HIP-HOP/RAP, Music Reviews, New Artists, New Fire Music, NJ
‘The Midnight Album’ By Nac Is A Story of Pain, Reflection, & Growth
Mar
The Midnight Album by New Jersey artist Nac is a story of growth, self-awareness, and acceptance. Nac holds nothing back, discussing family issues, struggles with mental health, and the overall notion of feeling like the black sheep. On the other hand, he portrays great confidence in his one true passion: making music. Between the admitted thoughts of suicide, self-hate, family resentment, and more, Nac does not shy away from letting everybody know that he’s better than your favorite rapper. Nac questions who the rap game chooses to glorify; stating that these false prophets created by the music industry don’t even have the talent to warrant the title. Nac makes it apparent that he’s striving to be a true rap god based on talent alone. His energy and subject matter is reminiscent of another self-proclaimed Rap God, Eminem. While that comparison may be low hanging fruit, nonetheless, Nac’s combination of lyricism, beat selection, and versatility put him in a lane of his own.
You probably wouldn’t guess that The Midnight Album was inspired by Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodor Giesel. Giesel was an avid painter throughout his life. Most of his paintings were kept private until he passed away. This collection of paintings is now widely known as the Midnight Paintings (pictured below). Nac approached this project with the thought “what if this is my last project?”. With that in mind as a listener, the honesty and vulnerability that Nac displays on The Midnight Album is only right. Nac let’s out all of his grievances and demons in great detail as if he was talking to a therapist for the last time. After the sixteen track 47-minute album, Nac has nothing left to bear and is well on his way to healing. In my opinion, this album has three main parts: Coping, Confidence, and Demons. Let’s go through them one by one.
Local 58 News begins. We’re off to a quick start. It’s not clear if we’re going to war, preparing for the purge, or fighting demons in the underworld. The peaceful voice on the intercom has an unsettling eeriness to it and we’re not quite sure what to expect.
The dark classical piano loop of Livin’ Outta Body begins, and we hear Nac’s voice for the first time.You’ll notice that Nac often uses piano chords to define the mood of the track. His rawness is apparent immediately with little audio effects hiding any potential flaws. Speaking of flaws, Nac doesn’t waste any time getting in to what he’s been dealing with. He briefly discusses therapy, past regrets, and feeling like a low life. To deal with it all, Nac has to live out of body, separating himself from his feelings of pain, to force a clearer perspective. We believe Nac is speaking about reflection in hopes of correcting all of these negative thoughts.
Baggage Benefits totes another emotional piano loop with a whaling sample that almost sounds like a cry for help. Nac details the benefits of the bag: getting women, proving the haters wrong, and making your family proud. However, there are some things money can’t fix. Nac raps about his money going up along with his depression. This track features K-Prez, who rhymes about a similar sentiment. ‘Promoters gave me a cut, that ain’t heal these wounds.’ On the bright side, Nac does say that writing songs is what is truly healing to him.
So far, Nac is describing what’s necessary for him to deal with everyday life. While Nac starts to open up about his pain, we’re also getting a lot of self-reflection; living out of body to see things from a better angle, and realizing that the ‘bag’ isn’t going to heal you. As our coping section is coming to an end, Nac has one more headbanger for us. BWC is my favorite beat up to this point. We do get another piano sample, but this one is much brighter. BWC, or Black and White Camaro, is a big flex! When things are getting too crazy, you can always take a ride in your Camaro, blast your favorite song, and forget about the negativity for a little while. “Ridin round town wit my windows down/showin’ off, my mama proud”. Nac starts to display the immense confidence that he has in himself when it comes to music, and we love to hear it. This is the first major shift of the project for me, as Nac transitions from feeling pain to inflicting pain (on all of you trash rappers).
The Peter Popoff beat is like nothing I’ve ever heard. It kind of sounds like the Joker playing an accordion, or simply a train wreck. Either way, the chaotic nature of the instrumental fits the bill for where Nac is about to take us. The single is anchored by a sample of a preacher claiming to ‘heal’ people, but we get the feeling something shady is going on. Nac shines light on the music industry and how the fandom can inevitably make someone crazy. Fans praise artists like god’s, so Nac can only question what will happen to him when he gets to that level? Will his ego takeover and turn him in to the greedy false prophets that he’s speaking of? The song ends with a fitting sample of Kanye West, AKA Yeezus, telling us that he’s a god. Maybe Nac is on to something with the message here…
The Kanye sound bite was perfectly placed right before the next track, I Should Never Be Alone. The traditional hip-hop instrumental with a soulful-sounding sample is very reminiscent of Kanye West production. This is probably my favorite beat on the entire project and I’m sure many would agree. Nac is going at trash rappers again. From Tik Tok gimmicks to blatantly having no skill, Nac is looking to expose those who don’t belong. His message coincides with the nostalgic beat switch about two thirds of the way into the track, possibly highlighting the origins of rap where lyrical ability used to be the standard. Nac spits his verse as if it were a rap battle over the cypher-like instrumental.
With a slightly triggering title, School Shooter starts with a muffled Three 6 Mafia, Memphis-style sample over some dope drums. Nac starts the track saying “I’m in the school of rap and I’m the school shooter”. For the rest of song, Nac depicts himself holding other rappers hostage for various reasons. The imagery on this one is crazy. Again, Nac is claiming his title as a rap god and ready to spray anybody in his way. If you’re another artist and you’re reading this, you can take a deep breath now. Nac is done coming at you!
We’re about to go through our second major shift of the project. If you haven’t forgotten, we described the first few songs as coping, where Nac briefly opened up about his personal struggles and his methods of healing (like making music). In the second section that we like to call confidence, Nac shot ten thousand rounds at every rapper that thinks they’re the sh*t. He backed up his tone with lyricism, amazing imagery, and a multitude of flows. Now, we’re about to take a very dark turn. In each of the last couple tracks, Nac goes into detail about each of the demons, or internal struggles, that he is battling. Nac was nice enough to warn us by inserting Deep Internet Music, a dark interlude with a slowed sample over haunting chord progression. The track ends with the phone ringing, trying to reach a special hotline for people having nightmares.
Nac starts this part of the project with Mare, short for nightmare, where he vividly describes a situation that sounds like sleep paralysis. His chilling description will make you feel like you’re in the room with him, frozen in your sleep but able to see fearful figures around you. Nac describes suffering to the point where you don’t even want to sleep. The instrumental fits the track perfectly. This is more like a scene in a play than simply a song.
Son & Brother is an interesting song. Nac uses an emotional piano to set the stage yet again. While the artist’s mental state may lead him to believe he is the black sheep of the family, he goes on to realize that he really isn’t all that different from those closest to him. On such a personal subject, it’s better that you just listen to the song. Nac exhibits self-reflection and growth in his ability to articulate struggles that cut deeper than we’ll ever know.
On Rock Freestyle, Nac details his personal issues again giving us more insight in to what he’s been going through. The lyrics sound like they are straight from a personal journal. We can only hope that it was therapeutic letting these lines go. Quickly moving to God’s Attention, Nac speaks of not really wanting the clout, the clicks, or the mentions, but rather God’s attention and real fulfillment. “Add up my likes for a viral amount/nothing of value so what’s it about?”.
Don’t Leave is a heartfelt confession between Nac and his mother. Leaving this track towards the end of the project, we can imagine that this is one of the toughest struggles of them all. Again, we appreciate Nac’s honesty and vulnerability on this one. Speaking specifically about the music, Nac showcases some vocal ability as he sings over the delicate piano sample. He takes it to another level on Another Me, an ambient embodiment of expression. Blending genres, Nac continues his journey of getting everything off of his chest as if this was his last album.
As the album comes to a close, Save My Soul is Nac’s last shot for healing and repentance. At this point, his grievances have been aired out and cleared away. Nac is ready for his sole to be saved after overcoming, or at least identifying all of his struggles. The project ends with Young & Bliss, an innocent offering of hopefulness and dreaming big. Through everything, the sky is still the limit.
From The Artist
What does this album mean to you?
‘The album, of course, means a lot to me. I went into this project with the frustration from my last album not hitting the expectations I had for it. The whole time making the project, I had this energy that I wanted to prove something. I wanted to make a project I was happy with being my last, if I didn’t want to continue.’
What do you want fans to get from it?
‘I want my fans and any listener to understand the main idea and theme of the project. No matter what you see when you look at someone, you will never know the internal struggles they are going through or have been through.’
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