I chose the album from the American HipHop artist “NF'” also known as Nathan John Feuerstein. The album cover that I chose to talk about is “Therapy Session” which was released on April 22nd, 2016. The photographer of this album is Alex Currie. NF only worked with him one time. Apart from that, Alex Currie has several photos on his LinkedIn account as a self-employed photographer and project manager. One project he created was a series of photos called “The Leftovers,” which was from a wedding in Iceland when Currie was 18 years old (Clay, 2017). Through that experience, Capitol Records reached out to him to photograph NF’s album cover. Currently, he is a film producer, who studied at USC School of Cinematic Arts where he gained most of his experience as a photographer and continues with his photo series projects. Another recent project of his, “The Other Side of the Rainbow” encompasses his friends' perspectives and the Pacific Northwest (Clay, 2017). He is an independent photographer who dabbles in film, photography, and music.
In my opinion, yes, the album art connects with the music because of the mood that it portrays; aggressive, tense, eerie, anxious, and dark. In the photo of his album cover, he is having a conversation with himself about difficult situations, and in his music, he writes about suicide, his life, and the daily struggles he goes through. Some emotions in his music are grief, regret, and anger. With negativity built up inside of him, he turns to music as therapy to help him overcome his fears, self-doubts, and hardships to better his mental health and express himself through a cinematic lyrical reflection. The album photograph captures Nathan Feuerstein having a conversation with NF, both are the same person but bring out different perspectives in the other. Since Nathan Feuerstein views himself as just an ordinary man dealing with mental issues and struggles, he reflects with his perspectives as a Hip Hop artist “NF” to determine if he really wants fame or to be recognized for his hard work. His Music videos are often in abandoned places like houses, amusement parks, and big open deserted areas. In the album photograph, the room that the photo was captured looks morbid, abandoned, and somber just like his music videos.
The song that I believe connects best with the artwork is “Therapy Session” because this song is an analysis of how far he has come in his life and about his mental state. He discusses his growth and healing process throughout the years. Also, the difficult situations that he had to overcome like losing his mom to a pill overdose, domestic violence, being an outcast, in the foster care system, and self-doubt with his music career. Therapy sessions are where people go to discuss difficult things in their lives and it is a place where you can be open and honest. In this song, NF is venting to his fans through cinematic storytelling to engage with them in an intimate and vulnerable state of mind. In the album, he is being vulnerable with himself, having conversations that are difficult to talk about with others. We see that through the growth of his music he is opening up about his life, and about having negative thoughts. Therapy becomes a healing mechanism for those who attend to stop them from reacting impulsively or hurting themselves physically. The title of the album “Therapy Session” is a foreshadowing of the dark situations that are going to be discussed.
By listening to the music and looking at the album cover, I felt heavily impacted by his hardships. Letting go of things that are out of one’s control is not easy and takes a lot of time to fully overcome. He has gone through many struggles, but he is still thriving by continuing with his passion for music despite his self-doubts and excessive fan hate. His words are compelling and his story is inspirational. I felt transported to a place where I became more open-minded. I do connect with his music because the hardships he experienced are similar to what I have lived through. While trying to preserve through the negative thoughts, deceptions, and denial. NF talks about mental health, and struggling with his OCD. Many young adults struggle with mental illnesses, which I can connect to because I have anxiety. I also use music as an outlet to express my deepest thoughts as a therapy session for myself. By using my passion for writing to reflect on my life, decisions, and my memories. I have learned over the years that it is better to express myself vocally or write in a gratitude journal instead of internalizing everything. NF’s music has helped me overcome many situations and his lyrics make me content.