Nate Feuerstein, otherwise known as NF, has been one of the top rising artists across the country for the past couple of years. He deserves it.

NF is a rapper from Gladwin, Michigan. He grew up in a rough area. He had plenty of obstacles that affected his life mentally, which led to him creating his music as therapy for himself.

In recent years, Nate has dropped five other albums, such as Mansion, Therapy Session, Perception, The Search, Clouds (The Mixtape), and as of April 7, HOPE.

Nate shows his fans what goes inside his head in his songs which leads to sad and intense music. In a song in the Perception album “Outro,” he says that his music is for the kids who wake up every day of their lives and feel like it is darker than Halloween. He is aware of what affect his music has on his fans because he knows that it has helped him through years of pain.

Starting off the album with HOPE, this is an amazing cinematic kind of song, which is his more traditional feel. All of Nate’s music connects in some way. Like a giant spider web, and everything leads back to one thing. In this song, he keeps talking about his other personas and how he has had enough of the pain, the hurt and the fear. In the music video he is wearing all white, Nate will normally wear all black. The white signifies hope, and the black represents his fear and pain. Nate then brings up his son at the end of the song which he just recently had. Like anyone who has gone through hard times, they never want their kid to feel the way they felt so it changed his perspective on life. At the very end, HOPE says he is going to take the reins.

MOTTO is a very listenable song for people who do not know him. This song is more of a dis at the music industry for being corrupt. In this song, he says that no matter how much fame he has or how things change, it will not change him as a person. His motto is “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

CAREFUL ft. Cordae. This song may be one of the more hype songs Nate has ever dropped; with a more modern style beat, he explains he is done being careful. When I listened to this song, I could really feel how much confidence Nate has gained throughout the years. Cordae popped off on this song, and the two musicians are amazing together.

MAMA. This song is going to have a lot of background to it. Nate lost his mom from an overdose back in 2009. He was young, and this left him with lots of anger, confusion, and pain, leading to a song that was one of his biggest hits of all time “How Could You Leave Us.” This song is a real tear jerker. In MAMA, Nate finally forgives his mom. 

HAPPY. This song is an easy listen with a constant beat and a happy feel to it but with a very deep meaning. Nate felt comfortable living in his own agony, and it felt wrong to be happy again. I would highly recommend this one to a new listener. HAPPY could be on the top of charts soon.

PANDEMONIUM. This song is so different from anything that Nate has ever dropped before. The beat is eerie and epic at the same time, and towards the end, he just goes crazy with bar after bar.

SUFFICE. This song may be one of the better songs on the album because it has a loopy beat, but halfway through the song, there is a beat switch and it just sounds amazing.

He talks about how gifted and blessed he is throughout his life and how far he has made it from where he was.

GONE ft. Julia Micheals. This song is odd for Nate because it is a song about a relationship and how it is better that they are both gone from each other but they are still reminiscing on the relationship. Julia Micheals is known for her ballads, and she does a very good job.

BULLET. Nate wrote this song about his wife and how he would die and kill for her. He talks about how much she saved him even when he may not have been the best husband. This song is so beautiful and captures the way NF appreciates his wife.

TURN MY BACK. In this song, Nate talks about not putting his future in other people’s hands and leaving it in God’s hands. He gets cocky in a good way in this song, which is new and cool to see. In past times, he has never had self worth for how good he really is, and now he is starting to believe in himself. He also brings up how people and places would not let him tour, and now that he is blowing up, they are letting him in with open doors but he is not going to go there. Nate goes on to say “worry about yourself” and “I don’t need you.” This song is definitely one for the haters.

MISTAKE. Nate has always been someone who can reach the heart and touch every string attached, but in this song, he goes on about how he has qualities that he is not proud of, but he wants to make someone proud of him so he does not feel like a mistake. The community believes that he is talking about his father. Nate had to stay with his father growing up after his mom passed away. Although he has not mentioned too much about their relationship with each other, he did release a song in the Perception album called “Let You Down,” which was one of his biggest songs of his career. That song was about him and his father’s relationship and how it was bad and good at times but it was also written from his dad’s point of view about him letting his son down.

 LET EM PRAY. Nate finally gets the confidence and lets people know that if they start praying for his downfall, they are going to be on the wrong side of the stick. 

RUNNING. This song is the best song Nate has dropped in his entire career. He is looking back on his past personas saying he has loved the time and the opportunities they have given him. But they hurt him way too much, and it is finally time to let them go. These personas have given him his name and his reputation, but this song is his evolution into a new person and a new life. Listeners will feel so proud of him for pushing through all the hardships. It is safe to say that Nate has officially found HOPE.