Jason Maulella

Not what I was expecting... I've been an NF fan since Mansion and I felt like a kid on Christmas when this dropped, I was EXTREMELY excited to listen to it. My ears were desperately craving more novelty from NF. First, I thought the production value was pretty clever. Pretty much all his other albums have a darkened, cinematic approach with strings and piano. To switch up his style, to represent more of healing, the beats and production here were more vocalistic and that I vibed with. But the thing that Im critical about is his rhyme schemes. I feel like NF is attempting to stand out with his rhyming, but some of it just feels off and that happens the most in this album specifically. Also, I get it, but the bragging here is just off the charts. Nearly like half of the album (LET EM PRAY, SUFFICE, PANDEMONIUM, TURN MY BACK) here is based around how amazing of a rapper he is. Yes I get it, he is a great rapper, but in my opinion the music starts to lose substance when that's all he's rapping about. And he's beginning to rap about his wealth and I'm not sure if that's even in his personality as an artist. But then again I loved watching him grow and gain recognition throughout all these years. I've watched hundreds of reaction videos and still love the guy. He deserves the recognition and even more of it, but this project just didn't hit for me. What's most important is the genuineness of the journey and the healing process. NF is human after all and if he is doing better mentally then that's what truly matters and I'm happy for him 🙌