Aaron Alleyne-Wake

(Updated review, with a higher score now) I'm a big NF fan; I've been hooked on his music ever since listening to 'Let You Down' and then subsequently listened to his back catalogue as well as any new releases that have come along the way. On first listen to 'Hope', I'm going to lie, I was underwhelmed. Despite NF claiming in the title track that he would "give the people somethin' different' the album didn't seem to bring anything drastically new to the table and I also felt he had lost his edge as well as making an album that was a bit more 'pop' than I was expecting. However, over the last few days I've listened to the album a few more times and listening deeper in to the lyrics, it's clear NF has brought something different, I still don't think it's his BEST work it's clear he has grown as a person and as an artist. I love the way how some of the tracks seem to be much more positive follow ups to previous work. For example, 'Mama', feels like a brighter follow up to the heart-wrenching 'How Could You Leave Us', whilst Bullet feels like a more positive follow up to 'Time'. Then you have 'Running' which feels like a brighter follow up to 'Trauma', which is kinda fitting as 'Trauma' was the last track on 'The Search' and 'Running' is the last track 'Hope'. "Hope' itself feels like the flipside to 'The Search' and even references it if you watch the music video as you see NF holding a map to Hope, something he looking for in 'The Search'. I still maintain 'Gone' is a forgettable track and the clear weak link in the album if you ask me, and I can kinda take or leave 'Careful'. Sure, it's got a good beat and NF's delivery is strong, but it's a little braggy at points. The same can be said to 'Pandemonium' but I love the beat on that so it makes up for it. I also love the A Capella outro on 'Suffice' as well, they really set the track on fire. Happy and Mistake are songs that I'm not crazy on the backing track, but listen to the words and man, it's deep stuff that really resonates with me. I also love the way in which he seamlessly flows from singing to rapping in 'Mistake' as well - how many other rappers can do that? TL, DR - If you feel disappointed with the album, give it another listen, and focus more on the words and the story as opposed to the actual production. 4.5/5 (previous score was 3.5) I can't wait to see him in October!