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Lil Yachty Showcased His New Psych-Rock Sound During His SNL Debut

Lil Yachty performed "the BLACK seminole.” and “drive ME crazy!” from his 2023 psychedelic-rock album,  Let's Start Here.

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Watch Saturday Night Live  Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on  NBC and next day on  Peacock .  

Saturday Night Live  returned from its two-week hiatus with a stacked lineup:  Host Quinta Brunson  and musical guest Lil Yachty. 

Lil Yachty made his  SNL  debut  by showcasing his new psychedelic-rock sound that the Artist has embraced in recent years. He performed two songs from his album,  Let’s Start Here,  during the April 1  SNL  episode ,  kicking off the night with  " the BLACK seminole.” and closing it off with “drive ME crazy!.”

On stage, he was joined by a full band and guest vocalist Diana Gordon. The Act served as the perfect complement to Brunson's hilarious lineup of sketches , making for an all-around entertaining night.

Watch Lil Yachty's mind-boggling  SNL  performances , below! 

Lil Yachty and Diana Gordon perform "the BLACK seminole."

Lil Yachty transformed Studio 8H into a dreamy desert night spent under the stars for his jaw-dropping cover of "the BLACK seminole." Lil Yachty introduced a reverb to his vocals that created a delightfully kaleidoscopic effect, with the band's accompanying riffs and electric guitar solos elevating the track's energy. Gordon's vocals were a haunting highlight of the performance. 

Lil Yachty and Diana Gordon perform "drive ME crazy!" 

While "the BLACK seminole." is haunting and mesmerizingly twisted, Lil Yachty's "drive ME crazy!" served as more light-hearted fanfare to end the night. With projections of sunny days and joyful skies, Gordon's vocals led the way for  Lil Yachty's latest love ballad . 

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‘SNL’: Watch Lil Yachty Perform ‘the BLACK seminole.,’ ‘drive ME crazy!’

By William Vaillancourt

William Vaillancourt

Lil Yachty opened his Saturday Night Live musical guest debut with “the BLACK seminole.,” the first track off of the album Let’s Start Here , which came out in January.

Yachty’s performance featured singer-songwriter Diana Gordon, and the pair–along with a full band–appeared on stage in what resembled a nighttime Florida swamp.

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Yachty’s second performance of the night–also with Gordon–was of “drive ME crazy!” from the same album.

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Lil Yachty Performs ‘the BLACK seminole.’ & ‘drive ME crazy!’ With Diana Gordon in ‘SNL’ Debut: Watch

The rapper delivered tracks from his fifth album, "Let's Start Here."

By Mitchell Peters

Mitchell Peters

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Lil Yachty took viewers on a trip during Saturday Night Live on April 1.

For his musical guest debut on the iconic sketch comedy show, the 25-year-old rapper — who appeared on Billboard ‘s cover in March — performed a pair of tracks from his mind-bending psychedelic album, Let’s Start Here ., which dropped earlier this year.

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Yachty transformed the Studio 8H into a swamp-like atmosphere for his performances of “the BLACK seminole.” and “drive ME crazy!” The moody nighttime performances featured backing by singer-songwriter Diana Gordon and a full band.

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Let’s Start Here. , Yachty’s foray into the rock world, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard ’s Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums in early February. The set peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200.

“I did what I really wanted to do, which was create a body of work that reflected me ,” Yachty told Billboard of Let’s Start Here. “My idea was for this album to be a journey: Press play and fall into a void.”

Watch Lil Yachty’s SNL performances below. For those without cable, the broadcast streams on Peacock , which you can sign up for at the link here . Having a Peacock account also gives fans access to previous SNL episodes.

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Lil Yachty Makes His ‘SNL’ Debut With Two Stunning Performances

Lil Yachty has made his long-awaited musical debut on Saturday Night Live and performed a pair of songs from his latest album for the late-night show.

On Saturday (April 1), the 25-year-old rapper — alongside singer-songwriter Diana Gordon — performed the tracks “drive ME crazy!” and “the BLACK seminole”  — two songs off of his fifth studio album, Let’s Start Here  — during his visit to NBC’s famous 30 Rockefeller Plaza studio in New York.

In his performance for “the BLACK seminole,” Yachty dressed in a modest outfit while belting out the classic rock influenced tune into a pitch-correction microphone.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong, Mr. Man/ Your eyes are low/ And you’re walking with both hands on your head/ His response, he’s on a clean, clean high/ Both feet up on the ground/ But his head’s way, way, way in the sky,” Lil Yachty sang.

For his performance for “drive ME crazy!,” Lil Yachty returned to the stage alongside Gordon in an oversized Eskimo hat, a semi-loose long sleeve shirt and shorts. Gordon opened up the performance with a yodel-like vocal arrangement over the upbeat melody. Yachty then stepped up to the musical plate and sang his verse in a style reminiscent of the late Prince Be of P.M. Dawn.

Check out both performances below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYdE4HAsXpI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrF32zOszgg

According to Stereogum , Diana Gordon played a contributing role to the vocal sessions during the recording of the album.

It was first announced that Lil Boat would be performing on the legendary late-night sketch show  earlier this month, with  Abbott Elementary creator and Emmy winner Quinta Brunson handling hosting duties.

With his SNL  performance and previous interviews and social media messages , Yachty has made it a point to prove his naysayers wrong. His latest album, Let’s Start Here , marked a drastic sonic shift for the “Minnesota” hitmaker, swapping his signature trap sound for a more ambitious, psychedelic rock experiment.

In a 3.4-rated review of the album , HipHopDX’s Rebecca Barglowski said the album “is desperate to exalt the rapper from the categorization of Hip Hop as it once confined him.”

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March 20, 2023

She continued: “The truth is that as ‘groundbreaking’ as Yachty continues to say this album is, such a sentiment also ignores rap’s present affinity for transformation – for breaking and bending itself to redefine that which it can be. In 2023, Yachty is not the first person to take a stylistic turn into left field.”

“But, it sounds good, and that’s the most important thing – allowing Yachty to dabble in a fresh palette of songs that he’s hinted at, encouraging him to take the risk that predated this release.”

At a listening party for the project in New York City in January shortly before its release, Yachty spoke about his desire to be taken seriously as an artist  and wanting to move away from having the “mumble rapper” tag attached to his artistry.

“This album is so special and dear to me,” he said. “I think I created it just because I really wanted to be taken serious as an artist, you know? Not just some SoundCloud rapper, not some mumble rapper, not some guy that just made one hit.”

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Watch Lil Yachty Perform “The Black Seminole.” and “Drive Me Crazy!” on SNL

Lil Yachty was the musical guest on the April 1 episode of Saturday Night Live . For his debut appearance on SNL , he performed the songs “The Black Seminole.” and “Drive Me Crazy!” from his new album, Let’s Start Here. Singer-songwriter Diana Gordon and a full band supported Yachty on the SNL stage. (Gordon also appears on the studio versions of the tracks.) Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson hosted last night’s episode. Watch Lil Yachty’s pair of performances below.

Released in January, Let’s Start Here. finds Lil Yachty pivoting from his usual rap sound to explore psychedelic rock. The album includes production work from Chairlift’s Patrick Wimberly and Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Jacob Portrait, as well as songwriting credits by Mac DeMarco, Alex G, Tory Lanez, and more.

Last year, Lil Yachty uploaded the song “ Poland ” on SoundCloud. After it quickly went viral , the song got an official release and a Cole Bennett–directed music.

Listen to the Pitchfork Review podcast episode about Lil Yachty .

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