Head in the CLOUDS: A Look at NF’s Fifth Studio Album One Year Later

Graphic by Chloe Williams

By Adri Pray

After a three year hiatus in the music industry, Michigan rapper Nathan Feuerstein, known by his stage name, NF, released CLOUDS (THE MIXTAPE) early in 2021, a long anticipated album tackling self-doubt and loss.

NF’s fifth studio album promotes a different sound without losing authenticity—a feat few can pull off—while still remaining relevant to his fans. Listening a year later, fans are reminded of what makes NF a timeless rapper and how far he’s come with his sound since the start of his career.

Lead single “PAID MY DUES” dropped nearly two years prior to the rest of the project, and promised a alternate direction than the one of NF’s fourth studio album The Search. The Search consisted of themes surrounding his battle with imposter syndrome, but “PAID MY DUES” follows NF’s journey with confidence in the music industry and is seated as the last track on the album to leave the impression that this confidence is just beginning.

Title track, “CLOUDS,” was delivered to fans a less than a month before the album was released. The song further develops NF’s newfound confidence while rejecting the idea that he “won’t go Hollywood”—reassuring fans his success hasn’t inflated his ego. As the glue that holds the album together, it only made sense for NF to add a choir as he raps, a metaphor insinuating his fans hold his music, and therefore his career, together. This choir sound is featured on each track on the mixtape and thus proves an importance to NF because of the “audience participation.” “See my initial thought was to wait / But what can I say? I had to come visit / Check on you guys, you doin’ alright? / Your year really sucked? Yeah, that’s what I figured.” Crafty verses like these read as an apology for being away, but an award for the audience for waiting.

Hopsin joins NF on “LOST,” the final single before the album dropped, but the first with a feature. Reminiscent on NF’s signature sound, “LOST” resurrects the NF fans know; the issue of self-doubt mixed with tricky lyricism follows the trope of the artist while staying true to this new sound. As per his discography, NF and Hopsin echo the idea of soul searching in a very public industry, a theme that rings true even one year later, without a single explitive. “But I manifested this / Failing’s how you grow and learn your lessons, kids / Take the worst and try to make the best of it / ‘Cause when you fail, just know that it’s a test…” Hopsin mirrors this sentiment, but draws from his years of experience as someone that’s been in the industry for several years more. “Yeah, manifested this / Do not treat me like some adolescent kid / I am praying to the Lord with the Book of James / Hopin’ he gon’ add my testament.”

The fourth track, “STORY,” focuses on telling the story of a man that witnesses a robbery and subsequently a murder while stopping at a gas station. The music video is what makes this song terrific, as NF includes four key characters: the narrator, the narrator’s roommate, the roommate’s boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s friend. NF doesn’t play the narrator of the story, but the boyfriend’s friend, and ultimately the accomplice to robbery and accessory to murder. 

The track follows multiple conversations and legitimizes NF’s lyricism and genius wordplay. Light synth articulates the beginning of the song which transition into a dark drum line as the rhythm of the raps change in each verse and the subject of conversation switches between the narrator, the store cashier, the robber, the accomplice, and the 911 operator.

“TRUST,” the truest testament to NF’s hard work and success payoff thus far, appears just before the conclusion of the album. The song  includes the only other feature on the album, rapper Tech N9ne. Featuring easily the fastest rapping track in NF’s career, “TRUST” takes a moment to but also acts as a reminder of the industry just as “PAID MY DUES” did. Unique to this song, NF raps almost as soon as the music starts, only stopping at the chorus to share his reasoning for the song. “Look what I, look what I done / Helpin’ ‘em people I love / My life is not what it was / I do whatever I must / Count on one hand who I trust.”

The ten-track mixtape presented NF’s fanbase with an opportunity to really scrutinize and value his work as a rapper and as an artist overall. Listening to him tackle issues of personal insecurity on CLOUDS (THE MIXTAPE) a year later after much global social distancing centers NF’s message and allows his audience a chance to grow with him.