Let's Start Here

Let's Start Here
Studio album by Lil Yachty
Released	January 27, 2023
Studio	Blue Room (Atlanta) The CRC (Brooklyn) Electric Lady (New York City) Hit Gallery (Atlanta) Jizz Jazz (Los Angeles) Sonic Ranch (Tornillo) The Tree House (Los Angeles)
Genre	Psychedelic rock psychedelic soul funk
Length	57:16
Label	Motown Quality Control
Producer	Lil Yachty Teo Halm Jam City Magdalena Bay Jake Portrait Justin Raisen SadPony Patrick Wimberly
Lil Yachty chronology
Michigan Boy Boat (2021) Let's Start Here (2023) Something Ether (2024)

Let's Start Here is the fifth studio album by the American rapper Lil Yachty, released on January 27, 2023, through Motown and Quality Control Music. After receiving middling reviews towards his previous album Lil Boat 3 (2020), Lil Yachty was unhappy about where he was musically and wanted to be remembered and respected as an artist. In January 2022, he stated that his next release would be not be in the rap genre and would consist of live instrumentation. After releasing his October 2022 single "Poland" to positive critical reviews, a low quality version of Let's Start Here was leaked on the Internet under the unofficial name Sonic Ranch in December 2022, which lowered Lil Yachty's morale. Weeks later, his record label accidentally sent the album's preorders early to Amazon, aborting his plans to use various videos to introduce and contextualize the album.

Let's Start Here was mainly produced by Patrick Wimberly, with contributions from a variety of record producers such as Jacob Portrait, SadPony, Justin Raisen, Magdalena Bay, Jam City, Teo Halm, and Lil Yachty himself. The album is primarily psychedelic rock, psychedelic soul, and funk, a departure from Lil Yachty's signature trap sound. He was inspired to create an album that made people take him seriously as an artist. He was also inspired by a variety of musicians, including Pink Floyd and their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon, which many critics said Let's Start Here drew comparisons to. The lyrics of Let's Start Here explore themes of lust, ecstasy, overdose, and love. The album was primarily recorded at the CRC in Brooklyn, with additional recording sessions taking place at Blue Room Studios and Hit Gallery Studios in Atlanta, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, Mac DeMarco's Jizz Jazz Studios and the Tree House in Los Angeles.

Let's Start Here was promoted by the Field Trip Tour across North America and Europe and performances at Rolling Loud and on Saturday Night Live. It debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 and at number one on three different Billboard charts, earning 36,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. The use of an AI-generated photograph for the album's artwork was controversial and was criticized by fans. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics with some praising Lil Yachty's take on the psychedelic rock genre, but others believed it was repetitive and not experimental. It received praise from numerous high-profile musicians following its release. Several publications included it in their year-end lists.