Lil Yachty flirts with harsh noise on “Something Ether”

Lil Yachty has dropped a new song called “Something Ether.” Released as the title track of an EP along with five of the other loosies he’s shared and repackaged in the year since the arrival of Let’s Start Here. (his polarizing foray away from hip-hop and into psych rock), it draws clear inspiration from the rage raps of Uzi, Carti, Ken Carson, and, to a lesser extent, Yeat.

The production for “Something Ether,” though, is harsher and stranger than the beats those artists favor. Helmed by Cardo — who, as Stereogum notes, generally makes much more conventional fare — the instrumental is a controlled collision of clipping trap drums and post-industrial synths, resulting in a sound closer to that of Kim Gordon’s newest singles than the recent output of Yachty’s more obvious peers.

Above this morass, Yachty is nimbly incoherent, communicating more with his grunts and growls than with his pinched, interchangeable bars. That type of delivery isn’t as revelatory today as it would’ve been a decade ago, but Yachty’s irrepressible quirks shine through nonetheless, elevating the song far above the merely competent cosplay he’s sometimes resorted to in the past when emulating unfamiliar styles. Given the consistently climbing quality and varied aesthetics of his post-LSH catalog, a Yachtessance may be quietly unfolding before our very eyes.

Yachty looks appropriately deranged in Little Miles and AMD Visuals’ “Something Ether” music video, shot under flickering fluorescent lights in extremely close quarters. Watch it above and stream the song on its own below.