He is known for his experimental sound—most notably the rage sound, unique choice of words, and unconventional fashion sense featuring a mix of designer brands and balaclavas.

[4][5] Yeat rose to prominence in mid-2021 following the release of his mixtape 4L and debut studio album Up 2 Me, with the tracks "Money So Big" and "Get Busy" from the latter gaining considerable popularity on TikTok.

[6] Noah Olivier Smith was born on February 26, 2000, in Irvine, California to a Romanian mother and an American father of British and Mexican descent.

Yeat spent his early childhood in Fullerton, California before he and his family moved to Portland, Oregon,[8] where he attended Lakeridge High School in the nearby town of Lake Oswego.

[9] After finishing high school, Yeat briefly moved to New York City before returning to the Greater Los Angeles area in pursuit of a music career.

[10] On June 30, 2018, Yeat made his first public appearance under his current moniker, premiering a track called "Brink" on Elevator, a YouTube channel.

[14][15] Writing for Pitchfork, Mano Sundaresan commented "Cutting his teeth in the influential online rap collective Slayworld over the last few years, Yeat was always a little stranger than his peers, and consequently cast as a minor figure.

[14] Also in August, a snippet of his song "Get Busy" went viral online, attracting considerable media and fan attention upon its release.

[17] On September 10, Yeat released his debut studio album Up 2 Me through an initial one-album deal with Interscope Records and Foundation Media.

[29] After its release, the song became associated with "GentleMinions", a meme involving people who would dress in formal attire and attend screenings of the film while it was playing in movie theatres during the summer of 2022.

[36] On May 3, Yeat released the single "Already Rich"; the song, often referred to by the unofficial name "ard up", was originally leaked in 2021 and saw minor success on social media apps such as TikTok.

[38] On August 10, Yeat released the single "Bigger Then Everything" alongside a music video directed by Cole Bennett.

[41] On February 16, 2024, Yeat released his fourth studio album, 2093, with features from Lil Wayne and Future, and a guest appearance from Donald Glover on "Power Trip".

[citation needed] In April 2024, Yeat confirmed via an Instagram story that two more studio albums following 2093 are to come out, titled Lyfestyle and A Dangerous Lyfe, respectively.