Lil Boat 3 - Lil Yachty: Review
is an Atlanta trap rapper who first emerged in 2016 with his own very unique personality in his breakout Lil Boai The Mixtape. Since blowing up much of Yahcty's unique characteristics have been replaced with more conventional trapisms. Lil Boat 3 follows Yachty's critically panned 3rd studio album Nuthin To Prove in 2018.
Review By Lavender:
I have been pretty vocal in my insistence that Lil Boat The Mixtape is one of the most unique and charming stylistic interpretations of modern trap music and has continued to be a favorite for me. Since then it has been kind of a mixed bag culminating in his worst release yet the generic and underwritten Nuthin To Prove. Yachty took a long time off in the greater scheme of trap music before returning with this record which I had hoped would be another good one in the line of Lil Boat mixtapes, But while the record has good fundamentals it is way too long and very little of Yachty's charming and unique personality is left.
The 19 tracks across this album are a very mixed bag but generally the first half is better than the second half and the record gets off to a decent start. Top Down is the opening track and while the vocals aren't the best I've grown to like the song because Yachty's energy is infectious and he seems like he's having a lot of fun. Wock In Stock is another track that isn't perfect but is inherently pretty fun and has some kooky lyrics that make me laugh. It's really Yachty not taking himself too seriously over a bouncy trap beat and I like it. Split/Whole Time is a track I thought was decent as a single and it's one of the better songs here. I think the second half of the track is better than the first with his uptempo verses and slick delivery, given that this is the longest track on the entire record I'm actually pleased to kind of enjoy it.
T.D was one of the most hyped up songs on the record once the feature list emerged and honestly it doesn't disappoint. Firstly the record has a planky beat that is absolutely intoxicating and Yachty sets an exciting tone with his verse and everybody follows suit. A$AP Rocky delivers by far the best verse on the song but that's no surprise as he glides expertly over the beat and spits some clever bars in his always charming delivery. Tyler, The Creator is up next and he's great as well aside from one or two eye rolling lyrical moments he brings a pretty confrontational flow and I love when he picks up the speed of his bars right at the end. Tierra Whack is as charming and unique as ever on her fun and hilarious verse and even on top of it all Yachty comes back in to clean it up with a great closing verse. The last in the stretch of good tracks is Pardon Me. While Future's hook may be a little bit on the longer side the Mike Will beat is exciting and punchy which allows Yachty to bring that same energy to match it with an uptempo bouncy flow. Future's verse is a little bit silly especially with the whistling but it isn't terrible or anything and doesn't ruin the song.
These tracks aren't the only highlights here either. Lemon Head is a lot of fun and some of the softer auto-tuning moments remind me of early Yachty stuff which I like quite a bit. The track is backed by one of most fun and bubbly instrumentals and the result is just infectious. Westside may be my favorite song on the entire record starting with a beat that just goes hard as fuck. The lyrics are fun and charming throughout and the hook is slick and ear grabbing. Whew Chile is the last track with a breath of personality and fun in its assembly despite being too long for its own good it is one of the better track in the second half.
Just like seemingly every trap record these days there's a number of tracks here that aren't terrible but are so forgettable because they drown in so many trap cliches it is hard to even talk about them. Black Jesus, Can't Go, Don't Forget and Concrete Boys fill up the generic quota for this record. The features on the record don't really go over very well with the exception of the posse cut we already talked about. Demon Time is actually a decent song that sees Yachty trading off bars with an artist I'm not familiar with but the achilles heel of the song is that the featured artist is kind of terrible. He just sounds like Yachty with less charisma because he has less unique vocals and delivery and the result sounds like Yachty going toe to toe with another version of himself that isn't really trying at all. Oprah's Bank Account was the big single from this record and honestly it isn't a total disaster or anything. Drake is the highlight of the song by far but even he doesn't give one of his better performances. Everyone involved just seems like they are kind of phoning it in and the result is a flat song. Till The Morning would be amazing if you just took the Young Thug verse and got rid of everything before and after it. While Thugger is taking some well deserved shots at the police and the Yachty hook is decent everything else here is pretty underwhelming.
From Down Bad and Up There Music are the two songs that sound like they could have been on Nuthin To Prove as it is so clear almost no effort went into either of them. Love Jones has by far the worst hook on the record as Yachty basically riffs with no rhyme or reason to it for way too much of the song and the result it a total mess. Finally Range Rover Sports Truck is the biggest disappointment because the Pi'erre Bourne beat is one of my favorite on the record and Yachty's verses are genuinely a lot of fun. Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing redeeming about the terrible hook of the Lil Keed feature where he starts off bad and gets even worse as he and Yachty both try to rip off Carti's baby voice.
While Lil Boat 3 is better than either of Yachty's non Boat themes studio albums, it is the weakest of the trilogy that makes up the best moments in his discography. With a lack of true highlights and a tracklist that's way longer than it needed to be this is basically the archetypal trap record in 2020. Which is honestly quite a shame coming from an artist who was once outside the generic conventions in a way that was new and refreshing. 5.5/10
Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson: Since this is Lil Boat 3 i had to give myself some context and go back and look at Lil Boat 1 and 2. The recurring border and caption from Lil Boat 1 is something that I love. Think that it helps keep the idea that this is supposed to be a series and it's lost in the second installment. The high contrast imagery of this cover is amazing. It forces you to focus only on the important details. It fades to black and if the border wasn't present for continuity then I wish it was completely black and create a endless edge. The one thing I hate in this is the placement of the advisory. I should've been at the top middle of hidden in the edge of the border, it just brings to much focus to it when on the black and it doesn't need to be the focus. I think this as a series could've been done better. Why was Lil Boat 2 so disjointed from the rest? Judging this as a stand alone cover though, its cool but easily forgettable. The original Lil Boat stands as the best cover in this series. 6/10
For more trap check out my review of Gunn'a Wunna here
