Don’t sleep on this new solo album from Time. It was released on November 3rd this year. I’ve been a fan of Time ever since I checked out his music in 2020, and his album with AwareNess as calm. called Things I Learned While Dying in Denver is a top 5 album of 2018 for me. I’ve gone on to enjoy every other release I’ve heard from him, including the two other albums he worked on that dropped this year. The first one was called ALL THE DREAMS I EVER HAD, and it’s another calm. album that I really loved. The second one was a collaborative album with an MC named namebuddha called Still Everything Blessed, which was also good. It’s been a busy year for Time, and I wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep up the quality since he’s been doing so much, but he thankfully was able to stick the landing with this latest record.

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The first track that I wanna talk about is called Pill Moon. This one is produced by AwareNess, and it has a great feature from Defcee. As always, the production from AwareNess really impressed me. The opening verse from Defcee is excellent. His flow and vocal delivery sound as good as ever.

Nobody said it could have been no freedom in letting your bad side eat its better half
I've got as many lives as there are teeth in the Cheshire cat
When my speech speeds up my tempo lags
I lose my way with words reading signs as fences pass
The skinny sketch piss ants paint with chalk and dust
Woke in outer wear stinking up warmer months
Lost my layman face at an address I can conjure up
A junkie and every ghost who can't quit haunting us

I don’t know if this was intentional, but I did notice that the speed of his flow kinda fluctuated when he said that line about his tempo lagging. That was really cool. The lyrical content of this track about addiction really had me hooked. For whatever reason, that’s a subject in music that’s always fascinating to me. I just find it so tragic, and it really tugs at my heartstrings whenever it’s mentioned in music. Speaking of which, 25mg. is probably still my favorite Defcee song to this day. Definitely check that shit out if you haven’t heard it. Anyway, the second verse on this track from Time is really great.

I know a dude destitute, he walks beneath a meth moon
In a garden of sound he's just a man trying to bend a spoon
Trying to keep the flame away so he doesn't kindle further doom
Trying to hack his mind to thrive, slicing wires in the server room
Plug was a surfer dude, eyes like a furnace room
Addiction is the servant whom's lurking at your tomb
He said "I can quit whenever," flat line he murdered truth
Spitting 'til purple in the booth, waiting for his commercial boom

This was the first track on the album that really stood out to me in a great way. I think it’s really dope. The following track is called Trust Fall, and this was one of the more intriguing songs in the track listing because it has a feature from Xiu Xiu. I’d never heard any of Xiu Xiu’s music before, but I have a couple of acquaintances who are huge fans, so I was interested in hearing what they would do on this song. Anyway, I really love the kind of poppy, danceable production on this track from Avant Horizon Sound, and Time killed the opening verse.

The other night I invited Death to come and take me
He came to my room and just stared at me blankly
I called him a coward, I guess he's more mature than me
Shinigami eyes, he said "no, it's too early"
My guardian angel's xanned out, I'm looking for a handout
No one's praying for me, I'm sinking in the sand now

I am a little ambivalent towards the vocals from Xiu Xiu on the hook. Like I said, this was my first time hearing them sing, so I wasn’t expecting their voice to sound so tender and bizarre. I can’t tell if I like it. I definitely don’t dislike it though. I’m wondering if all of Xiu Xiu’s music sounds like that, or if that’s just a quality of this particular feature. Anyway, the second verse from Time is exceptional.

I've visualized my death so many times
It feels good to leave my body and the weight of the grind
Primordial soup, I came out the slime
Who cares where I came from as long as I climb?
One day, one breath, one shoe, one step
Maybe you want to die, but just make it to the next
I listen to the trees always giving advice
Surrendering trustful and strong through the night
And if that tree falls then fuck it, let's grieve
'Cause everything has a cycle, we transition like leaves
I don't have the answers, I'm a question that's released

The song’s dope as hell overall. The following track is called Parking Garage Pigeon, and it was my favorite song on my first listen of the album. The lyrical content about pondering suicide really resonated with me. The opening line alone kinda exposes the mind-state Time was in when this song was written.

I wrote this on top of a parking garage

I think the title of the album is really reflected in the way this song was written because even though it’s about suicide it doesn’t really feel sad at all. There are a lot of lines about ostensibly being at peace.

I can see inside of your penthouse, you’re lonely like me
Only difference is you’re hollow and I’m not
My soul been full from alarm clocks and rot
But I fermented it into nutrients and minerals
Metamorphosis, this fungus is spiritual
I feel these mycelial roots connect to other artists
We inspire each other, death to jealous martyrs

The production from AwareNess is really pretty, and the way it kind of evolves for the second verse is really awesome. The extra instrumentation that comes in sounds excellent. I love how Time’s flow gets much more aggressive at this point too. The lyrics about jumping to his death and being reincarnated as a pigeon are amazing.

I fall by feathers, I fall by the grief
I fall by the lies we pushed beneath
I fall by him, I fall by she
I fall by the people I used to be
I fall by betrayal and lies, I fall by knives
Falling through me, I fall by denial
I fall by clarity, no nostalgia, now I can see I fall with patience
I fall like a sim through the simulation
What if my fall's a hallucination?
I can feel space time breaking
I fall through a lucid dream, waking life things aren't what they seem
I fell through my tears, it felt like an ocean trying to scream
I fell into my fears, illusion, I'm trying to coup my ego's regime

Once again, it’s not really a sad song. It has this sense of acceptance to it that I feel like is pretty rare in the music I generally listen to. I love it. Honestly, this song just grew on me even further with repeated listens. It’s one of my favorite tracks of the year. I think it’s dope as fuck. Track 6 is called How U Know Peace?, and it’s another one of the more exciting songs in the track listing because it features Elucid over an August Fanon beat. This is definitely one of my favorite instrumentals on the album. It sounds really celebratory and joyful, and I feel like it matches the tone of the lyricism really well. The opening verse from Elucid is great. I feel like this is one of the most accessible songs Elucid has worked on in a long time. I feel like even the people who claim that he raps off beat—those people are wrong by the way—will be able to enjoy this because his flow is more conventional-sounding than usual here. He sounds awesome on this track. The second verse from Time is fantastic as well. I just love hearing him rap about the shit that brings him peace.

Cooking s'mores from a burning cop car, that brings me joy
Another landlord going unemployed, that brings me joy
Guru in my headphones, playing basketball at the park
Finding light in the stars helps me navigate the dark
Orcas tipping yachts, eat the rich, that's the plot
I'm singing to the seeds 'til I harvest the squash

This is another track that grew on me even more with repeated listens. I think it’s dope as hell. The following track is called Joy Interrupted, and it features a Spoken Word performance from someone named carla joy. I didn’t know what to expect from this track sonically because it’s actually produced by Time himself, and I didn’t even know he made beats until I checked out this album. I actually really ended up enjoying this instrumental though. However, what really sold me on this song is just Time’s writing. The way he’s able to find profound solace in the mundane is really cool.

My cat under the covers giving a static periwinkle firework show, that's joy
I broke my phone and watched Bacchus kill Apollo, that's joy
I saw a blue heron, it reminded me to breathe and find patience, that's joy
The crickets chant like monks, a crow shit on me, that's joy

That line about wrinkles being mortality’s tattoos was really creative to me too. I also love this part of the song because it epitomizes the phrase “fuck it, we ball” to me.

I sing joy even when it's out of tune

I actually think the poem from carla joy is phenomenal too. When I first heard it I felt like it kinda decreased the replay value of this track for me because long sections of speech usually don’t work for me musically. However, what she was actually saying really resonated with me, so it kinda grew on me. I think this song is dope as hell. Track 9 is called Taolity, and it features namebuddha over another August Fanon beat. namebuddha fucking killed that first verse. That dude is really great at rhyming.

Inexpressive in reflection, disconnected from the flesh
Is that a sin or blessing? Trick question
It's all subconscious, ghost in the shell, more than a vessel when the God spit
I just want a bezel and some bomb piff, I just want my mental on some calm shit
Swim daily, live wavy, posterchild for those prone to drown
Lift me up, hold me down, split the hairs, fuck a crown
Fuck a punchline, they keep a pole around, that's polarizing
It's hard to prolong demise even when you know the timing

I’m not gonna say that he outrapped Time on this song, but I wouldn’t argue with someone who said that. I think he has an advantage since he rapped for a significantly longer amount of time. I really liked this line from Time.

I cried when I watched Yasiin being force fed

That’s some real ass shit. I don’t know if you guys have seen that video of Yasiin Bey being force fed through his nose to replicate the torture that was inflicted at Guantanamo Bay, but it’s really disturbing. I saw that video before I even heard any of his music. Anyway, overall I think this song is super dope. The penultimate track is entitled Suffernaut, and it features an artist named Velvet Machines. I really love the guitar-driven instrumental from Avant Horizon Sound, and the hook from Velvet Machines is really goddamn nice. I of course was hooked by Time’s lyricism on both of the verses as well.

I found this verse in the mud covered in ether
I’ve had knives in my back, but your words cut deeper
Is this a distorted hall of mirrors? Are we all just the same?
If we’re all made of stardust, what animates the frame?
Can I supernova to another dimension?
Is this really my life or a hell astral projection?
With dreams I dialogue, I see Morpheus in the fog
Oneironaut, what’s a scorpion to a god?

Lyrically, this is one of the more melancholic songs on the album in my opinion, but I still wouldn’t say it’s a sad track. I don’t know. Maybe it is a sad song. I just feel like Time’s attitude isn’t “fuck everything” enough for me to call this a sad track. It’s a lot more hopeful and resilient than that. Anyway, I really fuck with this one. It’s dope. The closing track is called This Journey Is Surrender, and it’s produced by AwareNess. This song almost made me tear up a bit. I think it’s one of the best songs I’ve heard all year. Lyrically, this track sees Time being on the brink of suicide, but then making the decision to keep living.

I wrote a goodbye note, but I never stamped it and sent it
Life is priceless, with my loved ones I will spend it
The gift of a sunrise, the blessing of a sunset
The colors are a choir singing "I am not done yet"
What's a spectrum without a prism if there's no light given?
Expectations can be a prison, I heard the keynotes when I listened
At the end of the day, the only thing I need to remember
Is to let go and learn the art of surrender

The production is fantastic, and the lyrical content really resonated with me. I even loved the poem from Time’s dad at the end of the track despite the fact that I’m not religious at all, or even spiritual. This is my favorite song on the album. I think it’s amazing.

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^{This is a great album. It honestly grew on me a good amount as I gave it multiple listens. I know this is kind of an extreme statement, but at this point I’m willing to say that Time is a top 5 lyricist. He’s not overly technical and he doesn’t jam a shit ton of multisyllabic rhymes into every line. He just has this amazing ability to fill every verse with creative lines that are genuinely deep to me. I always come away from his albums reflecting on life. It’s not just this album. Pretty much every project he makes is like that. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that his subject matter really resonates with me most of the time. He makes songs about shit that I care about, which is untrue for a lot of other rappers. The production on this album is really nice for the most part, and Time’s writing had me hooked as always. If you’ve enjoyed any of Time’s work in the past, this is another great project worth checking out. If this is your introduction to him, definitely go back and check out some of the projects I mentioned in the preamble of this review. Don’t sleep on this one though. It’s really dope.}

Favorite Song: This Journey Is Surrender
Least Favorite Song: Depressed Joy

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