I personally think Logic is one of the most relatable musicians of recent years. Not because he’s necessarily a great musician, but because he’s transparently imperfect.
Starting off as an underground lyricist under the name “Skittles” (a play on Eminem’s name), to then finding an identity as a nerdy rapper (creating a sci-fi inspired album), to finally reaching peak fame with inclusive songs about race and mental health. To an extent, you can draw similarities to Kanye West, who debuted his rap career with the comedic album College Dropout but quickly changed his identity from album to album.
Both artists became global mega-stars around their third albums (Logic’s Everybody and Kanye’s Graduation), but with this new found stardom also came new levels of criticism, including finding critics and fans alike making jokes at their expense. This is when we really see the differences in the two celebrities’ characters come to light.
Kanye takes the jokes in his stride, doubling down on his arrogance and using the “hate” to fuel his success. Logic, on the other hand, was blindsided by the negativity, confusingly trying to appease his fans by releasing a mixtape and an album that he thought would win their respect (Bobby Tarantino II and YSIV – both callbacks to fan favourites), whilst also angrily dismissing their criticisms during interviews and being visibly irritated.
It’s important to point out that most of these jokes were made in jest, poking fun at Logic’s overly positive brand. So, when he responded in interviews, it only worsened the issue.
Then Logic released an alternative rock album, called Supermarket. A creative detour from his previous pop and rap albums. If successful, this would solidify Logic’s artistic abilities. Unfortunately, the album was universally panned, with Rolling Stone describing it as “bold yet bland”.
Logic returned to his hip hop routes with his following album, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Despite returning to his trademark style, this latest album was another flop (critically a flop, commercially it sold rather well). The album’s themes seemed to largely centre around the negativity of his critics, and more specifically highlighted his obsession with reading these comments on social media.
One bad album is a mishap, two is usually enough to kill a career. And Logic released both of these albums in the same year.
So, when he announced his next album and that it would be his final release, fans and critics weren’t particularly hopeful. Would it be another album that tries too hard to kiss up to those that hate him, or would it just be a throwaway album to say goodbye to his fans? To everyone’s surprise, it was neither.
As it turns out, the album is great. The previous two releases’ poor reception gave Logic the opportunity to create without the anxiety of anticipating review scores or opinions, as nobody was anticipating it to be excellent. The album is called No Pressure, and there’s good reason for this. He could talk about whatever he pleased, whereas other albums clearly needed to be written either around his brand identity (“peace, love and positivity”) or for commercial appeal.
As the album also proceeds his musical retirement, it’s generally a breath of fresh air, written as someone optimistic about their future as they venture into a new stage of their life. This isn’t a rap album, this is lyrical therapy as Logic reminisces on the years of hard work that have led him to this point.
Interestingly, without the two albums being so badly received by critics and fans, Logic wouldn’t have been able to produce such a powerful album. Not only because the failure granted him complete creative freedom, but also as it allowed him to explore themes of escapism that are only possible if you genuinely want to escape your life.
I know it’s clichéd self-help gibberish, but failure and success often sit extremely close together, and persistence is often the key difference between the two. In a recent live stream Logic claimed that he wasn’t going to release No Pressure, and was thinking to instead just retire following his previous album’s failure. If he had, his artistic career would likely have been regarded as promising but ultimately disappointing. Because he didn’t give up, though, this album was seen as the perfect bow-out, and people are begging him to come out of retirement.
Thanks for reading this article! If you want to see more, please subscribe! If you want to ask a question or make a suggestion for a future article, please select “suggest topic”!
I know this wasn’t my usual kind of business orientated article and I was apprehensive about publishing as I know people subscribe to read about advertising or business, but I hope you enjoyed this content!
Due to numerous reasons, I related a lot with Logic’s newest albums and its messaging.
I’m currently waiting to move home, and it feels as if my life is on pause until we finally get the house keys. Additionally, a lot of my money is tied up in our current home, so selling the property means my rainy day fund will be substantially bigger – helping my mental health during this current economic climate. Not that I necessarily need the financial security (work is busy), but it does help with my anxiety and paranoia.
So, when Logic released an album full with positive thinking about a big life change that was on the horizon, I felt a connection to the content.
Unfortunately the completion date for purchasing the property seems to go further and further back, and that’s definitely not helping with my mental health.
That’s part of why I haven’t been making much progress with the new book.
Anyway, that’s just an update on my life, to give everyone that subscribes an insight into who is on the other side of the screen. Thanks everyone for the support and subscribing, stay positive!
SIR THORNEY 