Lil Yachty – Nuthin’ 2 Prove
Lil Yachty could have cruised on his famously bright personality but, as the maxim goes, a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. After taking a more aggressive tack on Lil Boat 2, the colorful Atlanta rapper adopts a more balanced approach with his third full-length album, Nuthin’ 2 Prove, amplifying his strengths. Through the project’s first half, he checks doubters (“Gimmie My Respect”) and flexes like a room of jealous bodybuilders (“Yacht Club,” “I’m the Mac”). Cardi B and Offset help turn “Who Want the Smoke?” into a sweaty locker-room chant, and on “SaintLaurentYSL,” Boat and Lil Baby recount their bumpy road to success over a minimal Earl the Pearll beat. With all the stress out of his system, Yachty turns his attention to carnal desires, letting loose his inner romantic through the album’s second half (marked by the return of the robotic Auto-Tune voice heard on earlier projects). “Worth It” may be his most thoughtful love song yet, commenting on how media perpetuates impossible body goals. Yachty loves you just the way you are.