Yeat really wants you to know how weird he is. There’s the anonymity, the umlauts, the distressed balaclavas. He promoted his new album 2093 with crop circles and billboards near the Arc de Triomphe and Big Ben promising a “better life.” The album has a concept of sorts, revolving around Lyfestyle Corporation, “a utilitarian dystopia set in the year 2093 governed by Yeat as CEO.”
When he announced 2093, Yeat promised fans that their CEO “hears you,” “knows what you want,” and that their “patience and loyalty shall be rewarded.” A reminder: he released Aftërlyfe less than a year ago. Was anyone really losing patience waiting for a new Yeat album?
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Yeat says he prefers to communicate with numbers instead of words; he doesn’t send addresses, he sends coordinates. The frustrating thing about Yeat is that there is nothing strange in his lyrics. He’s as generic of a writer as rap has, but on 2093 he chooses some of the best beats of his career; it’s a spectacular, thrilling-sounding rap album.
Yeat’s melodic ability carries the album for the most part, almost making the need for engaging lyrics irrelevant. But at 24 tracks, 2093 runs out of fresh ideas by its end. There’s nothing — like clever one-liners, thoughtful narrative, or diaristic revelations — to bring this project across the finish line.
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Like its predecessor, 2093 features very few guests. Aftërlyfe had appearances from two of his own alter egos and NBA YoungBoy. This new project features Drake, Future, and Lil Wayne. The absence of a lot of voices gives the album an undeniable cohesion, but the three songs with guests immediately offer a jolt that suggests Yeat either has to come up with some more ideas or bring more voices into the fold next time around.
Sonically and production-wise, this is far and away the best work Yeat’s ever turned in. Throughout most of the album, this, coupled with his harmonic ability, makes the project extremely appealing. But over the course of the 77 minute runtime, it’s hard to remember the good ideas that stand out against the same vapid lyrics rehashed again and again. There are so many interesting, fascinating, and captivating things Yeat does with his voice, but very rarely does that consist of compelling words coming out of his mouth.
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If he consistently put bars together, this would easily be one of the best albums released this year so far. That’s how good everything else about the record is. Opener “Psycho CEO” is a monk-ish chat with banging drums and harmonies that interact with each other such that it sounds like five different Yeats having conversations beneath the main vocal line. It’s nuts.
Even the way his delivery shifts from line to line and the way he employs different flows is enticing. He has a great idea tucked in the first full verse. “I just poured a planet in my IV bag,” he spits, delivering the sort of evocative and goofy line that’s made Yeat so endearing. But he then follows it up with a total dud: “You ain’t go no money, it’s obviously sad.”
When Yeat actually invests in his lyrics, the results are fantastic. On “Power Trip,” a bonkers beat switch is followed by a dreamy interlude that sounds like an AI rendering of bucolic folk music. The MC is joined by Childish Gambino, and Yeat accents his musings with powerful bars on an unspecified relationship: “When I’m high and I can’t hide behind the lies/ And I know that you know that you feel that/ ‘Cause you couldn’t look me in my muthafuckin’ eyes.”
Beat-wise, a lot of the cyberpunk and electro influences on the record can be directly traced back to Yeezus, made obvious on tracks like “Morë,” which is built around gut-buzzing distorted synths and clattering, metallic drums; it sounds like an outtake from Ye’s landscape-changing record.
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Yeat, however, could have taken another lesson from Kanye. The Chicago hitmaker knew his ideas would hit harder in a more concise format. Yeezus at 24 songs wouldn’t have worked; Yeezus at 10 became a sensation. It’s hard to latch onto anything significant on 2093 because Yeat cedes his personality in favor of aesthetics.
The line that stands out most memorably is on “Shade,” which features a technicolor instrumental highlighted with blaring synths and electric guitar squeals. It’s an excellent beat; one of plenty on the album. At one point, Yeat raps: “I don’t like to talk, I plead the fifth.” This might be a good way to operate on a day-to-day basis, but he follows this philosophy a bit too closely when it comes to the stories he tells on 2093.
RELEASE DATE: February 16, 2024
RECORD LABEL: Field Trip/Capitol
Listen to 2093 below:
