“Afterlyfe” – Yeat
The follow-up to his 2022 album “Lyfe” shows his style may need a switch-up.
By Rogan Isbell
Many people who have heard of Yeat thought he was a joke rapper or a meme when they first listened to him. It’s not impossible to see why one might think that when you look at the formatting of the song titles, the way he makes up terms like “twizzy” in his music, and the fact he made a song for the latest “Minions” movie that was released last July.
However, the Portland, Oregon rapper is back with a new album and has made a name for himself in the lane of rage trap Playboi Carti heavily inspired. Since blowing up in 2021, Yeat’s continued to expand his fanbase by working with notable artists like Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert and is set to start his first headlining tour in March.
There aren’t many big-name features on “Afterlyfe” though. There are features from “Luh Geeky” and “Kranky Kranky,” but those are just alter egos of his a la Eminem’s Slim Shady. The only other artist on here besides a variation of Yeat is Youngboy Never Broke Again on the second song, “Shmunk.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell you much about that song even after listening twice. A lot of these songs sound very similar to each other, and Yeat’s performances are not nearly as energetic or memorable as previous efforts. Whether you love or hate his style, I feel like its uniqueness had to at least be admired, while on “Afterlyfe” a lot of that is gone, and he just sounds like he’s phoning it in for a check.
The production is also not very remarkable. Most of the songs feature a similar pattern of some kind of synth and 808s that are so loud they take over the track. Yeat has the budget to have more varied and better-mixed production, so the fact it sounds so amateurish is annoying.
Another problem with this album is the 22-song, 67-minute length. In the era of short Tik Toks and attention spans dwindling daily, it’s not only a poor business decision to make long albums most people won’t listen to in full, but also the sound of someone like Yeat gets stale over that time. I like his music in bursts, but there’s not enough in terms of either a concept or substance to keep me engaged for that long.
I don’t mean to sound like a hater, as I like some of the Yeat songs. But most artists do not need to drop albums with over twenty songs on them every single year. And with that many songs, there are bound to be a few good ones.
“Nun id change” is a really interesting song that features rapping over a calmer, house-inspired instrumental. A few songs like “Slamm” and “Split” feature the signature Yeat energy present on some of his more well-known songs like “Money So Big” and “Sorry Bout That.” The final song, “Myself,” even features some rare moments of introspectiveness and reflection on the negative consequences of drugs and drinking.
There’s not much more I can say about this. Yeat knows what his huge fans like and is catering to them, and I can’t exactly be mad at that. But for the rest of us, it’s always a little disappointing seeing someone put forward a record with almost zero forward-thinking or interesting ideas.
Unless you’re a huge Yeat fan or have an hour to kill, I would recommend just listening to the highlights. Yeat may have named his newest albums “Lyfe” and “Afterlyfe,” but it’s evident his career needs some “Lyfe” of its own invigorated into it.