Bad Cameo

Blake and Yachty were first connected by their mutual friend Cam Hicks. Yachty had previously messaged Blake via Instagram in 2020 to praise his album Assume Form; Blake said he never saw the message, though he did say he'd "been a fan of Yachty for years. And when I heard his last record [Let's Start Here], I was like, this is really a turn. Not many artists are brave enough to do something that’s kind of opposite of the last thing they did."{{Cite news |title=Habitual Line Steppers: The Lil Yachty & James Blake Complex Cover |url=https://www.complex.com/music/a/complex/lil-yachty-james-blake-complex-cover |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=Complex}}

A photo of Blake and Yachty together in a recording studio was posted in March 2023.{{Cite news |last=Britton |first=Luke Morgan |date=5 September 2023 |title=Life of the Party: James Blake |url=https://diymag.com/cover-feature/james-blake-playing-robots-into-heaven-september-cover-feature |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=DIY}} In July, Blake hosted a series of DJ concerts called CMYK; Yachty appeared at one show, and Blake debuted a song with Yachty at another. The CMYK series was later expanded to CMYK Group, including the concerts, a production house, and a record label, with Bad Cameo being one of CMYK Group's first projects.{{Cite news |last=LeJarde |first=Arielle Lana |date=February 16, 2024 |title=James Blake expands CMYK project, teases new album with Lil Yachty |url=https://ra.co/news/80277 |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=Resident Advisor}}

Yachty first teased the album on February 13, 2024, with a video he posted to Instagram where he said "I think James has worked with a quite substantial amount of hip hop artists. But this project is so left for both of us. Then, aside from the one picture that James posted, which he doesn't have many followers actually, I don't think people know that we know each other exist. So they're just going to be like 'What the f*ck? When did they do this?'"{{Cite news |last=Chelosky |first=Danielle |date=February 13, 2024 |title=Lil Yachty & James Blake Ready Collaborative Album Bad Cameo |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2251749/lil-yachty-james-blake-ready-collaborative-album-bad-cameo/news/ |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=Stereogum}}{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Elaina |date=June 6, 2024 |title=Lil Yachty and James Blake Officially Announce Bad Cameo Collab Album |url=https://hypebeast.com/2024/6/lil-yachty-james-blake-bad-cameo-album-announcement-release-info |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=Hypebeast}}

When deciding on what kind of music the duo wanted to make, Yachty told Blake that he'd worked on enough hip hop music in his career and that Yachty wanted them to work on something completely different. Blake responded by showing Yachty some ambient music he'd been working on around the same time as his 2023 album Playing Robots into Heaven, and Yachty played his own music which matched the mood of Blake's.{{Cite news |last=Marie |first=Erika |date=June 25, 2024 |title=Lil Yachty & James Blake Talk Joint Album Bad Cameo with Zane Lowe |url=https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/819573-lil-yachty-james-blake-bad-cameo |access-date=June 26, 2024 |work=HotNewHipHop}}

Bad Cameo was announced on June 6 with its release date set for June 28 by Quality Control Music, Motown, and Republic Records.{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Abby |date=June 6, 2024 |title=James Blake & Lil Yachty's Collab Album Bad Cameo Gets Release Date |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2266823/james-blake-lil-yachtys-collab-album-bad-cameo-gets-release-date/news/ |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=Stereogum}}{{Cite news |last=LaPierre |first=Megan |date=June 6, 2024 |title=Lil Yachty and James Blake Announce Collaborative Album Bad Cameo |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/lil-yachty-and-james-blake-announce-collaborative-album-bad-cameo |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=Exclaim!}} The duo also released the album's cover art, an overhead photo of a table showing Blake's hand next to a cup of tea and Yachty's next to a cup of lean.

In a joint interview with Complex, the album was described as ambient and a merger of "Yachty's ear for unexpected melodies with Blake's soulful tone and sharp production skills."{{Cite news |last=Sacher |first=Andrew |date=June 6, 2024 |title=Lil Yachty & James Blake set release date for collab album Bad Cameo |url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/lil-yachty-james-blake-set-release-date-for-collab-album-bad-cameo/ |access-date=June 6, 2024 |work=BrooklynVegan}}

{{Music ratings

| title = Bad Cameo ratings

| ADM =

| MC = 75/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/bad-cameo/james-blake-lil-yachty|title=Bad Cameo by James Blake & Lil Yachty Reviews and Tracks|website=Metacritic|access-date=9 July 2024}}

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bad-cameo-mw0004318989|title=Bad Cameo - James Blake, Lil Yachty|last=Thomas|first=Fred|work=AllMusic|date=28 June 2024|access-date=9 July 2024}}

| rev2 = Clash

| rev2score = 8/10{{Cite news |last=Murray |first=Robin |date=June 27, 2024 |title=Lil Yachty, James Blake – Bad Cameo |url=https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/lil-yachty-james-blake-bad-cameo/ |access-date=June 28, 2024 |work=Clash}}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{Cite news |last=Ravens |first=Chal |date=June 28, 2024 |title=Lil Yachty and James Blake: Bad Cameo review – a swing and a miss from the shapeshifting duo |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/28/lil-yachty-and-james-blake-bad-cameo-review-a-swing-and-a-miss-from-the-shapeshifting-duo |access-date=June 28, 2024 |work=The Guardian}}

| rev4 = The Line of Best Fit

| rev4score = 8/10{{Cite news |last=Mills |first=Joshua |date=June 28, 2024 |title=James Blake and Lil Yachty dovetail on Bad Cameo |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/james-blake-lil-yachty-bad-cameo-dovetail |access-date=June 28, 2024 |work=The Line of Best Fit}}

| rev5 = Pitchfork

| rev5score = 6.4/10{{Cite news |last=Hyland |first=Samuel |date=July 1, 2024 |title=Lil Yachty / James Blake: Bad Cameo Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/lil-yachty-james-blake-bad-cameo/ |access-date=May 3, 2025 |work=Pitchfork}}

| rev6 =

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}}

{{MCalbum|Bad Cameo|positive|75|6}}

Clash{{'}}s Robin Murray wrote that Bad Cameo "doesn't quite have the 'what the fuck' aspects promised by Lil Yachty in a recent interview, but it does prove to have some extremely understated moments of impressive creativity." He also said that the album "proves that the Venn diagram between the English artist [James Blake] and his hip-hop counterpart [Lil Yachty] is an entirely natural, and deserved success." Joshua Mills of The Line of Best Fit praised the pair for providing "ideas in abundance, terrific variety, a little indulgence, and an end product that actually makes perfect sense". Chal Ravens was less positive in her review for The Guardian, writing that the album "sounds like it's got stuck in the planning stages, with handfuls of promising ideas stuffed awkwardly into ambient song shapes".

{{Track listing

| headline = Bad Cameo track listing

| all_writing = James Blake and Miles Parks McCollum with others noted; all tracks are produced by Blake and additionally produced by Yachty with others noted.

| extra_column = Producers

| total_length = 43:42

| title1 = Save the Savior

| writer1 = Dom Maker

| extra1 = Maker

| length1 = 4:05

| title2 = In Grey

| length2 = 6:10

| title3 = Midnight

| writer3 = {{hlist|Maker|Daniel Worrall Jacobs}}

| extra3 = Maker

| length3 = 4:59

| title4 = Woo

| writer4 = Maker

| extra4 = Maker

| length4 = 2:50

| title5 = Bad Cameo

| writer5 = {{hlist|Maker|Benjamin Saint Fort|Jeremiah Raisen}}

| extra5 = {{hlist|Maker|Bnyx{{efn|name=a|Additional producer}}|Sadpony{{efn|name=a}}}}

| length5 = 3:52

| title6 = Missing Man

| writer6 = Maker

| extra6 = Maker

| length6 = 3:57

| title7 = Twice

| writer7 = {{hlist|Maker|Jacobs}}

| extra7 = Maker

| length7 = 4:57

| title8 = Transport Me

| writer8 = {{hlist|Maker|Barrington Levy|Paul Love}}

| extra8 = Maker

| length8 = 4:56

| title9 = Run Away from the Rabbit

| writer9 = Maker

| extra9 = Maker

| length9 = 3:47

| title10 = Red Carpet

| length10 = 4:09

}}

Note

{{notelist}}

• James Blake – vocals, recording and mixing engineer
• Lil Yachty – vocals
• Joshua Smith – recording engineer
• Randy Merrill – mastering engineer
• Justine Skye – backing vocals (2)
• Monica Martin – backing vocals (3)

{{Reflist}}

{{James Blake}}

{{Lil Yachty}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2024 collaborative albums

Category:James Blake (musician) albums

Category:Lil Yachty albums

Category:Quality Control Music albums

Category:Motown albums

Category:Republic Records albums