On a bassy tsunami of layered vocals and raging beats, Portland MC/producer
Yeat used 2021 to morph into one of the hottest rappers in the country. In 2022 he continues to barrel through the genre with his second studio album,
2 Alivë. The staples of the rapper's rise are all here -- the slurry of overlapping bars, the weighty contrasting basslines, and enough "Tonka" to give an artisanal bakery a run for its money -- but
2 Alivë attempts to justify its quick release by showing an equally rapid artistic growth.
Indeed, when looking back just a year, the difference in identity is stark. While 4L tracks like "Sorry Bout That" and "Livë Hi" sound just as forward-thinking in 2022, many of the album's deeper cuts are still products of an artist finding his style; on
2 Alivë,
Yeat operates like a well-oiled machine, folding melodies, yelps, and basses into inventive pockets in his anthems. This confidence is matched by some early steps into new avenues: a more varied approach to melody arrives on "Dnt Lie," "Call Më" makes for a unique shift toward R&B-like sentiment, and project standout "Doublë" proves his hardest-hitting anthem to date.
2 Alivë is a playlist-like snapshot of
Yeat's growth -- a transient listen, but a fun one, too. ~ David Crone