Following his album, “Mansion,” NF recently released his third album, “Therapy Session.” Starting to make music in 2010, NF signed with label, Capitol CMG in 2014. The album consists of 14 songs and has a sequel to his previous song, “Intro”. “Therapy Session” was at one point No. 12 on the U.S. Billboard top 200 albums. “Therapy Session” was a much anticipated album and in my opinion exceeded expectations.

The first thing I noticed when I listened to it was the amount of emotion that was put into the album. In his song, “How could you leave us,” NF talks about his past with his mom. She was a drug addict and died of an overdose in 2009. Throughout the song, he constantly questions his mom’s actions for her not being there for him. At some points you can hear NF crying in the background.

“I got this picture in my room and it kills me, but I don’t need a picture of my mom, I need the real thing. Now a relationship is something we won’t ever have, why do I feel like I lost something that I never had?”

I love this line from the song. It really shows NF’s view of his mom and demonstrates the lack of a mother-son relationship. This song, along with others, have a very slow pace and talk about specific moments in his past. “Got You on my Mind,” recalls memories that NF had with I’m assuming a girl. “I Can Feel it,” describes the struggle of what NF had to go through growing up.

Despite these slows songs, there are many upbeat songs present in the album. “Intro 2,” is a sequel to his previous song, “Intro.” In the music video, NF is rapping from a log cabin in the middle of the woods. The song talks about his past and how people doubted his music. Despite the hate, NF still made it big and proved a lot of the critics wrong.

“Write a review, tell me what you think of this. Give me three stars and call me an idiot, but to be honest it don’t make a difference.”

Another thing that I like about the album is the way that NF expresses exactly what he has gone through. Many songs tell the story of the adversity that NF went through growing up. In my previous music review, I said that I am a fan of songs that tell a story, whether it’s personal or just a generic story. NF encountered hate early in his life and was told that he would not grow up to be a rapper. He has even been told that his music is too violent and that kids should not listen to it.

“Hearing these parents, they telling their kids, my music is violent, you gotta be kidding me. I guess that your definition of violence and mine is something that we look at differently.”

Despite his popularity, there are still people who dislike the type of music that NF produces. He gets some hate for talking about himself too often and not about God. He claims to be a “Christian rapper,” but people think of him as a Christian who raps. However, most of his songs not only mention God, but also talk about his personal relationship with God.

“I look around at this world we walk on, it’s a smack in the face, don’t ever tell me there’s no God, and if there isn’t then what are we here for?”

NF is easily one of my favorite Christian rappers, if not my favorite. He is one of the best in the game and, in my opinion, ahead of Lecrae and Andy Mineo. NF, along with another one of my favorites, Reconcile, both do a great job of working their personal lives into their music along with the Gospel.

If I had to choose one thing that I am unhappy with, it would be the lack of other artists. Out of the 14 songs, only two feature another rapper. It would have been nice to hear some different voices, however, NF is more than capable of making good songs by himself.

With months of anticipation, many wondered how “Therapy Session” would follow the popularity of “Mansion.” With a sequel to arguably his best song and his personal songs that really make you understand what he has gone through, NF definitely shattered expectations. With “Therapy Session” on the rise, NF will remain a popular artist for a long time.

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For a list of the entire album, read, Therapy Session.

For another music review, read: Adam Young’s RMS Titanic proves to be fresh, inspiring.

This author can be reached via Twitter: @nick_leblanc1 and via email: Nick LeBlanc.