If you’re a big fan of what’s played on Virgin Radio or LIL YACHTY’s early records, then I can see how this new collab record he put out with JAMES BLAKE would rub you the wrong way. But as someone who revels in experimental sounds and loved nothing more than to witness artists try something out of left field, Bad Cameo is one of my favorite releases of the year. It’s the perfect follow up to Let’s Start Here. It’s spacey and dreamy; it feels like something Major Tom would be listening to as he accepts his fate. So if you want to mosh at a rap show, this isn’t gonna be the record to do that to. This is a record to listen to with a couple grams of psychotropic fungi in your system.
This record seems to play through a variety of electronic eras, with gentle hints of Kraftwerk, Portishead-esque tripping beats, whispers of Radiohead melodies, and glimpses of Sigur Ros’s expansive soundscapes. But it’s all coming through a watery psychedelic haze, and the record almost plays like one long song from start to finish, the sonic lines blurred between tracks. James Blake’s vocals are heavenly the way a glorious alien descending in light and fire from the clouds to blind crowds of awestruck humans is. That is, his voice is both classically beautiful and weird, an amazing combination. And Lil Yachty’s signature trilling and warbling paired with Blake bring an android vibe to these songs, and suddenly I’m 6 years old again imagining myself in Flight of the Navigator, abducted by aliens who just want to show me the majesty of our planet and this music.
Bad Cameo came out June 28th, via Quality Control Music, Motown, and Republic Records — stream it here.
