Since he exploded from the underground in 2021, the enigmatic rap phenomenon known as Yeat has succeeded on his own terms while keeping his personal life a mystery to his cult fanbase. But in a rare sit-down interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, the rapper born Noah Olivier Smith opened up. “I was always wearing the shiesty, I didn’t do interviews, I didn’t talk to people,” he says. “I wasn’t even trying to be mysterious. I’d rather let the music speak for itself before someone else gets an idea of me that paints a picture in their head that’s not true.” But with his sixth album, the long-teased double-disc ADL (A Dangerous Lyfe/A Dangerous Love), that’s about to change. “I feel like now is that time where I’m coming out of that stage—where I’m presenting me,” he says. “I feel like now would be the time to fully let everyone know who’s been a part of the journey, and who’s yet to be a part of the journey—to see why we’re here.” ADL marks a turning point for the 26-year-old musician, whose massive vault of songs were mostly made in one take. “I used to think it was wrong to go back in on a song,” he says. “It’s always just been, like—I make it, delete it, done. Next song, next album.” But on the two-years-in-the-making ADL, he slowed down and took the time to fine-tune his creations. “This is the first time I really sat down and was like, take a song from two years ago, work on that, take this, take that—just put a lot more work and effort into what I’m doing.” The result is the most personal project of Yeat’s sprawling catalogue, though naturally his thoughts are filtered through his signature idiosyncrasies. Songs like “Back Home” and “Up from Here” are especially candid: “I was at rock bottom,” he sings on the latter. “Watch it go up in flames/Turn another page.” Lyrics about being marooned “on a crashout island” nod to the rapper’s recent physical and mental transformation. While making ADL, he cut back on drugs significantly and started prioritising his health. “Why am I even doing this?” Yeat recalled thinking of his increasing Percocet habit. Now, he says, “Health is wealth to me. Because if I’m not taking care of myself, I can’t take care of anyone else.” On ADL, the notoriously solitary musician welcomed in a staggering and often unexpected roster of guests. On “Face the Flamë”, he’s joined by YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Grimes, the latter of whom he’s been a fan of since hearing her 2012 song “Oblivion”. Kid Cudi adds a verse to “NO MORE GHOSTS”, the album’s emotional centrepiece. “I feel like Cudi was the perfect person to put on that,” he says. “Not even just sonically, but spiritually, ideologically.” A rare feature from King Kylie, the musical alter ego of Kylie Jenner, appears on “Let King Tonka Talk”. And on “Lose Control”, Yeat scores a sample of “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” by Elton John, whom he met at Coachella. Still, it takes more than legend status to merit a collaboration. “I don’t care about any names or anything like that,” Yeat says. “It has to be something I genuinely care about, and I have to fuck with that person as well for that to be even possible.” Inspired by the early songs of Drake, Kanye West and 50 Cent, Yeat wanted the songs on ADL to speak to his real life. “I feel like that’s the type of shit that’s missing from music nowadays,” he says. “I feel like when you open up and you’re a little bit more vulnerable, people just feel that authenticity, and it just goes so much further than just saying some bullshit.” But ultimately, Yeat’s songs are created for an audience of one: “I make music for myself. I go in the car, what do I listen to? 99 per cent of the time, I listen to my unreleased songs.”