Lil Yachty took the wock to “Poland” last fall. Today, January 25, he took us deep into his psyche with “Department Of Mental Tranquility,” a 100-second narrated skit meant to provide more context around his forthcoming album, Let’s Start Here.
“At the end of this hallway is the edge of oblivion,” Lil Yachty says to start the video as he is, yes, walking down a hallway. “The man you’re watching may not know yet. This moment will mark the first step on the journey of the rest of his life.”
Yachty arrives to a dingy place reminiscent of every Department Of Motor Vehicles (DMV). There are two sweaty, miserable-looking men. Yachty rings the bell at the desk labeled “DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL TRANQUILITY,” and a woman pops up to ask him if he knows what type of treatment he’d like to receive.
“The man arrives at the precipice,” Lil Yachty says, but now he’s wearing a suit and seated in the lobby. “He simply asked a question.” And then we back cut across the room to the original Yachty, still standing at the receptionist’s desk: “Uh, yeah. Is this where you sign up at?”
The receptionist interrupts him, “Fantastic. Let’s help you float, Mr. Boat.” She asks him a few existential questions, like if he’s ever wished to be someone else (“Daily”), how often he calls his mother, and if he’s sexually active. (The last question is particularly interesting because Yachty recently admitted he doesn’t have sex anymore.)
The video gets increasingly distressing before Yachty agrees to undergo treatment. He walks into an all-white room alone, and the video ends with the door shutting.
Yachty first announced Let’s Start Here on January 17:
Watch “Department Of Mental Tranquility” above.
Let’s Start Here is out 1/27 via Quality Control/Motown. Pre-order it here.
