Album Review - Yeat: 2093
2093 is Yeat's most creatively polarizing album to date.
STRONG 6/10
The first time I had ever heard a song by Yeat was just as idiosyncratic of an experience as the artist’s music itself has grown to become. Prior to 2 Alivë (2022), songs were leaking left and right and I caught a whiff of “Dub,” one of the more prominent unreleased cuts due to its promotion and virality on TikTok. Many leaked songs become cult classics that never see the streaming light of day because of label complications or out of spite from the artist who did not get to release their music on their terms, but this is where Yeat is set apart from his hip-hop peers. Unlike Playboi Carti’s “Pissy Pamper” or Drake and Lil Uzi Vert’s “Pearly Gates,” Yeat proceeded to place “Dub” on his first major-distribution album, the aforementioned 2 Alivë, effectively leveraging the hype. While it is hard to describe Yeat as a celebrity or even a public figure because of how much he cloaks himself with enigma, he has had a clear gameplan since breaking through into underground hip-hop and now the mainstream. Yeat went from what seemed to be a niche TikTok fad to becoming a genuine tastemaker for the genre’s leaders like Drake and Lil Uzi Vert. The easiest analogy would be to compare Yeat’s trajectory to Carti’s, as Yeat’s consistent partnership with producer BNYX has advanced “rage” hip-hop in a manner that is comparable to what Carti and Pierre Bourne did for cloud-rap. Ironically enough, Carti’s Whole Lotta Red (2020) arguably pioneered rage rap and now instead of extending an existing sub-genre of the ever-expanding field of hip-hop, Yeat is trying his own hand at paving a somewhat unprecedented stylistic lane with 2093.
Yeat’s uncompromising style would challenge any first-time listener to come to grips with what they thought traditional hip-hop was. I have been listening to Yeat on a consistent basis for 2 years now, so I thought I knew what I could expect coming into 2093: some bass-heavy and distorted BNYX production, massive beat-drops and Yeat’s quirky song titles. This predisposition was only aided by the fact that when Yeat collaborates with an artist, they conform to his style and not the other way around. This was evident in how Yeat brought along BNYX for Drake’s “IDGAF” from 2023, as well as Lil Uzi Vert’s “Flawlëss” feature on 2022’s Lyfë. But nothing could have prepared me for the cohesively executed vision that is the sonic aesthetic of 2093.
The best way to describe 2093 is as industrial hip-hop. “ILUV” fill its nooks and crannies with what sounds like if sentient robots got a hold of Pro Tools and Yeat sounds like a resuscitated cyborg with the electricity that flies all over “Morë.” I am also highlighting these two songs because they show how hands-on Yeat has become with the creative curation and overall production of his music; he has producer credits on both tracks, among others. Yeat was surely more preoccupied with the minutia of 2093, but he still made time to enforce a few ‘Yeatisms.’ Instead of “tonkas” and “twizzies,” the artist has matured into an obsession over being a CEO, as well as honing the extraterrestrial ambience that the album’s promotional material tried to get at.
The marketing lead-up to 2093 also showcased the cinematic approach to the album that Yeat is taking. Though I would not call it a concept album because the most consistent attribute of the release is how much Yeat refuses to be sonically boxed in. “1093” and “Bought The Earth” are so instrumentally dense in how they draw listeners in that it was almost disappointing to hear Yeat’s vocals when they eventually entered the room. A catch-22 of 2093 is that the production is so technically advanced that Yeat’s simplistic deliveries can be detrimental to the listening experience. This is not for a lack of trying on Yeat’s part though, the rapper attempts to be more substantive than ever before with his deadpan lyricism about his relentless work ethic on “Shade” and his detached, but self-aware, emotionless on “If We Being Rëal”. The intricate construction of his songs also incorporates how he can use his own voice as an instrument or to harmonize alongside his bars. This is most evident on tracks like the fatalistic opener of “Psycho CEO,” as well as how he backs his own bouncy vocals on “Riot & Set it off.”
Regardless of how Yeat tries to innovate, many of his influences are worn on his sleeve for better or for worse throughout 2093. Kanye West clearly has a major impact on the album’s production style with Yeezus (2013) and 808s and Heartbreaks (2008) both being the most significant points of reference. “Shade”’s bouncy and robotic 808s are a clear example of the latter, while the way that bass is used throughout the LP is highly reminiscent of how boosted Yeezus’ production was. Even some The Life Of Pablo (2016) comes through on the namesake track “2093,” which has an instrumental that sounds like a borderline rip of West’s “Fade” percussion. These creative diversions occasionally feel shoehorned because of Yeat’s reluctance to mold himself to the beats, but the ambition is respectable.
While 2093 scarcely features any other artists, those who do appear on the album do not buy into the energy that Yeat is trying to convey. The updated tracklist features a new song with Drake titled “As We Speak,” and even though the production sets up for a momentous occasion, Drake fails to project the raw fun he seemed to have on the collaboration that the duo have on For All The Dogs (2023). Future provides one of the longest features I have ever heard him deliver on “Stand On It,” but the mixing feels off-kilter when the Atlanta rapper comes in, to the extent that he sounds considerably muted compared to Yeat. And Lil Wayne provides one of his lower caliber features on “Lifestylë,” where clever wordplay is intermixed with a directly analogous sequence playing on the word “time” that he used on J.I.D.’s “Just In Time.” Wayne also sounds absolutely awkward and out of place on the overwhelming production that Yeat utilizes, whereas Wayne usually prefers to do more heavy-lifting on a track than the instrumental that backs him.
Yeat manages to capture a dystopian aesthetic in a bottle, but the bloated tracklist causes his novel sound to sometimes lose its charm. Yeat is clearly at his best when he has full creative control, but it becomes evident that he can struggle to maintain a balance between doing too much or too little on beats that are consistently demanding his A-game.