EGOTRIP.

https://i.postimg.cc/9QMzHQk4/Screenshot-20260428-102129-Spotify.jpg

Egotrip. an album by John Michel and Anthony James. one of the craziest, most underrated finds i have EVER come across. coming up to abouttt a year ago, i saw this random song called "world's end" in my spotify discovery weekly. i checked out the entire album and from there, idek what happened. i dont think ive found an album so emotionally resonating and so hard at the same time since mr morale and the big steppers, which, if you know me, is my favourite album of all time :p

personally, this was my album of the year for 2025. which is CRAZY considering all of the other insane music that dropped that year - clipse, tyler, daniel caesar, jid. all of these artists i know and love, and these two random ppl who ive NEVER heard of before just make an album that easily tops my list?

FIRST OFF: this shit goes so incredibly hard. everything about the production (shoutout anthony james) to the insane rapping (goat michel) had me in a TRANCE. the best thing about this album is that no one outshined anyone, the production and the rapping was equally as good which honestly is a really good feat. my fav thing in hip hop are soul samples, ive always been drawn to them, and the chipmunk-soul type of thing they did on here was insane. everything about the production had me so hooked, it was so refreshing to hear and felt so unique. It fr felt like it was recorded in person with a band using physical instruments, especially the drums and the electric guitar, it felt so alive and dynamic. once again anthony, (and anyone else who helped produce), if ur reading this, incredible job. now the RAPPING. this guy john michel went crazy, he did an incredible job. big fan of his voice and his flows, not to mention his lyricism. the topics he talks about (specifically the ones that i resonated with) i'll get into in a bit. also, there's something about the strain he puts in his voice that makes you REALLY feel the song. the best examples of these kinda songs id say are "ONEWAY", "PREACHER!", "NOBODY" and "EGOTRIP" (i could go on but lowk i shouldnt put every track 😭)

aight now that the real ones made it here, its time for the deep stuff. alot of what john michel talks about hit me like a mf (but like in a GOOD way). specifically, the songs "world's end" and "Admit My Guilt". world's end IS the most popular song on this project, but for a good reason. its heavily emotional and raw, exploring themes of grief, trauma, pain and loss. Admit My Guilt also tackles similar themes, but it zooms in a bit more on familial and childhood trauma, relationships with parents, those kinda things. they're both very personal songs but i found that they spoke to me on a soul-level, i connected with them very heavily and they had a pretty big impact on me emotionally. like i said, the only other album that made me reflect on this typa stuff was mr morale and the big steppers by kendrick, shit was therapeutic asf. but anyway bottom line is that those songs fucked me up, and in a way, it made me feel seen

even more specifically, Admit My Guilt. what an insane song lmao. and the impact it had on my work. idk how, but this song moved me so much that i decided to make an edit of it, not JUST an edit but something completely different. something unique and on a different level to any edit ive made before. if ur here at all then ur familiar with it, that's the style ive been editing in ever since. more importantly, it was the first time i realised that having emotional connections with songs resulted in me being able to make some crazyyyy shit. i was talking to someone about this the other day but emotionally resonating with a song, being depressed, heartbroken, actually feeling something, can result in ur best art sometimes. sometimes that process can suck but its nothing or something iykyk. its also my first edit that blew up on tiktok which is wild considering how underrated the song is.

ok thats it i think. prolly the only one that'll be THIS long but it definitely had to be this album first. just to reiterate im not some music reviewer or writer or anthony fantano. i just love music and these are my subjective opinions.

shoutout the two mfs that made this masterpiece. cant wait to work with u guys 🤝

ty to those who took the time to read this, lil side thing i wanted to start so appreciate u for checking it out. if u fw it lmk :P OK BYE

- noot 🫡