American rapper and singer Rod Wave released his newest album, “Nostalgia,” on Sept. 2 on all platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify. His 2018 debut album, “Hunger Games 2,” was enjoyed by fans, resulting in heavy anticipation for his new album.
“Nostalgia” is Wave’s third number-one album on the music charts, according to Rod Wave discography. His previous albums, “Beautiful Mind” and “Soulfly,” were also back-to-back number-one albums on the charts. Before these albums, he had an album called “Pray 4 Love,” which peaked at number two on the charts. The label that promoted the “Nostalgia” album is called Alamo, which sets artists up with the best producers in their genre and, once the artist has their record complete, the label takes care of branding and PR to help the album sell.
The album consists of 18 songs, which are melodically very different. The album is also 55 minutes and 22 seconds long, which was decently long but could have been a bit longer. Wave used X to promote his new album and also dropped clips of the songs on his Instagram story months prior to the album being dropped.
“I was really looking forward to his album coming out because he kept giving release dates and then pushing them back,” junior Nahisha Sanon said. “He is inspirational, relatable and just amazing at what he does.”
Out of all the songs on the album, “Call Your Friends” was released a month before the album. This song focuses on his relationship with his children and how there is no need to show off things if someone really has money. This was one of the number-one songs on the album because it shows how Wave does not sugarcoat his life. He talks about the pros and cons of having money.
“Call Your Friends” was amazing because, in today’s society, people like to use others and benefit from other people’s success. The song beautifully displays how people will treat a person when they have more than them.
While Wave often makes a lot of solo music, he has two features on this album: one with well-known rapper 21 Savage called “Turks & Caicos” and one with singer-songwriter Sadie Jean called “2018.” The featured artists made the songs better by adding something that the fans were not expecting from Wave. These songs are unique compared to Waves other work because he usually collaborates with rappers, not R&B singers, giving the album a completely different sound.
Track 13 is called “Great Gatsby,” and it compares the storyline of “The Great Gatsby” to his life. In the song, he talks about how his closest friend was, in turn, his worst enemy, while also telling the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan. “Great Gatsby” is a catchy song that can be learned just by listening to it once.
“I enjoy that song the most on the album because I have seen the movie before so I had an idea of what Rod Wave was speaking about,” junior Williene Joffre said.
The best songs on the album are “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Fighting The Feeling” and “Long Journey.” These songs display feelings of how it feels to go from not having anything to having everything and the new expectations from family. These three songs were executed to perfection, had deep meanings and were very peaceful. Teens can relate to his music and sit and listen for a long period of time because the beats are therapeutic and relaxing.
“Not one song on the album is unrelatable. When the album first dropped I put on my airpods and listened to the whole album,” sophomore Julian Garcia said.
Wave having 21 Savage and Saidie Jean on the songs made the album numbers skyrocket since it was something different that the fans were not used to. Wave included multiple features, but the beats themselves can be listened to on their own. The album was exactly as expected: amazing and relatable. Although many love all Rod Wave songs, this album has been on repeat since it came out.
