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Aug 1, 2017The back half is full of heartbreak, happiness, and all things teenage life over some really good instrumentals varying from trap to reggae to ballads. It has arc. It has feeling. But for some reason, Yachty thought that bragging about himself, calling out haters, and trying to prove that he can rap (he shouldn’t so much) was more important than creating something focused and sincere.
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Jun 6, 2017Yes, he’s weird and he knows it. He’s wildly successful because of it rather than in spite of it. Teenage Emotions doesn’t have a defined aesthetic and feels like Yachty is still experimenting, and his refusal to rely on formulas is commendable for a 19-year-old overnight sensation.
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Jun 6, 2017The album's 70-minute length allows enough space for a bounty of mostly nondescript trap productions that support these simplistic boasts. In these tracks, Yachty sounds like he's going through a phase more than refining his individualism.
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Jun 2, 2017As is, Teenage Emotions reads more like that freshman-year college paper you really wish you’d just deleted off your hard drive.
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Jun 2, 2017He is at his most interesting on the few occasions where he slips into a sort of uncanny valley of pop music--a bizarro fantasia that he arrives at honestly, like a less satirical PC Music.
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Jun 1, 2017For the majority of the 20 tracks, each has a different producer and no two songs sound alike. This both helps and hinders the listening experience. On one hand, the scattered sounds align perfectly with the overarching idea of wildly varying teenage emotions, but on the other, it’s hard to attentively listen to all the way through--especially with a whopping 21 songs.
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Jun 1, 2017The moments when his music really comes alive with joy are the best on Teenage Emotions, and they’re often the less rap-oriented moments.
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May 30, 2017At over an hour in length, Teenage Emotions is more quantity than quality.
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May 30, 2017It’s a confusing but enjoyable record that sidesteps the rap hand-wringing and telegraphed weirdness of the drama surrounding Yachty.
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May 30, 2017Its best moments are closer to pop-punk and synth-pop than anything resembling traditional hip-hop.
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May 30, 2017It’s a graphic exemplar of the contemporary Atlanta sound: stark backing, nagging hook and staccato wordplay, as distinct from the lyricism that traditionalists hold dear.
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May 26, 2017Like fellow pop-rappers Rae Sremmurd, Yachty will often use a single melody for the verse and chorus, thus creating a new, disturbing kind of catchiness, a hook that digs into your cortex with such purchase that at least one part of your subconscious is singing it at all times. His freewheeling scansion, meanwhile, stops it being monolithic or boring.
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May 26, 2017Lil Yachty the pop star shines on Teenage Emotions, and the wide range of styles with which he delivers his message of youthful exuberance shows a growing artist. ... Filler tracks such as “Dirty Mouth” and “Moments in Time” derail the parade of energy Teenage Emotions delivers, leaving the record with too many skip-worthy moments.
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May 26, 2017Though far too long and sometimes aimless, Teenage Emotions is the mind of a child star blown-up and on exhibition at the epicenter of modern rap. It’s there to be gawked at and appreciated, and then maybe enjoyed.
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May 26, 2017Yachty's organic, warts-and-all delivery--when being a perv, when pining for a girl, even singing a song for his mom--makes his music feel simply more naked and human, even with that layer of Auto-Tune.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 30 out of 111
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Mixed: 20 out of 111
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Negative: 61 out of 111
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Jun 2, 2017
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Jun 6, 2017
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May 29, 2017