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People overpathologize everything but one thing I noticed is that it's almost always about trauma and healing. I think we should explore psychology beyond that. Like, what if you're already healed? There's many other topics left to be explored. For example (and this is gonna sound like a joke but I promise it's not) why can't we study the psychology behind why people like certain music or their level of enthusiasm for music. Like I like to listen to full albums, most people can't be bothered to sit through a single song these days. So why can't we also have space dedicated to that?

Don't get me wrong, trauma healing content is incredibly resourceful and incredibly important. By no means do I want to minimize that. I just feel like we can walk and chew gum at the same time and I'd like to see people explore other aspects of human psychology that doesn't have to deal with healing old wounds or whatever.

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The New Lil Wayne Album Is Fucking Phenomenal

I've been doing this music shit a long time. My taste is the best it's ever been and it continues to improve, day after day, year after year, and decade over decade. I've seen my listening habits shift from simply being a music enthusiast to a full music authority.

Part of this path to enlightenment is just the belief that you can find the beauty in music that others would call trash. And we do have to unpack that word "trash" a bit here, when we talk about Lil Wayne's album Tha Carter 6. But let me start with a harsh truth, something I don't really want to say but I think it bears mentioning to contextualize this conversation:

Not everyone's opinion about music holds equal weight.

Yes, music is subjective. That means that there are no objective metrics on which to score music. HOWEVER. And this is important!!! The approach at which you might decide on how to listen and evaluate music informs your reception of the music.

See, we're in the playlist and algorithm era right now. People who have the time and dedication to listen to full albums are becoming few far and between. Carter 6 is filled to the brim with different influences that come together and make a thrilling experience from start to finish. And if you don't grasp those influences, this isn't going to work for you. Does that mean the album is bad? No, it means where you are at in your music journey, you're unable to grasp the work.

The album starts off with a cut that long time Wayne fans should appreciate, "Welcome To The Carter." From here on out we start to hop through many different styles: the old school Run DMC/LL Cool J homage of "Bells" the Texas lean (no pun intended) of "Hip-Hop," and the Jelly Roll/Big Sean assisted "Sharks" set the tone nicely. But this is merely the beginning. "Banned from NO" pulls from N.O.R.E.'s "Banned From TV" and updates the drums with a modern day twist.

"The Days" featuring Bono is the only outright bad track on here. The whole vibe is straight out a 2010's "B.o.B - Airplanes" Pandora station. Yet it's still Wayne showing his versatility and at this point a theme is emerging, this is a wildly experimental album and no two songs sound the same.

"Cotton Candy" featuring 2 Chainz is one of my favorites on this whole thing. As of now, the sample hasn't been found but I must find it. The saxophone that's lurking in the background is just to die for, both Wayne and Chainz rise to the occasion of the track, and that guitar at the end is reminiscent of an 80s new wave song that I can't place.

"Flex Up" is another highlight on here. It's a very Future/Thug type trap track that shows that, despite how he portrays himself in interviews, he is still on the pulse on what's going on in hip-hop.

From here we get three rock inspired tracks: "Island Holiday" is a straight rework of Weezer's "Island in the Sun" that works way better than I thought it would. It trades the "hip hip" of the original with "sip sip" and it's in this moment I thought man, Shaboozey is punching air that he didn't think of this first, because this sounds like the exact type of flip that he'd try to pull off.

"Loki's Theme" carries that YG/West Coast bounce before morphing into something that resembles Lil Uzi's aspirations into rock music. Again, this is something that you would never expect and Wayne is just throwing paint all over the canvas trying to see what sticks.

"If I Played Guitar" is a Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah interpolation. Do I need to say any more about this one? Because apparently people are too tasteless to appreciate what's going on here. The sincerity of Wayne's vocal really works for this track, and this stretch of songs sounds like what Rebirth might have sounded if it had more polish and better execution.

"Peanuts 2 N Elephant" is the most unlikely good song on this album. I actually find it fucking hilarious, and I was grinning like a damn idiot when I heard him trying to deliver these lines with a straight face over a beat that has been called Crash Bandicoot background music, punctuated by elephant noises. It definitely recalls the freewheeling excellence he was doing on Drought 3, and he sounds like he's having a blast doing it. This song is produced by Lin Manuel Miranda, aka, the guy who made Hamilton.

"Rari" featuring his son, Kameron Carter, has a hyperpop lean to it which recalls Namasenda's "Vvolvo" - a musical touchpoint that even on an album as experimental as this, I wouldn't dream of hearing. It's just cool as hell that he'd do this and skipping ahead, has another song, "Mula Comin In" with his son Neal Carter (credited as "Lil Novi"). "Mula Comin In" is a Carti-style track and across both of these tracks, I love that Wayne is meeting his sons where they are on what songs they wanted to make.

"Maria" is incredible. Featuring Wyclef, it marries an opera sample with trap drums, and it's actually baffling that THIS isn't the track Lin Manuel Miranda produced lmao.

"Bein Myself" is Mannie Fresh in his bag in what be the most conventional song on the record. The sample is from Dionne Warwick and is simply amazing.

"Alone in the Studio With My Gun" might have worked better with Kodak subbed out, but I love the vibe that mgk brings to this one (and I shouldn't have. It just works.) Perhaps you could have had a better song with The Kid Laroi both on the hook and replacing the Kodak verse, but I still think it's a good song overall and that chorus is just too catchy for words.

In short though - I don't understand what album people were listening to. This is chock full with ideas and from one song to the next you get a different vibe with Wayne trying to adapt to what the song calls for.

It's sad, because I know we were losing the cultural collective moment with the advent of Spotify individualism, and media literacy seems like it's at an all-time low, but the divisiveness and dismissiveness that this album provoked out of people kind of draws my point home.

The people who actually like music and care to dissect it are sort of like the scientists of every disaster movie trying to inform the world of impending doom as they're pushed away by some commander who wants to instead steamroll head-first into the chaos.

It's like, ok, I guess you guys should stick to your Daily Mixes or whatever, because you're clearly not cut out for evaluating albums. Yall can leave that to the experts, please.

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Sleep Token and Music Criticism

I'm going to try to get my thoughts out as coherently as possible, but my brain's been all over the place lately. I keep halfway participating in these Sleep Token discussions. The main point that I've come away with is criticism, both professional and from the everyman Facebook commenter, has been immensely ignorant.

Let's get the elephant out of the way here: Sleep Token is divisive. And they are divisive completely and solely because they are a metal band that mixes other genres into their sound, such as trap, R&B, electronic and some radio friendly pop music. They have been compared to Sam Smith and Imagine Dragons. Their whole getup, which consists of masks and costumes, might also add to the irritation.

Now, I'm a huge fan of music, and I never think that I'm outright "wrong" on any band. So I firmly believe that Sleep Token is a great band, and the criticism they've faced has just been incredibly shortsighted and uncharitable.

If one more person says, "They're not even a metal band!" I'm gonna flip. You ignorant motherfuckers. WHO. CARES. Who cares IF they are or are NOT a metal band. All of you sound stupid when you say this. But even with that aside, it's hilarious that they have plenty of songs with metal parts in them. Plenty. Yes, there are songs that are devoid of any metal element in them, but since there are so many songs that DO feature metal elements, it ultimately refutes the "they're not even metal!" claims. They're so baseless.

And the fact that so many people keep parroting this asinine opinion leads me to believe that none of these people have tried to give Sleep Token a fair shake. Like, they might have heard a few of their pop leaning songs and then made a judgment on the band of a whole. But it doesn't fucking work that way. They have four albums out, try listening to all four in full, then come back and tell me they're not a metal band. AND, if you speak from a pre-conceived notion that pop music is a lesser form of music than other popular forms of music (by the way, most modern metal follows a pop format...) then I don't even want to listen to what you have to say.

The critics, like Pitchfork and Fantano, have predictably given the new album a 2. Now, this is where the crux of my rant begins. I find myself thinking, what use is this to anyone? Like, you all clearly aren't the target demo for this stuff and then you go ahead and just trash it for clicks and views. It's punching down on something they think is beneath them and that's the worst part, it's like this isn't 2005 anymore, nobody cares that you're too cool for certain music. People would defend this behavior by some manner of "So, what? They're supposed to give every album a positive rating?" and it's like no. I don't like all music and I think some music sucks. But if I'm reviewing something I'd rather critique it in a way that doesn't resort to belittling or imparting some smug arrogance on the person that's meant to consume the opinion.

For example, I love the new album and I have reservations about it, namely that some of these cadences and melodies that Vessel is using simply doesn't last long enough in these songs. Standout track "Gesthemane" has Vessel doing this impassioned yell-rapping sort of thing but it only lasts 4 bars. Likewise, when he uses this Weeknd-like melodic progression at the end of the song, it also feels short. I would love to see him try to spit a 16 using a good cadence/melody so we can really enjoy it. "Caramel" and "Emergence" have similar problems for me.

If your review is simply "this is bland, this sucks, this is Imagine Dragons, this isn't metal" it's not good criticism. It's halfway interacting with the music and forming a biased opinion against it. Like, I don't like Taylor Swift, but I'd never use the word "bland pop music" against her. I'd at least try to be constructive and voice legitimate complaints. And that's all I'm asking for with Sleep Token (who by the way, I still believe are a great band and I think everyone is simply wrong about them lol). Just give me something substantial. Stop nitpicking over the genre.

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Pop the Balloon, Episode 11

Shaping up to be one of the best episodes of the series, and I haven't even gotten to Ninja Turtle yet!!

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Pop the Balloon, Episode 9

First contestant got a petty pop early on because of his outfit, amazing. He is 40, a very mature, no-nonsense kind of businessman, and his demeanor seems all serious, "high value" if you will. Should make for an interesting first round.

Age is becoming a factor in this round, it's not for lack of trying that he's getting popped, I think the suitettes are intimidated by his business-like demeanor. One of the pops was because he needed to "loosen up" lol.

Ended in a match - he played the round great, I thought he was gonna lose it near the end, but he persevered.

2nd guy - super respectful, super well-put together, and he's playing this round well.

Let me pause a bit and talk about the gamesmanship of these rounds.

Each round indeed has a little bit of game theory to it. There's early game, mid-game, and final game. Depending on how the rounds play out, these cycles can be slow or fast, and we'll unpack that a little bit too.

Early game - This is just the introduction/first impression. What is his or her height/weight/overall build, what kind of outfit do they have on, what kind of hair do they have, and what vibe they give off during their introduction. If there are no pops, then the early game extends for a little bit with the onus on popping shifting to the contestant. But if the suitors are not feeling the first impression and 2 or 3 pops occur, we immediately go to the mid game.

Mid game - This is where back and forth occurs either with question and response (if there are any pops), or weed-out questions from either the contestant or Arlette. During the conversations that are had here, the suitors are listening for any red flags that may cause them to pop. This would include any rudeness towards the suitors, anything that may disqualify themselves (such as the contestant saying he doesn't want someone with kids, and they indeed have kids), or it can be something that actually disqualifies the CONTESTANT, which is where I think the magic lies. Like (and this is a silly example), if during a normal conversation the contestant reveals that they smoke cigarettes, or has a dog, or just got divorced - whatever the case may be, they are setting themselves up for a potential pop).

Finally, late game - late game is when there are only 3 or less balloons popped. Arlette likes to end each round with asking both the contestant and the suitors if they have any questions for each other. During this final round of questioning, it's an extremely volatile time where those "accidental admissions" could become dealbreakers and lead to some very high stakes pops.

Now, I believe the second contestant had a FLAWLESS round, he was really taking the reigns. I was surprised he popped the lady in the red, she was very mature and measured, not to mention beautiful. What a shocking finish.

Ah, the return of "Dr. Elom" as the third contestant. This dude is a straight villain lmao, IMMEDIATE rapid-fire pops (like I said, this immediately shifts us into the mid-game).

This episode is also one of my favorites. Just an overall great vibe!

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Pop the Balloon, Episode 8

This episode introduced "What are your dealbreakers?" as an opening question which helps to speed up the rounds here by causing early eliminations.

Great panel of male suitors on this episode, very respectful with their pops and not trying to bicker or argue with the contestants.

Take a shot every time one of the suitors says "I just wanted to hear more" when Arlette asks why they left their balloon unpopped. It's a bonafide drinking game!

First contestant was on the younger side, and seemed nice at first but the more she spoke, the more petty and shallow she seemed like. She left with no matches.

2nd Contestant was a little bold and aggressive, and disqualified herself by suggesting that she's not gonna support her man with potential or hard times. She too left with no matches lol

3rd contestant came out with a great vibe and seems really fun, as well as being artistic - I'm attracted personally lmao.

She ended in a match. She's such a beautiful vibrant soul. I loved her energy.

Mid-episode note: Arlette's banter with the female contestants is amazing here. She's calming, disarming and is locked in keeping the flow of these rounds going. Great job, Arlette!!

4th contestant got OWNED by one of the suitors by coming out projecting emotional intelligence but then finding ticky tack physical traits to disqualify them on. She knows what her love language is though lol

Ended up getting matched tho! Wholesome round despite the early negativity.

5th contestant seemed cool but a little aimless and her energy felt off. She left with no matches.

6th contestant seems a little nervous. Let's see if her height is an issue for the guys (or vice versa).

Yep. I don't know why heels adds a handicap to the whole height thing.

We got rapid-fire pop situation here. And I echo the sentiments of the guys, she was a bit shallow. She is beautiful tho.

Last contestant is batshit beautiful and seems very easygoing.

Spoiler alert: She has a kid! Here comes the pops.

Okay nah she sucks lol. This show teaches me that you can't always judge a book by its cover!

Final episode notes: I LOVEEEEE that Arizona is a character on the show. When people reference either being from Arizona or what brought them to Arizona, I think it just adds that extra layer of greatness to this show.

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Pop the Balloon Episode 7

Started off great, floundered a bit with the energy of the last contestants. Episode 6 is the bar to beat right now! Excuse the brevity, also watched on the plane.

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Pop the Balloon Episode 6

Though the guys on this episode were really stiff/selective, there was a lot of great banter, humor and gems shared in this one. I watched this one on the plane to NYC so no in depth analysis I can remember other than this was a really great episode and a great one to show to newcomers. I'm kind of wary of giving someone a first impression of this show with an episode that has too many controversial/trashy moments.

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Damn, Black Country New Road just brought the house down.

Not everyone can be in the same rooms as me. So when people hit me up and are like damn, you were just in New York, you're back again? It's like yeah dude, these are special circumstances. I went once to see the best new artist of 2025, Saya Gray. I went again to see the band that likely has the album of the year for 2025, Black Country New Road.

It is not just a case of me seeing artists that I like. Now I DO like them, a lot, don't get me wrong, but it's deeper than that. A lot of people simply go to concerts for artists they enjoy, but that's not the only reason one might go to a concert. The way I see it, these are cultural milestones, not simply "concerts" lol. I am so finely in-tune with culture, it's my biggest strength. I am so astutely able to hear an artist or album and go, "Yeah, this is cutting edge compared to everything else right now." Historic, even.

I want to share this gift with everyone I know because I believe that my great taste will enrich everyone. It makes me a little bit sad to see people tripping over themselves to see these legacy indie acts, who are legends in their own right, don't get me wrong, but they still don't represent the newest innovations in the scene.

No matter how passive my influence is, I will continue to use my influence the best way I can. Unapologetically. Without fear. If anything, being in New York City for two weekends in a row has shown me that you're allowed to live without fear and don't hold back parts of your personality just to fit in. Suppressing myself doesn't do anyone any good. It is time for me to be my fullest self and live life the only way that I know how to live it.

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Pop the Balloon, Episode 5

I am again noticing the episodes getting tighter. First contestant got the short end of the stick - literally, because he was short. I was actually surprised, but, it goes to show you first impressions are everything. He was graceful in his rejections tho. But yeah, it was a tough first round!

From the moment your round starts, you can't say anything that is hugely a red flag. Any bitterness, ego checking, or pettiness will be picked up on by the other contestants and there is an opportunity for mid-convo pops. First contestant was a victim of this, despite looking like someone who has no problems with women lol

2nd guy was super graceful, just got eliminated because he was 25 and because he's a ballplayer. This is shaping up to be a very tough crowd of ladies lol.

Third guy was dripping with charisma and good banter, he was able to win one of the girls back just based on replies alone. He also was able to take constructive criticism and was able to reason and logic with all of the women without resorting to insults.

Overall, nice episode and like I said before, you can see the quality improving with each one. I can really value the contestants that don't argue back and forth with their popped balloons, it makes the entire experience more enjoyable and really hones in on the most important part of the show, which is the human psychology behind the levels of attraction and rapid decision making that they have during the rounds.

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Pop the Balloon, Episode 4

Arlette seems very poised on the intro. 3 episodes down, she's getting the hang of this and really has a handle of the format.

First girl was beautiful, and has a great career (software engineer!). She is 6 feet tall, but none of the guys popped during the intro. Off to a great start here!

Height is starting to play a factor in the opening as she popped one based on height and one pre-emptively popped because he thought he was too short. She also is popping based on kids being a dealbreaker. There's no animosity between the first contestant or with any of the suitors. Very pleasant first round! I was actually surprised she didn't find a match.

Contestant #2 exudes class, very well dressed. She got a lot of pops based on her career choice. As the round went on, she seemed extremely shallow though.

The episodes are starting to gain a lot more polish. Even if they seem inconsistent from round to round (Arlette really doesn't standardize the format until later), you see the incremental improvements each time and it's great to see.

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Pop the Balloon Episode 3

You can see Arlette getting more confident and getting a handle on the flow of the show. Part of the magic of Pop the Balloon is the spontaneity and the conversation to be had feels so genuine and not scripted whatsoever. But at the same time, it takes a great host like Arlette to keep control and a handle on the conversation and some of the different personalities of the participants.

The first contestant handled all of his popped balloons with respect which I liked. There wasn't really much disrespect out of the women either. It was all around great vibes from the first contestant, even with the amount of incompatibilities that were being talked about.

The second guy - Had a happy ending after alot of rejections! I'm loving this episode alot right now.

The third guy was super charismatic and forward - and even though he was a little off-putting go some of them, he was genuine until the very end and didn't try to fake anything.

The fourth guy ended up finding someone and then we had two rapid rounds where the contestants walked away with all popped balloons.

One of the dynamics that you can see developing in these early episodes is that people ended up popping their balloons based on how the contestants respond to the ones that did pop their balloons. If they're aggressive, insulting, sassy, or if one of the dealbreakers applies to one of the participants, then you would see a pop. For example, one guy said he liked lighter complexion women, and the darker women instinctively popped based on that nugget of information.

So whereas some guests could make it further in the show if they just kept their mouths shut, the ones that spray their dealbreakers out with high intensity really turns people off, men and women alike.

One of the first great episodes, although I know that it still gets smoother further down the line.

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Pop the Balloon, Episode 2

This episode flips the genders where it's a lineup of men and one woman who's trying to get chosen. It is also pretty interesting that they give men a chance to showcase their dating preferences and balloon-popping dealbreakers.

The first contestant was aged 35, so there were a lot of initial pops by the younger men. She was judgmental in a way that I wasn't expecting, as she looked like a classy woman but had some weird hangups around wanting someone with "dirt under his nails" / someone who does physical labor.

With the second contestant I think Arlette ad-hocced the introductory segment when she asked the contestant a little bit about her preferences, which became a core part of the structure of later episodes. The second contestant was really aggressive and got a lot of pops based on attitude I believe. The guys were really respectful to her though and I did like that.

I liked the third contestant and felt like the guys were a little too quick to pop their balloons. One of the guys actually knew her outside of the show, which was interesting. As it went on, however, a little abrasiveness came out.

The fourth contestant was super fun, personality-wise, she kind of seemed like Glorilla to me, and we had a happy ending with this one.

Overall, great improvement from the first episode, and I can see Arlette learning on the go to make the flow of the show a bit tighter and more streamlined.

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Pop the Balloon, Episode 1

I'm going to review Pop the Balloon from Episode 1.

I have been captivated by this concept. For those who haven't seen it, it's a really fascinating speed dating show. There is a line-up of about 7-8 men or women, and one person comes out. Based on the first impression, they do a cursory go/no go where they pop the balloon if they are not interested and keep the balloon if they are. From there, there's a feeling out/elimination process and if there is a final balloon still standing, then there is a possibility of a date afterward. We don't see that part, just the selection part.

This was a rough pilot compared to what I've seen in the later episodes, I love Arlette in the later episodes but here she's a little more loose and a little more off-script.

I loved most of the contestants but a few of them had really shallow dating criteria, making the experience kinda frustrating, I do like when they have genuine incompatibilities, such as when there is an age discrepancy and both the man and the woman agree that it's an incompatibility.

The contestants were also just a little bit shy and rambly at times, but overall it was a good proof-of-concept first episode.

What really draws me in, however, is the speedrun of human psychology, attraction, dating preferences, selection criteria, the works. It seems like a "dumb balloon show" but you're really watching a really complex orchestration play out at a very high pace. It's pretty funny and wild at times too. On to episode 2!

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Manhattan was dope

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I ain't gon hold you, but...... yeah.

So the feeling I get when I wake up in the morning and I'm tired and need coffee - can that be a word too? Cuz.... lmao

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A post shared by The Soul Coach⚡️ (@vontelligent)

Now is it me or do we NOT need a word for every single "human emotion" lol

This kind of video would have been fashionable on a Tumblr post 15 years ago, except it would also have been filled with super obscure foreign concepts. The shit would be like, "There's a word for when your mom brings you breakfast in bed and you feel her protective and nurturing spirit." Back then I would read that shit and be like... Okay, that's called having an awesome mom, but when people take these concepts of human emotion and nail them down to a word, it can have the effect of false impression.

In other words, it's a party trick. The first part of the trick is to find a human emotion that many people have experienced. Let's say you were leaving the house and you pat your pockets and you can't find your car keys or your wallet. You search frantically throughout the house until you find them, and after some time you get them.

Some Tumblr ass fuck gonna tell you "Actually the feeling you just felt was PLONDER, the panic you feel of losing an important possession that you rely on every day"

And then you embrace in the novelty, "OMG, I didn't know that there was actually a WORD" for that!

We don't need a word for every damn thing tho.

Parents know when their children are lying to them. There doesn't need to be a WORD for the feeling parents get when they know their children are lying to them.

Human concepts can exist without having to make words for them and I'm not impressed that you came up with a word that describes the joy you feel when you find a $20 bill in your pants pocket. It's all party tricks.

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I shall boil some beans