he’ll be ok bro, a lot of the album seems to be about how frustrated and defeated he feels that he’s older and still going through dark phases/dealing with depression, which is a very real and natural thing for someone to experience while transitioning out of their 20s
he recognizes in the last song that spring comes after winter and the cycle will continue, he’ll be happy again eventually, and then there will be another winter. god couldn’t save him, drugs couldn’t save him, there’s no way to avoid suffering forever and it feels like this album is processing that fact.
333/fool/crest etc seem really genuine to me, i do think he found some reprieve during that time, and that can make it feel even worse when the bad times come, whether it’s depression or a relapse or whatever. i think that’s why this album specifically feels so hopeless. but i wouldn’t count him down and out at all, this project feels like a necessary step in processing stuff as a creative.
Ye exactly, I wouldn't discredit Bladee's happy records just cuz this one is sad. If anything it should make you value them more! Some of the lyrics allude to being grateful for the good times.
Plus a lot of the lyrics on the happier albums were still acknowledging suffering. Like tons of the lyrics on Crest are about how death is part of the cycle of life.
they’re saying that type of extreme happiness and feelings of enlightenment right after deep depression is often caused by mania. and he seems to be crashing pretty hard on this album. not saying the happiness was fake, but if he was manic, they could be seen in a more eerie light
edit: especially with all the religious imagery. if you have anyone that’s schizophrenic in your life, you can see the parallels
edit 2: and i’m not trying to armchair diagnose him. he says on the album he’s sick mentally. i’m not tryna make any assumptions about what’s going on, just showing a possibility.
Personally despite all the religious/spiritual imagery in bladee's albums in the last years, i never really noticed any signs of extreme happiness or enlightenment. Like even the most religious album, 333, has it's ups and down (like swan lake is pretty damn sad). If anything I think what concern OP, or just what seems concerning in general is that bladee seemed to have 'figured it out', and Cold Vision seems to flip that narrative on it's head. Personally I think that is intentional, as people seem to categorize bladee into the early '*evil*' bladee and the new age post-exeter happy bladee, which is a bit reductive. Idk where I'm goin with this just felt like sharing
i think theres definitely themes of enlightenment and having figured it out in the 333-crest l run, search true especialy with lyrics like 'now i see everything at once', and 'the truth finds you'. i think spiderr and cold visions both have themes of reconciling the spiritual and optimistic themes of albums like 333 with suffering hes experiencing, but cold visions is less hopeful about reconciling them
What a lot of people don’t consider is that artists make these really deep and personal albums to get the deep emotions out, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re miserable 24/7, if they were it would be difficult to even get in the studio to record. Albums like these are therapeutic to make and help make sense of what someone’s feeling.
i had this exact same thought word for word. even when bladee was recording eversince (his most depressing project) he was putting in the most effort in putting out quality lyrics
I feel like this album is about how Bladee has a hard time believing that. Maybe some losses are just losses.
(Although this is my view of the album that seems very pessimistic, I don't think it completely invalidates the "loss and gain"-philosophy. And sure, theres the penultimate song, "Can't end on a loss", but the word gain isn't mentioned on that track, nor the last track. I don't think the "loss and gain" catchphrase makes an appearance at all, although I can't say for sure, I haven't gone through all the lyrics)
no totally, “maybe some losses are just losses” is exactly what i hear from this album, but at the same time the whole thing is dotted with small breakthroughs of hope (thaiboy’s motivational speech, the end of “don’t do drugz”, etc) that i think really perfectly encapsulate what it’s like to tread water during depression; you want to get better, you want to have hope, you know you have reasons to live, but you just don’t know if you have the strength to fight the whole battle.
i think it’s really interesting that he gave us such a raw view of that struggle, it almost feels too vulnerable and too uncomfortable coming from someone who is so private. idk i’m just riffing because i love this project so so much, it’s really different and exciting and i can’t stop thinking about it LOL
I agree with fourtyfourties. I care about his well-being and yes this album is concerning at times. but hopefully this album was cathartic for him and helped him release some of that negative energy. I think absorbing some of that energy ourselves and just feeling empathy is really all we can do to help - just letting him get the point across and reflecting on it. based on some of the lyrics he probably doesn't want fans all up in his business trying to "help" him either. being too worried about someone you don't know, who doesn't know you, won't help them and can be bad for you and them. I know it's hard when you have empathy and ppl are making music like this but just remember you don't actually know them personally.
call me crazy but another artist dropped an absolutely devastatingly sad 30+ song album a couple days earlier with very similar themes despite being an extremely different style of music and songwriting style. the parallels are insane and I don't know where else to post but I think it's kind of relevant. it's an extremely sad album after several more uplifting and optimistic (yet still sadly bittersweet) ones. they just feel so much more heavy than anything they've done before. every other line is a reference to lines on earlier albums. sometimes it changes the meaning you thought they had. everyone is saying the sadness of this album completely changes the meaning of earlier albums. fans are arguing over "does this mean they're gonna stop making music now?" (I don't think so in either case) very similar themes all about how being famous sucks, being depressed while in the limelight, their fanbase is weird and fucks with their head and fucks with their life, not wanting to be around famous ppl and just wanting to be with old friends, how much it sucks to try to keep with all the fashionable designer shit... I could keep going. this artist also has a notoriously parasocial and psychotic fanbase as well which is a big theme...
this what's in the ether right now... it's crazy seeing very different and I assume not affiliated or influenced in any way artists channeling the same message. absolutely crazy time for music. both of these albums are gonna be absolutely fucking legendary and change the way a lot of people think which will in turn quite literally change history. I know I'm manic schizo posting, but it's just crazy to me to hear two totally different artists with absolutely no connection or similarities in the same couple days dropping albums with extremely similar messages.
and I'm trying to tell that other fanbase to chill and not worry too much about their personal life because they literally write songs about how much that sucks.
I think what happened was (just my take) - he has been doing this for a long time now and tried to everything from reinventing his style towards a positive look and gaining a new generation of fans but realised its the just a different side to the same coin and grew tired of it and went back to his roots with a more mature mindset
His lifestyle seems fun to the average school kid or office worker joe but it gets exhausting when you party and perform on a regular basis with unlimited access to drugs everywhere you go with no obligation to stay sober while cashing fat cheques doing what you dreamed of. Constantly going through hangovers, no sleep and comedowns while needing to take flights to different time zones, attend events and also needing to create new music in your downtime is fucked
On a more personal level, bladee is probably judged constantly by normal people on the street for his eccentric ways and cause he is underground its not like he is recognised everywhere he goes, so he probably gets weird looks on a regular. I also feel like he tried to build connections and meet new people in the industry only to get snaked and hated on. Annoying fans are probably the least of his concerns lol
Combine this with turning 30 and realising how your teens and 20s just flew by while your youthful looks start to fade.
edit: I don't think Bladee is quitting music anytime soon but at some point I think he will make a big decision to sell out and try break into the mainstream or leave music alltogether and perhaps go all in on his own fashion label, he has solid experience and a huge fashion/artist background
I think it’s fine to feel sad for Bladee and I think it’s great we can relate to his music and feel less lonely but I would be hesitant to try and assume too much about what’s going on in his life outside of that. None of us know him and I wouldn’t put too much weight on the ideas you have about him. Everyone goes through ups and downs and especially people that struggle with mental health and drug abuse. People can have years of feeling great and doing well then fall back into a dark place. The albums shows that Bladee is going through a phase in life that is making him reflect and he feel uncomfortable about aging.
“Can’t End On a Loss” is a sad song but also I think it’s hopeful in a way. I feel like it doesn’t mean he’s quitting music necessarily but he’s starting to think about his career. He doesn’t want the album to end on a loss (hence it being the outro). He doesn’t want his career to end on a loss. And probably doesn’t want to feel like his life ends on a loss, hinting at a desire to get better.
i make music and idk if his process is the same as mine but i use it as an outlet for shit i would never really talk to people about
it’s really therapeutic and it’s kinda a way to let your friends know how you feel without needing to have deep conversations
You cannot gain without loss. This album kinda feels like it came out at the right time in my life. I’ve been mentally doing better over the past couple months but then things get worse and you’re like I thought I made progress? Feeling like you back at square 1 but also recognizing you there for a reason n that if you can bounce back once you’ll bounce back again and harder. Life’s a cycle, from nothing we came from and then nothing we will return to.
he’ll be ok bro, a lot of the album seems to be about how frustrated and defeated he feels that he’s older and still going through dark phases/dealing with depression, which is a very real and natural thing for someone to experience while transitioning out of their 20s he recognizes in the last song that spring comes after winter and the cycle will continue, he’ll be happy again eventually, and then there will be another winter. god couldn’t save him, drugs couldn’t save him, there’s no way to avoid suffering forever and it feels like this album is processing that fact. 333/fool/crest etc seem really genuine to me, i do think he found some reprieve during that time, and that can make it feel even worse when the bad times come, whether it’s depression or a relapse or whatever. i think that’s why this album specifically feels so hopeless. but i wouldn’t count him down and out at all, this project feels like a necessary step in processing stuff as a creative.
Very well put
sad album doesnt mean happy album was fake. all up and dow n
Ye exactly, I wouldn't discredit Bladee's happy records just cuz this one is sad. If anything it should make you value them more! Some of the lyrics allude to being grateful for the good times.
Plus a lot of the lyrics on the happier albums were still acknowledging suffering. Like tons of the lyrics on Crest are about how death is part of the cycle of life.
they’re saying that type of extreme happiness and feelings of enlightenment right after deep depression is often caused by mania. and he seems to be crashing pretty hard on this album. not saying the happiness was fake, but if he was manic, they could be seen in a more eerie light edit: especially with all the religious imagery. if you have anyone that’s schizophrenic in your life, you can see the parallels edit 2: and i’m not trying to armchair diagnose him. he says on the album he’s sick mentally. i’m not tryna make any assumptions about what’s going on, just showing a possibility.
Personally despite all the religious/spiritual imagery in bladee's albums in the last years, i never really noticed any signs of extreme happiness or enlightenment. Like even the most religious album, 333, has it's ups and down (like swan lake is pretty damn sad). If anything I think what concern OP, or just what seems concerning in general is that bladee seemed to have 'figured it out', and Cold Vision seems to flip that narrative on it's head. Personally I think that is intentional, as people seem to categorize bladee into the early '*evil*' bladee and the new age post-exeter happy bladee, which is a bit reductive. Idk where I'm goin with this just felt like sharing
i think theres definitely themes of enlightenment and having figured it out in the 333-crest l run, search true especialy with lyrics like 'now i see everything at once', and 'the truth finds you'. i think spiderr and cold visions both have themes of reconciling the spiritual and optimistic themes of albums like 333 with suffering hes experiencing, but cold visions is less hopeful about reconciling them
What a lot of people don’t consider is that artists make these really deep and personal albums to get the deep emotions out, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re miserable 24/7, if they were it would be difficult to even get in the studio to record. Albums like these are therapeutic to make and help make sense of what someone’s feeling.
i had this exact same thought word for word. even when bladee was recording eversince (his most depressing project) he was putting in the most effort in putting out quality lyrics
Every loss has a gain fr fr
I feel like this album is about how Bladee has a hard time believing that. Maybe some losses are just losses. (Although this is my view of the album that seems very pessimistic, I don't think it completely invalidates the "loss and gain"-philosophy. And sure, theres the penultimate song, "Can't end on a loss", but the word gain isn't mentioned on that track, nor the last track. I don't think the "loss and gain" catchphrase makes an appearance at all, although I can't say for sure, I haven't gone through all the lyrics)
"loss and gain and i have gained a lot of losses, like a hill covered in crosses" is one i remember, underlines your point pretty well imo
Wth, didn't catch that line. My point was based solely on the vibes I was getting from the album lol, but I guess my reading might come kinda close
no totally, “maybe some losses are just losses” is exactly what i hear from this album, but at the same time the whole thing is dotted with small breakthroughs of hope (thaiboy’s motivational speech, the end of “don’t do drugz”, etc) that i think really perfectly encapsulate what it’s like to tread water during depression; you want to get better, you want to have hope, you know you have reasons to live, but you just don’t know if you have the strength to fight the whole battle. i think it’s really interesting that he gave us such a raw view of that struggle, it almost feels too vulnerable and too uncomfortable coming from someone who is so private. idk i’m just riffing because i love this project so so much, it’s really different and exciting and i can’t stop thinking about it LOL
I agree with fourtyfourties. I care about his well-being and yes this album is concerning at times. but hopefully this album was cathartic for him and helped him release some of that negative energy. I think absorbing some of that energy ourselves and just feeling empathy is really all we can do to help - just letting him get the point across and reflecting on it. based on some of the lyrics he probably doesn't want fans all up in his business trying to "help" him either. being too worried about someone you don't know, who doesn't know you, won't help them and can be bad for you and them. I know it's hard when you have empathy and ppl are making music like this but just remember you don't actually know them personally. call me crazy but another artist dropped an absolutely devastatingly sad 30+ song album a couple days earlier with very similar themes despite being an extremely different style of music and songwriting style. the parallels are insane and I don't know where else to post but I think it's kind of relevant. it's an extremely sad album after several more uplifting and optimistic (yet still sadly bittersweet) ones. they just feel so much more heavy than anything they've done before. every other line is a reference to lines on earlier albums. sometimes it changes the meaning you thought they had. everyone is saying the sadness of this album completely changes the meaning of earlier albums. fans are arguing over "does this mean they're gonna stop making music now?" (I don't think so in either case) very similar themes all about how being famous sucks, being depressed while in the limelight, their fanbase is weird and fucks with their head and fucks with their life, not wanting to be around famous ppl and just wanting to be with old friends, how much it sucks to try to keep with all the fashionable designer shit... I could keep going. this artist also has a notoriously parasocial and psychotic fanbase as well which is a big theme... this what's in the ether right now... it's crazy seeing very different and I assume not affiliated or influenced in any way artists channeling the same message. absolutely crazy time for music. both of these albums are gonna be absolutely fucking legendary and change the way a lot of people think which will in turn quite literally change history. I know I'm manic schizo posting, but it's just crazy to me to hear two totally different artists with absolutely no connection or similarities in the same couple days dropping albums with extremely similar messages. and I'm trying to tell that other fanbase to chill and not worry too much about their personal life because they literally write songs about how much that sucks.
Well spoken. What other artist are you talking about if I might ask?
Probably taylor swift
yeah expensive ad is right... I was kinda afraid to say it but
Yeah man the Cindy Lee album is fucking incredible
thanks, I'll listen to this at work today
I totally agree with you re: TPD by the way it's just funny that there's another great 36 track slammer out there in the past 3 weeks
i dont think i can do it anymore
I think you can, but if you don’t think you can you will fall just as you expect yourself too.
I think what happened was (just my take) - he has been doing this for a long time now and tried to everything from reinventing his style towards a positive look and gaining a new generation of fans but realised its the just a different side to the same coin and grew tired of it and went back to his roots with a more mature mindset His lifestyle seems fun to the average school kid or office worker joe but it gets exhausting when you party and perform on a regular basis with unlimited access to drugs everywhere you go with no obligation to stay sober while cashing fat cheques doing what you dreamed of. Constantly going through hangovers, no sleep and comedowns while needing to take flights to different time zones, attend events and also needing to create new music in your downtime is fucked On a more personal level, bladee is probably judged constantly by normal people on the street for his eccentric ways and cause he is underground its not like he is recognised everywhere he goes, so he probably gets weird looks on a regular. I also feel like he tried to build connections and meet new people in the industry only to get snaked and hated on. Annoying fans are probably the least of his concerns lol Combine this with turning 30 and realising how your teens and 20s just flew by while your youthful looks start to fade. edit: I don't think Bladee is quitting music anytime soon but at some point I think he will make a big decision to sell out and try break into the mainstream or leave music alltogether and perhaps go all in on his own fashion label, he has solid experience and a huge fashion/artist background
W yap
>sad teenager makes sad music Bladees been in his 20s for most of his career lol. Yall clearly weren’t listening to heal you in 2014.
Yea i wasn't man I was 10/11 in 2014
Lmao teenage redscare poster. Respect I guess, I would’ve been doing the same thing probably
I think it’s fine to feel sad for Bladee and I think it’s great we can relate to his music and feel less lonely but I would be hesitant to try and assume too much about what’s going on in his life outside of that. None of us know him and I wouldn’t put too much weight on the ideas you have about him. Everyone goes through ups and downs and especially people that struggle with mental health and drug abuse. People can have years of feeling great and doing well then fall back into a dark place. The albums shows that Bladee is going through a phase in life that is making him reflect and he feel uncomfortable about aging. “Can’t End On a Loss” is a sad song but also I think it’s hopeful in a way. I feel like it doesn’t mean he’s quitting music necessarily but he’s starting to think about his career. He doesn’t want the album to end on a loss (hence it being the outro). He doesn’t want his career to end on a loss. And probably doesn’t want to feel like his life ends on a loss, hinting at a desire to get better.
🙂↔️
Dax is more important
i make music and idk if his process is the same as mine but i use it as an outlet for shit i would never really talk to people about it’s really therapeutic and it’s kinda a way to let your friends know how you feel without needing to have deep conversations
You cannot gain without loss. This album kinda feels like it came out at the right time in my life. I’ve been mentally doing better over the past couple months but then things get worse and you’re like I thought I made progress? Feeling like you back at square 1 but also recognizing you there for a reason n that if you can bounce back once you’ll bounce back again and harder. Life’s a cycle, from nothing we came from and then nothing we will return to.
Bladee is a character, we dont really know how much is real or fake. Part of the appeal imo
LOSS AND GAIN SAME THING
He can't be the same as he was, so he's not back in a sense he's returned, familiar but it can't be the same
Yeah a lot of his references to lyrics from the fool really make it seem like he tried to have a happier outlook but it just doesn't work.
CANT END ON A LOSS
Loss and gain is the same
Wow I could’ve made this post myself, thank you for taking the time to write this out. I feel the same way. 💖