Lil Yachty and Despot have shared their first collaboration, “Rain.” The new track finds the Georgia-born, Poland-approved Yachty trading contemplative verses with his newfound New York-born, New York-approved rhyming partner over an extremely Life of Pablo beat by sadpony, who — as Stereogum notes — has also lent his services to Drake, 6ix9ine, and Nicki Minaj, and is the brother of prolific pop producer Justin Raisen. Raisen and sadpony both contributed heavily to Yachty’s most recent album, Let’s Start Here, with the latter brother credited on every track.
While Yachty’s recent tracks have suggested a return to the carefree raps he hinted at abandoning in interviews surrounding Let’s Start Here’s January release, “Rain” is something a bit different — aligning with neither the psych-rock experiments of that project or the quixotic anthems that made him famous. On the new track, Yachty and Despot sound jarringly incongruous at times. But in other moments, the collab works. Everyone’s got their own opinions on Yachty’s genre diversions (mine are mixed), but at least he’s keeping things interesting.
