Verse 1

As usual, Kraftykid squeezes many concepts into one song. This can be a lot to take in, so multiple listens are usually recommended. However, in today’s microwave music era that’s a big ask. Verse 1 covers topics from incels and the Black Lives Matter movement, to the importance of conserving time and energy. “Can’t politic with a racist, that’d take too much time”, he raps. Vangs Music delivers on the dark beat with a melody fit for the grim reaper himself.

Verse 2

Verse 2 sees Krafty address the close call his friend had when meeting a stranger from Craigslist which turned out to be a honey trap. He’s lucky he only got robbed. He also discusses violent acts by boys not even old enough to vote. It seems like going to jail is a rollout for some rappers. Then some that go mainstream do it out of pressure online by people with no avatars, in my opinion. Others do things out of necessity. I wish more youth clubs were available. “Ain’t even lived life, he a lifer.”, Kraftykid raps.

Artwork

Finally, let’s talk about the artwork. That is a picture I took in 2015 in Higashi-Nakano with my Airbnb host, I believe. Back when Airbnb was still a thing in Japan. I recall this was round Christmas time. I wonder where the decorations are? Maybe I should’ve Photoshopped some in. I wanted to use a simple picture that looks busy to portray that sense of many people being the main characters of their own stories but an NPC in yours.

Moral

The core message of the song, as heard in the chorus, is to know yourself and draw a line in the sand somewhere. “The streets, huh? You know that’s not your place.” Take a listen for yourself below and see if you can catch all these references.