pushing through to a gorgeous bridge, matching vocals with Skye, Yachty pokes out from under the shadow of his forebears and delivers one of the finest bits of music he’s ever made. The blissed out “The Ride” plants the Texas rapper Teezo Touchdown into a wobbly groove that could’ve fit into last year’s Yeah Yeah Yeahs album. It feels like both songs could collapse at any moment, hanging a sharp turn into an unflattering section wrecking the momentum they built. Equally prone to swift tense shifts and long detours, Let’s Start Here meanders a great deal between highlights, raining sheets of sound that soak and weigh down the delicate grooves it’s trying to build. “Paint the Sky” sounds like a radio hit dropped into a flooded pit cave. These songs sink or swim on Lil Yachty’s ability to steady himself amid a maelstrom of phase-shifted guitars, delay-kissed drums, and synths shrouded in reverb. He’s a good study and a great hook man, but the novelty of some of his experiments wear off as ideas repeat and choruses get smothered. The less they tinker, the better.

Restraint guides Let’s Start Here to a few of its most sublime moments. “Pretty” will draw comparisons to Childish Gambino’s Awaken My Love! and the hit slow jam “Redbone,” but the drum programming recalls the stuff Prince did with the LinnDrum and the vocal performances feel inspired by cloud rap, a sensibility teased out in a cocky, carefree verse by Fousheé . “Say Something” strikes gold coolly poking around the pillowy synth pads and echoing drums of ’80s pop in the same way recent albums from the Weeknd picked up where Daft Punk left off in marrying dueling interests in 20th- and 21st-century popular music. “Pretty” and “Say Something” keep things relatively simple, stacking a few complementary ideas on top of each other and allowing space to breathe. (Other producers might abuse the clav hits in the latter for the old-school feel they bring, but this group lets them drift in and out of frame, recalling the minimalist trap lullabies on the back end of Lil Boat .) The noisier and less structurally sturdy cuts that surround them feel like the jams a band works through on the way to more refined compositions, before taking them on the road where they grow new layers of sound and significance. Let’s Start Here begs to be untangled in a live setting the way artists drawn to the tactile and communal experience of music tend to, allowed to drift over warm air, playing during the sunny days and reckless nights it describes.

Maybe this album is the new beginning its title implies, a first step toward tighter songcraft on the horizon, and maybe Yachty will pop back up in six to 18 months’ time on some different shit entirely, as is often his tendency. The new record finds him sniffing around the same intersections of pop, rock, psych, and soul as “Bad Habit” or Frank Ocean’s “Pretty Sweet,” sacrificing the brevity of his hits for a purposeful sensory overload, which sometimes works in his favor but sometimes encumbers tracks that ought to seem weightless. It is important for young artists to get the space to grow and change and eat mushrooms and make weird but enthusiastic indie-rock music.

Let’s Start Here fits into a long tradition of pleasant curveballs from rappers, unheralded classics like Q-Tip’s Kamaal the Abstract, side projects like the Beastie Boys and Suicidal Tendencies offshoot BS2000 , imperfect genre excursions like Kid Cudi’s WZRD , and effortless R&B pivots like Tyler, the Creator’s Igor . Yachty is stumbling down well-trod pathways, learning lessons imparted on generation after generation of listeners ever since Pink Floyd’s international breakthrough 50 years ago and taking metaphysical journeys endeavored since humans first discovered fungi and plants that made them see sounds and smell colors. The sharpest songs here could go toe-to-toe with the best in the artist’s back catalog, and the worst ones sound like excitable demos for various guitar pedals. Let’s Start Here isn’t Lil Yachty’s greatest work, but it goes over better than the pitch — “Poland” guy does shrooms and jams on instruments — implied it might. And if shoegaze-adjacent rockers like “I’ve Officially Lost Vision” and sound experiments like the one at the end of “We Saw the Sun” drone-pill even a fraction of the audience, it was all worth it.

• craig jenkins
• vulture homepage lede
• vulture section lede
• album review
• quality control music

Most Viewed Stories

• What Happened With Kendall and Nicole From Love Island USA ?
• Cinematrix No. 147: August 20, 2024
• Phil Collins Is Alive and Thriving
• That Feeling You Recognize? Obamacore.
• The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Are Unrecognizable in Season 5 Trailer
• 100 Pieces of Pop Culture That Defined Obamacore

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

• Exclusive Interviews

Lil Yachty ‘Let’s Start Here.’ First Week Sales Projections

Yachty just put out his fifth studio album album Let’s Start Here , which is surprising fans with its strange musical direction by the rapper’s standards. You can stream it here .

About 48 hours after the release, the first week sales projection numbers have arrived. The new LP is projected to sell 19k – 24k copies first week. This is a little lower than his last album Lil Boat 3 , which did 30k copies first week. Check back throughout the week for potential updates.

Related Posts

Nicki Minaj Announces Extended Version of ‘Pink Friday 2’ Album, ‘Gag City Reloaded’

Dame Dash Promises “Original Roc-A-Fella Chain” For Highest ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Bidder

Travis Scott Re-Releasing ‘Days Before Rodeo’ Mixtape with Unreleased Songs

Nicki Minaj Previews Unreleased Song with Wizkid: Watch

Latto ‘Sugar Honey Iced Tea’ First Week Sales Projections

Chinx Murder Suspect Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison

Sign up for our NEWSLETTER for breaking stories and exclusives.

We never share your email with any 3rd party. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Donald Trump Says Kanye West Is Acting “Crazy” & Needs “Help”

Kanye calls drake “greatest rapper ever”; claims drake slept with kris jenner, nicki minaj & latto diss each other on twitter; latto calls nicki a “bully”.

© 2008-2023 HipHop-N-More. All Rights Reserved.

• Privacy Policy
• Submit Music
• Advertise With Us
• New Artist Submissions
• Read us on Google News
• Read us on Apple News

Lil Yachty Reveals AI-Generated Album Cover for ‘Let’s Start Here,’ Depicting Demented Boardroom of Executives

By Yousef Srour

Yousef Srour

• Travis Scott’s Long-Delayed ‘Utopia,’ Featuring Beyonce, Drake, the Weeknd and More, Was Worth the Wait: Album Review 1 year ago
• Young Thug Drops Star-Studded ‘Business Is Business’ Surprise Project From Prison: Album Review 1 year ago
• ‘Atlanta’ Returns Home for a Final Season That Cements Its Legacy  1 year ago

Lil Yachty has revealed the artwork and release date for his forthcoming album, “Let’s Start Here,” set to debut Jan. 27 on Quality Control Music and Motown Records.

Ever the provocateur, the rapper’s new cover art previews an AI-generated image of what seems to be seven executives sitting next to each other in suits. With malformed faces akin to a psychedelic trip down the rabbit hole, the artwork seems unremarkable upon first glance. However, the longer you stare at their faces, they look inhuman, with contorted facial features and warped smiles.

Related Stories

Fubo’s battle with venu sports is a stopgap measure, china box office: ‘alien: romulus’ makes robust debut in slowing theatrical market, popular on variety.

In an interview with Icebox last year , the “ Minnesota ” rapper has expressed that his “new album is a non-rap album,” hence the second chapter that he alludes to in his Instagram post. Yachty explains: “It’s alternative, it’s sick!” After recently collaborating with artists such as Tame Impala, he’s been in the process of creating a “psychedelic alternative project… [with] all live instrumentation.”

Slowly shedding major label support, Yachty now has his own label and creative consultant company, Concrete Records and Concrete Family, respectively. Working closely with Concrete Family, Yachty teamed up with the General Mills cereal brand in 2020 for a limited collaboration with Reese’s Puffs and has an undisclosed sneaker set to be released at a later date. Similar to his 2021 mixtape, “Michigan Boat Boy,” which featured almost solely Detroit artists including Rio Da Yung OG and Babyface Ray, Yachty plans to also release a mixtape with the Concrete Boys collective sometime this year.

More from Variety

Halle berry would direct ‘catwoman’ sequel and tells off the haters: ‘critics said it sucked balls,’ but ‘balls aren’t that bad’, ‘skibidi toilet’: flushing out audience data on an internet phenomenon, halle berry says pierce brosnan ‘restored my faith in men’ on james bond set: ‘there couldn’t be a human who is more of a gentleman’, halle berry says blake lively asked if she’d reprise storm in ‘deadpool & wolverine.’ she answered ‘yes’ as long as ryan reynolds called: ‘but he never asked me’, bungie layoffs highlight post-m&a issues for gaming industry as its unions react, ‘the union’ director reveals why mark wahlberg and halle berry never kiss: ‘you have to think of this as a three movie idea’, more from our brands, barack obama skewers trump, warns of tight race in dnc speech, this $16 million arts & crafts-style mansion overlooks a pristine lake in canada , ncaa memo fuels questions about big-bucks nil hoops event, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, 2024 democratic national convention: watch barack and michelle obama, doug emhoff speak on day 2.

• Manage Account

Lil Yachty Guides Listeners on a Trippy Journey with ‘Let’s Start Here’ Album: Stream It Now

Listen to 'Let's Start Here' here.

By Heran Mamo

• Share on Facebook
• Share to Flipboard
• Share on Pinterest
• + additional share options added
• Share on Reddit
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Whats App
• Send an Email
• Print this article
• Post a Comment
• Share on Tumblr

See latest videos, charts and news

Hot 100 First-Timers: Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners Debut With 7-Year-Old Viral Hit 'Evergreen'

Lil yachty announces new album ‘let’s start here’, trending on billboard.

In the week leading up to the album’s release, he unveiled a nearly two-minute skit titled “Department of Mental Tranquility,” which shows Yachty walking into the video’s namesake and responding to a receptionist’s pestering, miscellaneous questions in a sweltering waiting room replete with erratic people before the performer carefully enters into the white light.

Yachty released his last full-length album,  Lil Boat 3 , on May 29, 2020. The 19-track set, which included lead single “Oprah’s Bank Account” featuring  DaBaby  and Drake , launched at No. 14 on the Billboard 200 . 

Stream Let’s Start Here below.

Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox

Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about?

Get in the know on.

Billboard is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Billboard Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

optional screen reader

Charts expand charts menu.

• Billboard Hot 100™
• Billboard 200™
• Hits Of The World™
• TikTok Billboard Top 50
• Songs Of The Summer
• Song Breaker
• Year-End Charts
• Decade-End Charts

Music Expand music menu

• R&B/Hip-Hop

Videos Expand videos menu

Culture expand culture menu, media expand media menu, business expand business menu.

• Business News
• Record Labels
• View All Pro

Pro Tools Expand pro-tools menu

• Songwriters & Producers
• Artist Index
• Royalty Calculator
• Market Watch
• Industry Events Calendar

Billboard Español Expand billboard-espanol menu

• Cultura y Entretenimiento

Get Up Anthems by Tres Expand get-up-anthems-by-tres menu

Honda music expand honda-music menu.

URLTV - Ultimate Rap League live battle rap

First-Week Sales Projections For Lil Yachty’s ‘Let’s Start Here’ Are In

Did the online hype help Lil Boat score big numbers?

Share AllHipHop |

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

Lil Yachty’s name was a top trending topic on Twitter over the weekend. People on the platform had a lot to say about the Quality Control Music recording artist’s latest body of work.

Let’s Start Here became a major talking point online with Yachty receiving praise and criticism for the new album. Did the social media conversations generate album sales?

According to HitsDailyDouble , Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here is on pace to open with 19,000-24,000 first-week units. It is not clear if that range will be enough to secure the Georgia native a Top 10 debut.

Let’s start here. 1/27. LP. Thank You 4 Your Patience friends. pic.twitter.com/sI1PK0ws3z — CONCRETE BOY BOAT^ (@lilyachty) January 17, 2023

Lil Yachty Currently Has Two Top 10 Projects In His Discography

2020’s Lil Boat 3 peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 chart with 30,000 first-week units. At the moment, Yachty has two projects in his catalog that have made it into the Top 10 region – 2017’s Teenage Emotions (#5) and 2018’s Lil Boat 2 (#2).

Let’s Start Here , Lil Yachty’s psychedelic rock-influenced fifth studio LP, is categorized as Alternative on DSPs instead of Hip Hop. Yachty revealed his latest musical effort would be a “non-rap” album in January 2022 .

Last week, Lil Yachty informed his Twitter followers that he created Let’s Start Here in just six months. However, the FaZe Clan member apparently decided to hold off on dropping the 14-track project for over a year.

No! I made it in 6 months… but sat on it for a year and half almost https://t.co/8qeQifqB39 — CONCRETE BOY BOAT^ (@lilyachty) January 27, 2023

Let’s Start Here Has Sparked Polarizing Responses

Some fans appreciated Yachty experimenting with different sounds, while others complained the 25-year-old songwriter went too far away from his Trap roots. Apparently, Lil Boat sees Let’s Start Here as a step in the right direction.

“Truth be told, all I ever wanted was to be respected as an artist,” tweeted Lil Yachty on January 27. That statement also ignited a polarizing response as some Hip Hop followers believed Yachty essentially disrespected rap as a genre.

Lil Yachty broke out with 2015’s 2x-Platinum-certified “One Night” single. Plus, the 2016 XXL Freshman scored an 8x-Platinum plaque as a guest on “iSpy” by Kyle and a 7x-Platinum plaque as a guest on “Broccoli” by DRAM.

Truth be told, all I ever wanted was to be respected as an artist. — CONCRETE BOY BOAT^ (@lilyachty) January 27, 2023

Find anything you save across the site in your account

Rap / Pop/R&B

Quality Control / Motown / Republic

July 1, 2024

When James Blake and Lil Yachty debuted as divisive wunderkinds, they earned feverish acclaim—and controversy—for the way they blurred the lines etched by their predecessors. Blake stormed dubstep’s dancefloor and rendered it a dusty confessional booth; Yachty looked at the hip-hop landscape he inherited, cursed its gods , and spent the beginning of his career at war with a generation. Not everything has changed: They’re still divisive, and they’re still doggedly trying new things. But they aren’t upstarts anymore; nor are their disruptive ideas breaking boundaries so much as reinforcing them. (So long, saxophones , and so long, rap .) A pair that once embodied youthful iconoclasm now often seem to see only as far as their next grievance. More and more, they sound like the gatekeepers who didn’t believe in them years ago.

Thus the defensive crossover spectacle of Bad Cameo , their new joint album. Few things announce themselves louder than a tag-team LP by a polarizing producer and an equally polarizing rapper-turned-rocker. But instead of provoking, this record largely takes the low-key road, like a terse postscript to a more transgressive past. It’s dreamy and occasionally danceable, steely electronica rubbing shoulders with a sharp, stadium-ready take on Yachty’s sing-rap sensibilities. The shoulder-rubbing is promising, but at a certain point, when the friction hasn’t progressed any further, the party starts to feel like a corporate lunch: Hey Post-Dubstep, have you met Post-Trap? I’ll leave you two alone to hit it off! Sometimes, they do. More often, Blake and Yachty are cozy in their respective corners, taking turns in the spotlight rather than sharing it. You get the sense that they’re trying to rekindle old magic—the wonders Blake worked with his glitchy soul-searching, the weightlessness Yachty proffered with his pitch-shifted lilts. These elements sound nice next to one another. They’d sound even better if they did more than just coexist.

When Yachty released “ Poland ,” his unlikely 2022 hit single, part of the draw was his quivering, liquid delivery: “It is a really fucking weird song,” Blake told him in a recent sit-down, revealing that it brought him to tears. He’s right to identify the weirdness as jolting—at least enough to channel raw emotion, or inspire it in others. But when they try to accomplish this on Bad Cameo , they sound maddeningly riskless. The title track registers like an attempt to run “Poland” through Blake’s chilly alt-pop processing and produce something equally apt for dorm rooms and sound baths. There’s a repeatable mantra, minimal frills that foreground the vocals, and an air of confession—only now, instead of spiking one another’s worlds, the crossover dilutes their respective strengths. “Did you ever love me?” Yachty begs, in full “Poland” voice, with Blake echoing his prayer in the background. You might recall a similar plea on the 2022 song (“Hope you love me, baby, I hope you mean it”). Where “Poland” producer F1lthy supplied Yachty with a jumpy, trap-infused hotbed, Blake’s canvas is restrictive, limiting the singer to a cramped crying closet both have outgrown. Solemn as it sounds, it’s hard to take very seriously.

Part of Bad Cameo ’s appeal is the promise of a novel palette: lean meeting lemon tea, hip-hop meeting post-dubstep, confessionalism meeting vanity. Sometimes, as on “Twice,” this works beautifully—a staggered four-on-the-floor beat might morph into something airier, a haggard Yachty and wistful Blake taking turns reveling in their respective terrains. Other times, in moments where you’d expect the contrast to unearth rich new flavors, there’s a dulling effect. “Save the Savior,” a crunchy ballad that sounds a bit like a screen-adapted Future therapy session, would absolutely crush in a ritzy, white-walled gallery. Play it a second time, this time with the pair’s capabilities in mind, and it starts feeling like it should go beyond those insular limits. Blake is coming off his most energetic and danceable record to date; Yachty is freshly removed from a risky, compelling—if controversial— psych-rock dispatch . Considering the boundary-breaking instincts each contributor brings to the table, Bad Cameo feels too safe, too familiar, to tell us anything we don’t already know.

The bulk of Bad Cameo ’s novelty arrives, instead, in songcraft. To Blake’s credit, he’s a master of seeing tracks as living things, subject to as much growth and meandering as the masterminds who make them. Familiar as they may feel, the most striking songs on this project keep some powder dry, sprawling into realms far beyond their starting places. Midway through “Midnight,” when Yachty and Blake’s harmonized refrain gives way to a beat switch and the drums fall out from beneath their voices, it sounds like they’re prostrate before something powerful. “Woo” begins with an echoey grand piano over a trap beat, no new addition to the annals of introspective hip-hop. But by the chorus, it seems like it’s all falling apart: The drum pattern sputters, and a sly ghost chord gradually infiltrates Blake’s somber progression, culminating in a single jolt of dissonance. You wish there were more room for such uncompromising mischief.

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Pitchfork. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

• First Week Sales by Artist

Ranking Lil Yachty’s First Week Album Sales

Popular now.

Meaning of ‘It’s Up’ by ‘Drake’ feat. Young Thug, 21 Savage

Meaning of ‘FLY’ by ‘Quavo’ feat. Lenny Kravitz

Meaning of ‘Teleport’ by ‘Logic’

Intro: Bursting onto the music scene with a fresh and eclectic style, Lil Yachty has cemented his place as a trailblazer in the rap industry since his debut studio album in 2017.

As an artist unafraid to experiment with different sounds and collaborations, Yachty’s vibrant and evolving discography has captivated fans and critics alike. In this article, we’ll get into all of Lil Yachty’s first-week album sales, diving into the chart performances of each release on the US Billboard 200.

From his 2017 debut, Teenage Emotions , to his latest release, 2023’s Let’s Start Here , we rank all of Lil Yachty’s first week album sales.

Released: May 29, 2020

Label: Quality Control, Capitol, Motown

First week album sales: 30,000

Billboard 200 position: 14

Singles: “Oprah’s Bank Account”, “Split/Whole Time”, “Coffin”

Features: Tierra Whack, ASAP Rocky, Tyler, the Creator, Future, Draft Day, DaBaby, Drake, Lil Keed, Young Thug, and Lil Durk.

With guest appearances from renowned artists like Drake, DaBaby, Tyler, the Creator, and Future, as well as contributions from top producers like Mike Will Made It, Pi’erre Bourne, and Earl on the Beat, Lil Boat 3 had all the ingredients to make a splash on the charts. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, Lil Boat 3 made a strong debut on the US Billboard 200, securing the 14th spot with 30,000 album-equivalent units earned in its first week. The album’s performance was driven in part by the popularity of its supporting singles: “Oprah’s Bank Account,” “Split/Whole Time,” and “Coffin.”

Let’s Start Here

Released: January 27, 2023

First week album sales: 36,000

Billboard 200 position: 9

Singles: “Say Something”

Features: N/A

With the release of 2023’s Let’s Start Here , Yachty surprised fans by dropping a psychedelic rock-influenced album that marked a departure from his previous work. The album’s unique sound, which Yachty described as “psychedelic alternative” with live instrumentation, showcased the rapper’s versatility and willingness to explore new musical styles. Upon its release, Let’s Start Here made an impressive debut on the US Billboard 200 chart, landing at number nine and earning 36,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. This achievement marked Lil Yachty’s third top-10 debut on the chart, and the album has also accumulated a total of 41.34 million on-demand streams of its tracks.

Nuthin’ 2 Prove

Released: October 19, 2018

First week album sales: 40,000

Billboard 200 position: 12

Singles: “Who Want the Smoke?”

Features: Playboi Carti, Juice Wrld, Lil Baby, Young Nudy, Cardi B, Offset, Trippie Redd, Kevin Gates, and Gunna.

Lil Yachty’s third studio album, Nuthin’ 2 Prove , featured a diverse array of collaborations, with guest appearances from notable artists such as Playboi Carti, Juice Wrld, Lil Baby, Young Nudy, Cardi B, Offset, Trippie Redd, Kevin Gates, and Gunna. The lead single, “Who Want the Smoke?” featuring Cardi B and Offset, was released on July 6, 2018, and was produced by Tay Keith. In its first week, Nuthin’ 2 Prove sold 40,000 units, making a respectable debut on the US Billboard 200 chart at number 12.

Teenage Emotions

Released: May 26, 2017

First week album sales: 46,000

Billboard 200 position: 5

Singles: “Harley”, “Peek a Boo”, “Bring It Back”, “X Men”

Features: Migos, YG, Kamaiyah, Stefflon Don, Diplo, Grace, and Sonyae Elise.

Yachty’s debut studio album, Teenage Emotions , introduced the rapper’s unique style to a wider audience when it dropped in 2017. Boasting an impressive line-up of guest appearances, including Migos, YG, Kamaiyah, Stefflon Don, Diplo, Grace, and Sonyae Elise, the album was supported by four singles: “Harley,” “Peek a Boo,” “Bring It Back,” and “X Men.” Although the album received lukewarm reviews from critics, it still managed to make a splash on the charts. In its first week, Teenage Emotions debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 46,000 album-equivalent units. Of these, 24,000 units came from streaming, and 20,000 were pure album sales.

Released: March 9, 2018

First week album sales: 64,000

Billboard 200 position: 2

Singles: N/A

Features: Quavo, Offset, Lil Baby, 2 Chainz, Trippie Redd, Lil Pump, YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Tee Grizzley.

For Yachty’s sophomore release, the Atlanta rapper made sure to pull out all the stops, showcasing collaborations with Quality Control labelmates Quavo and Offset of Migos and Lil Baby, as well as other rappers like 2 Chainz, Trippie Redd, Lil Pump, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, and Tee Grizzley. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, Lil Boat 2 achieved notable commercial success. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart dated March 24, 2018, earning 64,000 album-equivalent units, including 7,000 pure album sales. This performance marked Lil Yachty’s second top-five album, following his debut studio album Teenage Emotions , and became his highest-peaking album to date.

MC WordWeaver

Related posts.

• Hip Hop Features

The Best of Lil Yachty’s Features

Meaning of the song ‘Poland’ by ‘Lil Yachty’

Meaning of the song ‘Something Ether’ by ‘Lil Yachty’

Meaning of ‘Peek A Boo’ by ‘Lil Yachty’ feat. Migos

Let’s Start Here.

“something ether”.

Flex Up (with Future and Playboi Carti)

Strike (Holster)

sAy sOMETHINg

• Do Not Sell My Personal Information
• Cookie Choices

Mike Will Made-It, Lil Wayne, and Lil Yachty Figure Out if the High Was Worth the Pain in ‘High3r’ Video

By Jon Blistein

Jon Blistein

Lil Wayne , Lil Yachty , and Mikę Will Made-It chart some serious highs and serious lows in the new music video for their recent collaborative single, “High3r.”  

The visual jumps between close-up shots of the three artists performing the song and three different vignettes that play off the themes of “High3r.” In the first, a couple’s euphoric night turns horrific after one too many pills; in the second, a wild joy ride ends with a seemingly inevitable crash; and in the last, a lovelorn pharmacists finds himself on the harrowing end of an armed robbery. 

James Taylor Apologizes After Being Cut From the Democratic National Convention

Aoc torches trump in rousing dnc speech: 'would sell this country for $1', trump doubles down on medal of honor dig despite backlash from vets, former white party dancer files police report against sean combs in miami.

Prior to dropping “High3r,” Mike teased the album with a video trailer featuring surveillance footage from the studio that showed all the artists he collaborated with, including Chief Keef, Rich the Kid, Kodak Black, J. Cole, Future, and Lil Baby. 

In between Ransom 2 and R3SET , Mike Will dropped a handful of collaborative albums, including records with Yo Gotti (2017’s Gotti Made-It ), Trouble (2018’s Edgewood ), and Chief Keef (this year’s Dirty Nachos ). He also helmed the stacked soundtrack for 2018’s Creed II .

Lil Jon Transforms DNC Roll Call Into a Party With 'Turn Down for What'

• Rappin for Harris
• By Tomás Mier

How Myke Towers Found His Lane — And Got Confessional Verses Out of Bad Bunny

• era de pantera
• By Julyssa Lopez

Jennifer Lopez Files for Divorce From Ben Affleck After Two Years of Marriage

• Bennifer No More
• By Tomás Mier and Daniel Kreps

Taylor Swift Reveals 'I Can Do It With a Broken Heart' Video of Eras Tour BTS

• Celebration Time

Taylor Swift Brings Out Florence Welch and Jack Antonoff, Debuts 'So Long London' to Close Out European Leg

• By Kalia Richardson

Most Popular

Halle berry says blake lively asked if she'd reprise storm in 'deadpool & wolverine.' she answered 'yes' as long as ryan reynolds called: 'but he never asked me', brian cox says cinema is in "a very bad way," cites marvel, 'deadpool & wolverine': "it's become party time", ‘caitlin clark effect’ hits bottom line in indiana fever finance report, sources reveal why taylor swift’s romance with travis kelce is nothing like she’s ‘ever experienced before', you might also like, travis kelce circling starring role in action-comedy ‘loose cannons’ from lionsgate, 87eleven entertainment, athleta ceo talks paris olympics, pivoting the product offer and partnering with katie ledecky and simone biles, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors, watch ‘the daily show’ team discuss election vibes with democratic national convention attendees — exclusive, nwsl expansion talks include cincinnati, cleveland, denver.

Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

Lil Yachty's Label Concrete Boyz set to release their first collaboration project 'It's Us Volume 1' this April

A ccording to NFR Podcast, Lil Yachty's record label, Concrete Boys (also known as Concrete Boyz), is set to release their first collaboration project titled It's Us: Volume 1 on all streaming platforms this April.

NFR's official X account posted on March 25, confirming the release date of the Concrete Boyz project as April 5, 2024. The post also revealed the featured artists, including Lil Yachty, Karrahbooo, Draft Day, DC2Trill, and Camo. The tweet read:

"LIL YACHTY, KARRAHBOOO, DRAFT DAY, DC2TRILL, CAMO!"

The tracklist for the upcoming album is yet to be confirmed, but based on the artists involved in this project, it's likely to showcase a fusion of alternative rock, R&B, and rap.

Lil Yachty and Concrete Boys Discography

Yachty (Lil Boat), who is currently signed to Quality Control, incorporated his own Record Label Concrete Boyz, a few years ago in an attempt to bring upcoming artists in his genre to the spotlight.

Over the years, Yachty and his team have been slowly recruiting rappers and artists from across the music industry, from 31 Camo to Karahbooo, all of whose music appears to have been inspired by Boat's discography.

Lil Yachty has also collaborated with his signees on some of his previous work. Below are two songs officially released alongside Artist Draft Day:

• Demon Time (Feat. Draft Day)
• POPOVICH Freestyle (Feat. Draft Day)

On May 29, 2020, Yachty released his fourth studio album, titled Lil Boat 3 , across all DSPs (Digital Streaming Platforms) via Quality Control Music and Motown Records. The 19-track project included a track titled Concrete Boys .

This track acted as the official introduction to the "Concrete Crew" he was building with his record label. The song includes a shout-out to the Concrete Boys in the chorus when Yachty implies that when his "back is against the wall," he can always rely on his crew to come through for him.

Another notable bar from Lil Yachty's song has been listed below:

"I just woke up, dreamin' 'bout the rose (Oh my God) / They had ni**as 'round me who don't stand on toes (Hell nah) / Barely ever do I think about my foes / How much longer will I live? Only God knows."

On December 16, 2023, a song titled Mo Jams was released on the official YouTube channel for Concrete Boys, alongside a music video that featured most of the CB roster, except for 31 Camo. Mo Jams was produced by Rawbone and acts as the first official collaboration between the members of Concrete Boys.

This track, although not being released on DSPs, has garnered significant attention for an upcoming collaboration project by racking up almost 4 million views on YouTube.

As fans await a Concrete Boys collaboration album, Lil Yachty continues to impress fans by following up on his widely acclaimed 2023 project Let's Start Here, which found the rapper delving into a more experimental sound with his music.

Notably, Yachty has been releasing a string of singles, which include his collaboration with Fred Again.. on stayinit. The rapper was also featured on Lyrical Lemonade's debut studio album, All Is Yellow , which dropped two months ago in January 2024.

Jean Dawson And Lil Yachty Detail Their Ultimatums On The Gloomy Track ‘Die For Me’

If you can tour together, you can create together. Although their time on The Field Trip Tour has officially ended, Jean Dawson and Lil Yachty have seemingly maintained their bond.

Today (August 16), Jean Dawson dropped his latest single, “Die For Me” featuring Lil Yachty. On the gloomy record, produced by , the duo detailed their ultimatums for loved ones as Jean sings: “I bet somebody love me, no / After I’ve died, we’ll see / Don’t show up at my funeral / If you won’t die for me.”

Lil Yachty used his guest verse to flex his confidence and demand for unwavering loyalty in a partner.

“I gotta give out some vital information, this is a congregation / This is the conversation, a breathtaking persuasion / I think you are amazing, so good that n****s obsessed / I’ve been feeling sharp pains in my chest / As of now, I think I know what’s best / If you love me you’ll lay down and rest / To your family, I’ll explain it best / I just tell ’em I loved you to death,” raps Yachty.

Based on Jean Dawson’s latest post on X (formerly Twitter), “Die For Me” is a teaser for the entertainer’s forthcoming album, Glimmer Of God .

Listen to Jean Dawson’s new single “Die For Me” featuring Lil Yachty above.

2024 is set to be quite the year for Hip Hop and R&B with a lineup of anticipated releases from artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Ice Spice, Summer Walker, Future and Metro Boomin, and many more. Music predictions are inherently uncertain, as highlighted by Kanye West ‘s repeatedly delayed Vultures album. However, hope remains high as speculation continues over whether Rihanna will end her hiatus since 2016’s ANTI .

While unpredictable, 2024 is shaping up to be significant for music. Check out our list of some of the most anticipated albums of the year below!

Following her 2018 debut, Invasion of Privacy , Cardi B is set to release her second album in 2024. Despite a six-year gap, her first LP’s success — including a No. 1 on the Billboard 200, over four million U.S. sales, and a Grammy for Best Rap Album — has given her the leverage to take her time.

Notably, 2020’s hit “WAP” with Megan Thee Stallion has been RIAA-certified platinum eight times since it came out. While other records like “Hot S**t” featuring Lil Durk and Kanye West, “Up” and “Bongos” admittedly haven’t shared the same charting success, they’re all great records that put her artistic range on display.

“I should already start talking about the album because I’m going to be putting it out very soon,” Cardi explained to HOT 97’s Ebro Darden. “I’m just holding it because I feel like I’m missing a couple of things.”

2. Metro Boomin and Future

Future and Metro Boomin are slated to debut their anticipated joint project later this year. Having already teamed up for hits like “Jumpman” and “Mask Off,” the duos collaborations have consistently delivered chart-topping music.

The Atlanta-based beatmaker is notably riding high from recent successes, including his second solo album and contributions to the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack. In January 2023, Future labeled the upcoming project as the “album of the year,” while Metro shared a snippet of a new song in June. Adding to the anticipation, Pluto recently cleared his Instagram posts while hinting at imminent new music.

3. J. Cole: The Fall Off

J. Cole first teased The Fall Off in 2020 with very few updates since. However, in recent years, he achieved several career milestones: his first Grammy Award, a diamond-certified single and a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “First Person Shooter.”

Cole also successfully expanded Dreamville, cultivating stars like JID and Ari Lennox in addition to the label’s annual festival. Not to mention, the music icon cemented his status as a formidable guest artist on tracks with Drake, BIA, BTS’ j-hope, Lil Durk, Joyner Lucas, Nicki Minaj and Lil Yachty. So far, every song he has been featured on has been a pleasant listen that feeds into anticipation for his next full-length project.

4. Ice Spice

Last year was a big year for Ice Spice, who topped Rap-Up’s “ Rappers Who Bodied 2023″ list. Her collaborations with notable artists like Nicki Minaj, PinkPantheress, Taylor Swift and Rema amplified her presence in various genres. While her EP Like…? maintained her momentum through songs like “In Ha Hood Mood” and “Gangsta Boo,” fans are eagerly anticipating her debut album.

Ice Spice’s rise since 2022 was strategically remarkable. In July 2023, she released an expanded version of Like…? featuring the hit “Deli.” In 2024, she teased new music with a snippet and a meme captioned, “Think you the s**t, b**ch? You not even the fart.” Although hopefully just a playful troll, 2024 is definitely the Bronx rapper’s year.

5. Lil Uzi Vert: Luv Is Rage 3

Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage 3 is a bittersweet addition to this list. Yes, it’s new music from one of this generation’s favorite artists, but the Philadelphia native also claimed it will be their last project before returning to a “normal life.” So far, they’ve teased the LP with records like “NFL” and “Red Moon,” both of which are on the experimental side. Overall, it will be really interesting to see what Uzi does with their final body of work, whether it be features, more personal songs or another tour.

6. Megan Thee Stallion

Megan Thee Stallion entered the new year with newfound independence having resolved legal issues with her former label and finally being over with the Tory Lanez case . The Houston native is now fully in control of her musical output, as evident by November 2023’s “Cobra.” The release marked a return to her roots, characterized by unfiltered expressions and bars that demand a second listen.

While she dropped only one standalone record — and her verse on Cardi B’s “Bongos” — Megan teased new music months prior. Speaking to Billboard , she said, “It’s definitely coming very soon… I think Thee Hotties are gonna be so excited. I’m trying different things.” Although she’s no longer under Carl Crawford’s 1501 Certified Entertainment, the artist inked a distribution deal with Warner Music Group, which further hinted at its mass scale.

Considering Traumazine gave us fan favorites like “Plan B” and “Ungrateful,” great things are surely in store for Hot Girl Meg.

7. SZA: LANA

SZA ’s LANA was initially thought to be a deluxe version of her Grammy-nominated album SOS . However, its status as a standalone project or an extension of the latter is still up in the air, especially due to the seven-to-10-song length and the time passed. In a November interview with Variety , she humorously admitted to finalizing projects just before deadlines.

As of now, LANA is shrouded in mystery, with no confirmed release date or tracklist. Recently, SZA revealed what social media assumes is the cover art, signaling progress on the body of work. Although details are sparse, it’s expected to feature a mix of previously unreleased and fresh tracks, such as Justin Bieber’s official remix of “Snooze.”

8. Kanye West & Ty Dolla Sign: Vultures

Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign’s Vultures is one of the most anticipated releases of 2024 despite recent public controversies. In 2023, listening events in Miami and Las Vegas drew large crowds, where the pair previewed work-in-progress versions of the album in its entirety. It also has a host of guest artists, including Kodak Black, Playboi Carti, Chris Brown and Freddie Gibbs.

However, the album’s release is still unknown, with it being pushed back three times already. Nicki Minaj withheld approval for her verse in “New Body,” and there were seemingly clearance issues with the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back).” Nonetheless, this project is exactly what Hip Hop needs right now. We’re waiting.

9. Flo Milli: Fine Ho, Stay

Flo Milli’s eagerly awaited album Fine Ho, Stay is the final part of her trilogy. Seemingly intended to come out before her “Thanks For Coming Here, Ho Tour,” the LP has been long-awaited since she announced it. In the Alabama rapper’s case, being patient was worth it, considering she delivered “Never Lose Me” in December 2023. In terms of charting success, it was her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.

Elsewhere on the project, fans can likely expect “BGC,” which sampled Carl Carlton’s 1981 song “She’s A Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked).” With a long list of potential collaborators and unwavering confidence in her approach, it’s safe to say Fine Ho, Stay will be an exciting body of work.

10. Summer Walker

Summer Walker dropped her CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE EP in May 2023, which nabbed her a Grammy nomination and much-earned praise. It boasted “To Summer, From Cole” with J. Cole as well as “Hardlife” and “How Does It Feel.” Although it ended up being the only new project from her, she graced Usher’s “Good Good” and celebrated the five-year anniversary of “Girls Need Love.” The latter got three new versions, including verses from Tyla, Victoria Monét and Tink.

That being said, Walker’s third studio album is surely something to look forward to. She has a lot to offer in terms of her perspective on motherhood, her relationship with “BMF” star Lil Meech and uncovering more about herself. December 2023’s “DROWN IN MY LOVE” set hopes high.

11. Rihanna

Nearly eight years have passed since Rihanna’s last album, but her successful ventures into lingerie and cosmetics — along with her already iconic music catalog — have sustained her star status. Notably, she headlined the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show despite a long hiatus. While she hinted years ago at working on both a pop and a dancehall album, the current status of her music projects remains unclear. However, her fans remain ready for her potential return to music, whenever that may be.

Within the last few years, Rihanna became a mother of two, America’s youngest self-made billionaire and returned to her role as creative director of PUMA. None of that diminished the public’s desire for new music from her. In 2023, she teased new music, describing her next album as “experimental” and “completely different” from her past work.