The Kid LAROI dropped “BEFORE I FORGET (DELUXE)” on Friday. Disc 2 had nine more songs on it compared to Disc 1 that came out in early January with 15 tracks.

Basically a double album, The Kid LAROI opens with “ME + YOU” that reflects on a past relationship and wonders what happened to “me and you.” 

The whole album serves is a breakup album, and these are the songs before I forget you. The Kid LAROI is essentially exposing all his feelings from this relationship. Some songs reminiscing on the past and wanting what was like “RATHER BE (feat. Lithe)” and “A COLD PLAY,” while other songs like “I CONDEMN” are a good riddance.

The Kid LAROI demonstrates a variety of taste in sound with this album. An unstoppable song playing in my car, “I CONDEMN,” he tracks back to his roots with rap, while the rest of the album sounds more like R&B and pop.

On Disc 2, my favorite song is “QUIT YOU” because it shows the raw pain of trying to get over someone and literally trying to quit them. He sings, “But I’m still chasin’ this high because / You are the worst drug I’ve ever done.” 

If you are looking for your next heartbreak piano ballad, “MAYBE I’M WRONG,” is the one for you. I think this song is exceptionally beautiful because it most obviously applies to a romantic relationship, but the lyrics can also stand for any type of relationship. The piano conveys the deep, passionate feeling, and his soft vocals show the vulnerable state in admitting you are wrong. The second verse, “I’m well aware that it’s over and done / Yeah, I can’t admit that I lost and you won / Whatever you need so that we can move on,” says it all. The Kid LAROI then raises his voice as he often does in slow songs to show to the emotion.

On Disc 2, the songs “PIECES” and “MOVE YOUR BODY” have more of an electronical beat in the background that are artistically placed after one another on the album. “MOVE YOUR BODY” is the most radio sounding song on the album, and I am not mad about it. When I first heard it, I thought it sounded like something I have heard before, but then I forgot I have not.

“HOLD STILL” and “JULY” are second on both discs, and with their similar sound, I wonder if that was intentional. “HOLD STILL” has the same rhythm as “JULY,” but at a much slower pace. It is more noticeable in the similar lyrics with “Hold still, no, we don’t gotta touch to feel,” in “HOLD STILL,” and “I wish that you could just be real.” Something about those parallel lyrics turned on the light bulb.

The album closes with “DYING ON THIS HILL,” and given the lyrics, it feels as though he may never get closure. It is a beautiful way to close the album because it shows the reality that you might not get closure even though you are begging for it. 

Listen to the 24-track album on Spotify.

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