NF - Therapy Session (Reactionalysis) - Music Teacher Takes the NF Journey 

My neighbors love the sound of your space bar

I’ve listened to NF for years now, heard all of his stuff multiple times and seen countless reviews in the past, but something about your analysis of his work is just different, and keeps me coming back every time you drop a new video, keep up the excellent work.

"If you are new here.... you are watching this all out of order." I'm not entirely sure why I find this so hilarious, but I almost choked on my coffee.

In regards to your question about who’s telling him he has no message ( which is ridiculous) is mostly the parents.

This whole song is basically explaining the concept that his music is his “Therapy Session”. It’s just like “Mansion”, which explains that his mind is a mansion. He actually addresses multiple subjects here. Mostly from different audiences (not really critics, but mostly the average listener). Some say: “Your music is violent” “You should make Happier music” “Your Music doesn’t have a message” He addresses and replies to all of these, in saying that he’s not making music just to entertain people, he uses music as a “Therapy Session”. Whatever anger or passion he feels, he makes raps about it. He’s not necessarily just trying to satisfy the audience.

Horrible morning, so happy to see you posted an NF song this morn. Your reactions are always so soothing yet thought provoking

This song makes more sense when you listen to the Search, which I think, hit the number 1 album and beat out Chance The Rapper, and they dropped both albums the same day. The Search is easily his best album, and the media responds to it by, "he's so whiny, all he does is cry" blah blah blah. Even the rolling stones headline said "NF's 'The Search' is a one-note depression symphony" Completely overlooking what he's talking about and the hard work he put into his album, the abuse he went through, his mother over dosing. The search is hardly one note. He doesn't have ghost writers, he writes his own shit and he makes his own beats, occasionally with the help of others. The media backlash on The Search did not match what the fans thought of it, at all.

Nf cannot make a bad song take my word for it

I discovered you through your The Search reaction and have been following you since. NF is a huge inspiration for me as an artist and for me as a person in everyday-life, covering every topic I have and had to deal with on a daily basis. Your videos are like the icing on the cake when it comes to enjoying NF's output as an artist over and over again, I really love the genuine joy you give off when reacting to his music. Your analysis is always on point and you really try to dissect the music which is refreshing to see in the reaction-scene of youtube. Keep doing what you do and you'll probably grow a very loyal following, even though I don't think that's what you're doing this for, thank you for every single video!

I don't know if you normally do, but when you react to How Could You Leave Us, PLEASE don't read the lyrics beforehand. He doesn't rap fast and has clear diction, so you won't need them, and it'll significantly add to the reaction if you don't know what's coming! Love all you've been doing on the channel!!

Omg, you’re almost at “How could you leave us”!!!

“If this is your first time here, welcome. You’re watching these all out of order.” This made me chuckle.

I feel like it’s not just the “criticism “ about his music, but more his own doubts and insecurities that he deals with too. He will always be his own Worst critic. It’s also what makes him so great and relatable. I love your breakdowns!

Me: *has been checking RU-vid obsessively since Sunday for this video* Me: *has already checked RU-vid this morning* Me: Let’s check it one more time. Me: OH MY GOSH IT’S HERE Thanks for this! :) It was worth the wait.

Hovers over spacebar Entire surrounding city: *why do I hear boss music?*

My theory on who some of his "critics" are... NF has a lot of fans who aren't into mainstream rap. Given his Christian background, real topics, and lack of vulgarity i think he attracts a lot of youth group/sunday school kids who struggle with life. When their parents hear the bass and rapping an assumption is made that they are listening to "bad music". I was a sunday school kid and there were a LOT of confused children there who put on an act for their parents but deep down had issues go unaddressed. To me that may have been a large portion of NFs early fan base, and therefore some of the ignorance he seems to be railing against in TS.

Can't say I am alive because of NF music but my life has changed significantly since discovering him.

Overall this album is going to be him trying to deal with the pressure of emotionally saving people’s lives, dealing with the frustration of his critics trying to discredit him while also dealing with his self-destructive thoughts of discrediting himself and lastly dealing with the loss of his mom

The music video is actually set inside the Mansion

"This girl at the show, she told me her life's full of drama, said the dad is abusive, apparently he likes to beat on her Mama, I got some anger inside, I wanted her to tell me his number, but what you're gonna do right, you'll hit him up, then he'll start hitting her harder. That's real." This was probably a moment that he really struggled to stop thinking about, just like in the first verse. In this case however, there's nothing he can do to help the girl and that's just another burdon to carry, so he writes it on paper and then raps it, that's how he gets it out there and like he said, music is his outlet. And that also was one of the moments he realized how people relate to his music and like he said in the song "This music is not just for people that sit and pews and pray at the churches" and later he even says "Christian is not the definition of a perfect me". This is basically to tell that he's not a christian rapper, but a rapper who happens to be christian.

6:43 the reaction I’ve been waiting for since I fell in love.... with your spacebar.

If you remember in intro 2 he says music is his therapist. This song he is talking to his therapist (music) dealing with comments from haters, a misunderstanding of his music (mostly from parents) dealing with the pressure of what music means to his fans and how it effects them personally. Also this song takes place inside of the mansion, his head. Cool thing to note is as you get further along in the journey you’ll notice a lot of reoccurring symbolism in his videos, black balloons, a shopping cart, a prison, people dressed in white while he’s in black, and a fake smile painted on his face, all have significant meaning. This is the first time you see the reference to the fake smile when he draws it on the masks saying “Want me to smile, you want me to laugh You want me to walk in the stage with a smile on my face When I'm mad and put on a mask” Just remember that for when you see future videos and he has a fake smile painted on his face. This is where it started

This is like one his BEST songs it's one of my favorites love u

I rlly never talk about this but on my hardest evenings I just played NF while sitting next to a railway and 3 years later I now have grown in every way as a person and don’t even think about those times even... music is literally heart and soul to me, music thought me more than school friends or family did. (Spelling corrections edit)

Absolutely one of my favorite songs by him, or anyone else. Love everything about this entire album.

“Don’t ever downplay your strength.” Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. It just broke straight through to me. Thank you.

You made us wait almost 2 weeks!! 😂😂. Great video! I haven't read any comments yet but to answer your question based on what I think, I think he's addressing 2 crowds. The first crowd is definitely the social media critics. Any famous person can probably relate to that and understand exactly what he means. But the second crowd, just in my opinion, may be the Christian audience abroad. Even in this song NF said "Christian is not the definition of a perfect me". He is a Christian but he's stated he is not a Christian rapper. He's a rapper who is a Christian. And I think whenever you take on that kind of approach you upset the Christian community because we (yes I'm a christian too) tend to put God in this religious box and assume He can only display Himself in the fashion of tradition. If you listen to His music from a Christian perspective your first reaction, if you are closed minded, will be that it's "moody and dark" and because Jesus is Light, this type of music doesnt line up with Christian values. Again, I know that's a far stretch but I have to believe thats part of what NF means because the Christian community can be some of the most judgemental, self-righteous people on the planet (and again, I'm apart of that group, but not that view). I think as NF grows in his music career he is not staying confined to what the Church accepts as Christian Music and NF knows this, which is why he's broken away from that, because he's not going to let that view dictate him as an artist. I think part of this therapy session is NF concluding that's not His lane. In his song 10 Feet Down he says "Church is where I found God, but it's also where I learned to judge". In his song No Name he says, "I used to walk on stage in a V-neck I used to wear a lil' tie with a black vest I came a long way, why you lookin' upset? I'm tryna paint a picture, get the vision, you ain't hear it yet, woo!" I just feel this is his breaking away from Christian tradition. And those who call his music "moody and dark" are the Christian community. That's just my opinion. One thing about NF, which I love, is by not taking the mainstream Christian route he is surpassing any Christian rap artist out there! The most popular Christian rappers come from 116 Clique which consist of Lacrae, Andy Mineo, Trip Lee, KB, etc.. The Spotify and RU-vid counts prove their reach. These guys (who are considered #1 Christian Rappers) have 1.2M spotify monthly listens. NF, who is somewhere in the top 10, ranks is just over 12M monthly listeners. NF is the Christian taboo but his reach expands beyond the Christian audience. No Christian rapper, and I repeat, NO CHRISTIAN RAPPER is reaching people the way he is. This is why I personally have so much love and respect for NF because his music is literally saving peoples lives because he's talking about what other christian rappers aren't! Ok enough said 😂✌🏼

I like when you are analysing the lyrics as much as the music itself

There is a song that NF is featured on with Futuristic called Epiphany. You should check it out.

Fun fact: perception (NFs 3rd album) is his only album so far which doesn‘t have a song that is named after the album Also The Search (NFs 4th album) is his only album so far which doesn’t have an intro

BTW, this song is him talking to his record label. They wanted him to make "more uplifting" message with a "positive message" since they're a Christian music company.

As someone who has been in the situation where music is one of the few things that have kept me alive, the reason why we feel that way is because when artists sing about things like this, we don't feel alone. We realize that in our lonely, painful world, we're suddenly not the only ones who have, or are, carrying around those burdens. Add to the lyrics the music track that also conveys the same emotions that we're feeling.. It's a potent mix of emotions, a call that answers our own.

Omg been waiting for this all week and I refresh and it comes up!!!

Waiting until he gets to the last track of The Search 😂 we got a looooong road ahead of us

Most of the songs in NF's first three albums were written before he became famous (Notebook shows this). This was one of the few songs written in response to the previous album cycle and the critics he now has to deal with. NF's grind was a very long one but fame came from nowhere. I remember finding out about him just before TS dropped and the song "Why Would You Leave Us?" promoted him to national (maybe international) stardom. Within one year of his first labeled LP dropping, he was famous on an international level with fans telling him they're alive because of him and critics telling him he's just another rapper without a message. This song was both a response and an explanation. Many artists create works that help people through depression or suicidality and they do write from their own experiences but, as you'll see when you get to The Search, Nate is writing from very personal experiences. While other people are telling him "I stopped cutting myself because your music gave me hope", he's standing backstage trying not to cut himself. He hates himself and hates the fame he now has but mostly he hates that he feels responsible for the people that he's helped. He hates HOW responsible he feels. He doesn't hate his fans nor does he not want to help them. It's the prerogative and burden he's put on himself that he hates and this song was written to show "look, I care, I really do, but I need you all to realize that I'm not the best person to help you. These songs weren't written to help YOU through your problems, they were written for me to get my problems out of my mansion." This whole journey really culminates in Perception where he stops talking about the internal struggle and really starts dealing with things outside himself. TS is an extremely heavy album emotionally because he's finally dealing with the trauma of his childhood and he needed people to realize they would not "like" the message of this album. They may enjoy the songs and they may find help and camaraderie through the lyrics but this album was written for Nate alone. Therapy Session (the song) is his way of pushing people away because he wanted to deal with this on his own. He's railing on the critics so hard here because he knows if they didn't get the message that Mansion told they would never understand what he's dealing with in TS (album). That's why, in Intro II, he has the line "that was like me at a 3 / you don't wanna see me at 10 / or maybe you do / I promise if that is the case then that is what you're gonna get". TS is not an easy album to listen to. It wasn't made to be. It's the album of his I listen to the least. Once you realize that, you can really experience the entire album the way it was meant to be: through his eyes. Mansion let's you see who he is; it let's you enter the mansion. You *cannot* understand TS the way he wrote it without seeing it through the lens of Mansion. I mean, the song Mansion literally contains lyrics from TS, just to give you an idea. I've loved watching you go on this journey because you're able to dissect the music and lyrics in exactly the way someone needs to in order to understand the message. Just don't expect his usual happy self on this album. Remember "all of [his] music is moody and dark" so don't get him started.

I still get emotional listening to these songs, NF hasn't directly saved my life but the power of knowing how many he has. It's overwhelming. Stay strong people.

The space bar sound is a physical manifestation of the brain about to say something thought provoking and special.

Most of the time he’s talking to himself as I see it. He knows he makes a difference but the self doubt is one of his biggest 🎈. My take on his music.

Intro 3 is easily his most amazing song lyrically. What he does with words gives me chills.

As someone who has had multiple musical artists "save" them, it's less of the artist saving me, and more of a "wow, someone else is going through what I went through, I'm not alone." The artists that have saved me are NF, The Color Morale, Cinema Century (small local band), Silverstein, and a few others I can't think of off the top of my head. I recommend the entire Know Hope album by The Color Morale. It won't get views, though, so maybe just check it out on your own free time? It's metalcore, too, in case that makes you shy away.

Been waiting for this for aaaaaages. 20 seconds in and loving it!

Absolutely love your reactions. Keep it up.

Your reactions are like always a treat to see and i really look forward to your reactions to the rest of the albums

Great reaction and breakdown. You're awesome!

Great video man. Keep it up. I really enjoyed watching this👍

Thanks for the video love how I’m depth you go. Keep it going man! Nice to see someone respect music like I do

I'm so happy that I stumbled across u love how u are so into the instruments and break the song down don't stop

There are sooo many nf reactions and I have been watching them for a long time. but yours is one I am looking for now. I really enjoy it.

i appreciate your analyses and i love how you say "here." that is all.

You’re genuinely right about that little bit there. For anyone that says NF saves your life, he may have helped with his brilliant messages. But in the end YOU’RE the one who saved you

I made it early!! I love your breakdown reactions!!

Comments coming from someone with knowledge like yours of music has opened my eyes even further to what a genius nf really is.

Strong words for the afflicted. Great job!

Love your reactions. Please do NF remember this 🎈🖤

I don’t know the exact people he’s talking about, likely a mix of people directly that were in his life and critics both professional and just music gatekeepers. A lot of people used to knock him as a Eminem copycat since he has a similar aggressive rapping style and has been open about taking a lot of influence from him. Another thing he has talked about in another song, don’t remember which exact one but he has been accused as being manufactured by his label and that he didn’t work for it (curse of making it on a major label). As far as the accusations of violence is probably from parents of the kids who are connecting to it, confusing the fact he pumps a lot of dark emotions into his songs that he’s expressing violence and probably by other Christians who judge him for making rap and especially emotional and aggressive rap

A brilliant mind reacting to a brilliant artist. Keep up the hard work 👌

Im excited that you are progressing in the journey in the second album now. :-)

I absolutely love NF I absolutely love this song And I really love your channel So, perfect reaction! Keep up the great work, your videos are something special. Much love, bye :)

Talent!

NF looks to his fans who got help as smarter that he is. He thought he was dealing with his problems with just his music. It took his wife dragging him to therapy and hearing from fans how therapy helped them to finally getting help.

Love the breakdowns and I also love your breakdown on the concept of talent. NF actually touches on how hard he works in the song Grindin'. I don't think I've seen you do a reaction on this one yet, but I think you'd enjoy it. It is a go to for me at the gym.

I’m glad you reacted to this, I wanted to see what you thought of the hook, I feel in love with it first time I heard it

My guy has the pee wee herman jumps! 😆🤣 it's all good though man i like the reactions and the NF journey your taking keep it up!!

Ooo you’re almost to How Could You Leave Us! I’m excited for how that’s gonna impact you.

Favourite NF reactions, keep up the amazing videos.

I love watching this guy I always understand him and I relate because I’m in my own choir at my high school.

I love the lyric "Christian is not the definition of a perfect me." I think sometimes God gives people the "talent" (yeah i said it:) of hard work too. That's a gift, whether it's nature or nurture in each person's life.

Been Waiting for this one! God I love your reactions. The most in depth and amazing reaction channel on all of RU-vid.

You are the best music therapist I have experienced. Some of the advice/inspiration/kind words have hit deep. I hope our daughter grows up to carry herself the way you do. Confident and skilled yet humble and vulnerable. Awesome mix.

That sarcasm at the beginning was 👌 😂 Thank you for these NF reaction videos. I love how you go into so much depth both with the music (especially since that's not my forte) and with NF's message. I wouldn't say that NF is the reason that I'm alive, but his music has definitely helped me get through some dark and difficult times. Seeing someone do NF's songs justice in their reviews makes me happy. NF deserves all the respect and support! ❤

Thank you for your reaction. Loved your commentary on talent. Keep up the good work!

I love how you literally dissect the songs and split it into the instrumental and the vocal aspects. I don't know anyone who does it that perfectly. For me you could even listen to a part of a song just for the instumental and then go back and listen to the same part again for the lyrical analysis. I would not complain. Keep up the great work. Greetings from Germany :) Little note: most of NFs songs are composed by Tommee Profitt. He has a lot of great songs (mostly orchestral heavy, like a movie trailer) and I recommend listening to them as well, if you have the time :)

I like the bit at the end about talent. I hadn’t thought about that too much and I’m not sure why more of these comments aren’t talking about it. You make good points, very thought-provoking

Thanks for what you are doing. I appreciate the time you took to speak to those have gotten through their hard times proceeding to empower them. Always appreciate your reactions as well. Kudos Also completely forgot about that BabyFace Stevie Wonder song until this. Now I have to revisit The Day. Cheers

Been waiting for a new reaction! Always love your breakdowns. Mostly parents are saying that he doesn't have a message or that the message he does have is very negative because of the "dark" theme he has. Its not dark though, its just real.

Love your reaction videos. It feels like I'm watching a "professional reaction " if there is such a thing.

So glad your notification for how could you leave us has been pushed to me. I forgot about your channel but happy I have 2 & a half including this one to listen to while I do work in college. Made my day👍🏻🎊

Thank you for the shout out to focus on Mental Health Issues!! You sir, have gained a fan and earned yourself a lot of respect from me!! I deal with some mental health problems so it's something that I passionately care about and support!! NF's music is literally the only music I listen to.

Your reactions to NF give me chills! I've never come across a rector that can do that. You get it and it's refreshing!

I love your NF Reactions!! You are very talen... I can tell that you've worked very hard to be as good of a reactor as you are. 😁 Keep up the Great work.

Your comment about worth and the whole reason that someone’s alive really struck me. Thank you

I've been waiting for this! I'm SO GLAD I'm still awake at almost 8 a.m.!

Like you said that there are a lot of people that say that NF is the reason they are alive. And Ivan relate to that because when I was going through a rough time and was going through severe depression his music made me feel like I wasn't alone and that someone else understood what I was going through. So his music has helped a lot of people and that's what I love about him.

Also, super excited that you are that much closer to "How Could You Leave Us" 😁

Therapy Session is definitely top 3 for me personally. I love your reactions so much and look forward to them every week! Keep up the good work. My only critique is that the spacebar isn't quite loud enough. You should do something about that...

Honestly I really appreciate your monolog on the word talent. I've thought that for a long time.

I’m SO glad to see you using that term I so recently coined: reactionalysis. It can be conjugated in standard fashion: reactionalygise/reactionalygised/etc. You are, of course, the/a reactor, the analysis (if it occurs) being implicitly considered to belong within the purview of the reactor. There is no need to worry about a turnabout since the analysis of something is already a reaction to it. Please, do continue to use the term; spread it around!! But within the trivia databank of your mind, do keep the awareness of who coined the word. I would not want to confuse the linguists of the future. Peace. (And keep up your fine work!)

I dont comment all the time, but I love watching your NF journey brother! My wife and I look forward to this every week!

Amazing video

I think the disclaimer is mostly because of the boy slitting his wrist and the blood on his hand

This was the song that probably drew me in the most to his music. Him saying this wasn't written for us but for him just gave me a different sense than most other writers and it gives his music a much more emotional presence. Idk if this makes sense lol

NF is one of the only rappers I personally know who regularly mainly works with like one producer. Sometimes certain songs/parts will be put onto others, but for the most part, a vast majority of all his music is being produced by Tommee Profitt. On top of being a great producer (which is more and more prominent as the albums go on), he and NF are pretty close friends, and he made some of NF's earliest stuff. I feel like that's why the rapping always sits so well within the beat and they compliment each other so well with such a unique vibe.

I know NF have never meet me but I swear he knows me better than anyone else. a lot of people say that NF music is dark and nasty And that doesn't have any message. Basically people are deff. They don't see the reality in the lyrics, they don't see how relatable this lyrics are

I didn't even click that you are Australian. Still loving your reactions especially NF. I look forward to you breaking down other artists I like

The way you talked about talent is really something to think about, and I feel it is spot on. I always say hard work > talent, it’s really the work you put in that makes the difference, but they way you said it was very interesting and something I will carry with me, so thank you.. When it comes to the title therapy session, the whole album is a therapy session, this is just a part of what he would say in a therapy session. The pressure, all the people saying he is aggressive, all the people telling him he saved their life’s, it has really put a toll on him.. he didn’t ask to be the therapist, really because he needs music as his therapy, because it’s his way of coping with his life and mental health. Once again you deliver the best of the best reactions, I’ve been checking every day since the last one for a new one. (No pressure really, it’s just me who is excited to see this journey of yours on my favorite artist by a mile). Similarly to him I use dancing as a therapy because I can express my mood, energy, feelings, mental state etc. through it, and he uses music and words to express all of these things instead of feeling left out by a therapist who doesn’t fully understand or/and he lacks trust to talk with someone with a degree and no life experience like him. I feel maybe that’s his main focus on this song.

You have such a talented spacebar...not to down play all of its hard work and determination, of course!

Hey I know that you read every comment so I wanted to make a big suggestion for reactions. There's this artist called Jon Bellion, he is a Pop/HipHop kinda artist with an electronic touch who produces his own instrumentals. I've listened to him for a while now and I am not as good in musical analyses as you are but I still find new things from time to time. I would love if you could check him out at least once. He uses cuss words very rarely and has mostly meaningful lyrics as well. A good song to get a mixture of his abilities is "Maybe Idk" from his second recent album "The Human Condition". And his other albums in order are: Translations Through Speakers The Separation The Definition The Human Condition Glory Sound Prep I would love to hear your analysis and opinion to at least one song!

So glad that this one is out. I was actually kind of thrown back by the fact that you talked way less about the music and spoke more about the lyrics until I realized there's basically no music in this, on purpose. Please continue to get through these, only gripe I have is that it takes too long to get the next one!

im happy that you are really interested and as a NF fan i can tell you. He is talking about the critics like media...usually people that cant understand his music...he is making music for people that are really going through hard and dark times and cant talk about it...he is a christian rapper that never swear in his songs. His fans are NOT "usual" people, lets say...

GREAT DEFINITION OF TALENT AND GIFT. TAKE THE GIFT AND DEVELOP THE DESIRE TO EXPRESS YOUR TALENT IN A WAY THAT COMMUNICATES WELL TO OTHERS AND EVEN HELPS THEM. GOD SPEED.