Iann Dior has been a favorite artist of mine for a while now, and needless to say I was extremely excited for the drop of this album. I love the way he’s able to tell a story with his music and bring out the deeper emotions with the listener. Dating back to his last two projects ‘Industry Plant’ and ‘I’m Gone’, he’s touched on just about every emotion from heartbreak to more recently dealing with addiction and anxiety. In 2019 when he dropped the Industry Plant album it was a jab at the critics who thought he was just another SoundCloud rapper riding on the coat tails of the Trippie Redd and Lil Uzi’s of the world, and it ended up being a staple in his career solidifying his uniqueness. What struck me about that album was how he was able to strike a balance between being vulnerable and empowering after a breakup. All the tracks were focused on the emotions after a breakup, but the lyrics combined with the pop-punk melodies, turned these emotions into a positive experience. ‘Urself’ is one of these tracks that utters the lyrics “I’ve been by myself I think I’m better without you” and the hard-hitting chorus “You only care about yourself”.
Turn to 2020 when he dropped I’m Gone, and the 9 tracks centered around his transition to fame and the dark side of Hollywood. Songs like ‘Sickness’ and ‘Paradise’ were catchy and gave us an insight into the battle ground going on inside Dior’s head. With this new project, it almost seems like a combination of the two albums. He brings back the heartbreak from Industry Plant with the first track ‘is it you’, crooning about a girl, uttering the lyrics “You left me listening/You left me wondering”. Also, he incorporates themes of loneliness from ‘I’m Gone’ in tracks like ‘thought it was’ with Machine Gun Kelly. However, the whole album isn’t centered solely around heartbreak, and includes songs such as ‘ V12’ with Lil Uzi Vert and ‘obvious’ with Travis Barker that bring energy to the album. Overall, I thought this was definitely a step in the right direction for Dior and I love the wide variety of genres that he can cover, from rap to alternative music. There’s something for everyone on the album and all you music fans should absolutely give the album a listen, as you may be surprised and find a song or two that you love.