CLOUDS

NF released his first mixtape, CLOUDS (THE MIXTAPE), on March 26, 2021. During its ominous, chest-beating title track, he explains why he crafted a mixtape rather than his usual albums and EPs. Mixtapes aren't my thing, but it's been awfully exhausting Hanging onto songs this long is daunting Because he could not tour due to the COVID pandemic, he'd been holding on to his songs. "I like to build shows with stuff from the covers, stuff from the videos," he said, "I like making it all one thing." The Michigan rapper added that as he can't hold on to his unreleased tracks any longer, he decided to give his fans a mixtape.

As the track progresses, NF becomes more fiery, delivering braggadocio rhymes about his continued ascent. Beat all the odds, I ain't got no limits Cannot be stopped, you payin' attention? Flexing the gravity of his ambitions contrasts with some of NF's previous material, such as "Leave Me Alone," where he talks of being tormented by his success. Now that his mental well-being has improved he's planning on setting up camp on top of the charts.

The song title comes from a line in the first verse when NF references his meteoric rise: Come out the clouds like a meteor rock Then land on the earth like "Ready or not?" When NF's third studio album, Perception, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, he seemed to have come out of nowhere. As a Christian MC who keeps his rhymes clean, many believed NF's tracks had a limited market, but he proved them wrong.