Album Review: No Pressure by Logic

Logic announcing his retirement along with the announcement of his sixth and final album, No Pressure, threw his fans for a loop and certainly had me shed a single tear. The album has fifteen tracks and serves as a sequel to his album, Under Pressure which came out in 2014.

“And very happy I am to be back in the United States and back on the network, even for so short a visit as this one. Back with old friends like No I.D. who is tonight's director...” -  No Pressure Intro (Track 1)

One similarity between albums No Pressure, Under Pressure, and The Incredible True Story, is the appearance of the A.I. assistant, Thalia. Thalia serves as a virtual assistant who teaches listeners facts about the creation of the album and helps assist some characters in the album. Thalia appears in multiple songs in this album.

“Anime such as Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and Samurai Champloo, were in constant rotation during the making of this album.” - man i is (Track 8)

With this being the sequel to one of his previous albums, this album is bound to have some song sequels in it. One of them being “Soul Food II”. The first first song of the Soul Food series appeared in October of 2014 on the Under Pressure album. Logic uses this album to sum up and end the stories of his discography which is very prevalent in this song. The first half of the song is Logic discussing how he has grown and changed as a person since 2014.

“People scared of change, but you'll find me deep in the cushion. Even when I win, it feel like I'm losing.” - Soul Food II (Track 6)

The second half of the song eludes back to Logic’s 2015 album, The Incredible True Story. This album was about a future where the human race has been almost completely wiped out. It follows Thomas, Kai, and Thalia as they are tasked with finding a new home planet called Paradise. 

“The year was 2115 at Babel Space Station, was home to the very last of the human population. The captain name was Thomas, the infantry man was Kai, And he's the man that discovered the Ultra 85. Accompanied by a girl inside their ear, her name was Thalia, made of ones and zeros, she was a program. You could ask her any question even about the fall  of man.” - Soul Food II (Track 6)

Logic also discusses how he spends his time now that he is retired, married, and has a baby son in the song, “DadBod”. While Logic does not have a dad bod at all, he does rap about no longer acting like a child and living a much calmer life than described in previous albums. Logic also brings up his anxiety regarding being approached by fans.

“You want to hear about my everyday, I wake up, I wake my son up, then I feed him and lead him into his car seat. Drive up the street down to Target. Don't do hard drugs or beat my wife, but the paparazzi still wanna start stuff. I don't answer their questions, I leave 'em in the dark…” - DadBod (Track 9)

This album made me feel so many things. On track eleven, “Dark Place,” Logic explains why he is unhappy and has to retire from making music. He talks about mental health and how that it’s more important than putting out music. He goes over his insecurities and how people’s opinion of him has torn him down. Logic discusses that while ending a song with tons of punchlines is fun, it’s ok to be sad and tired. 

“Not black enough, not hood enough, not rich enough, not poor enough. My heart has poured enough. I been beaten and battered, my confidence shattered, been broken and tattered. I'm constantly second guessin' if my profession is worth it on my mental state.” - Dark Place (Track 11)

If there is one song you'll listen to after reading this, please make it the outro, “Obediently Yours," especially if you aren’t a rap fan. This song samples an episode of the “Orson Welles Commentaries,” which is about a black veteran, Issac Woodard Jr., who was beaten and blinded by a white police officer. This episode aired August 11, 1946. This sample discusses the responsibility of those with privileges for those without, defines race hate as a disease, and expresses an opinion on protests and riots. The title comes from Orson Welles explaining that with his fame and money, he must use it to help those who gave it to him in the first place, his fans. Welles says that he must serve those who give him the status he has and therefore he is “obediently yours”.

“It being generally agreed that any public man owes his position to the public. That's what I mean when I say I'm your obedient servant. We must, each day, earn what we own. A healthy man owes to the sick all that he can do for them. An educated man owes to the ignorant all that he can do for them. A free man owes to the world's slaves all that he can do for them.” - Obediently Yours (Track 15)