Industry Plant by Iann Dior: Album Review
20-year old up-and-coming rapper, singer, and songwriter Iann Dior released his newest album Industry Plant under the label TenThousand Projects. Being raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Michael Ian Olmo started out rapping on the platform SoundCloud in 2018 under the name Olmo. After he was discovered by producers Nick Mira and Taz Taylor of Internet Money Records in late 2018, he changed his rap name to Iann Dior and began taking music more seriously, releasing singles such as “cutthroat,” “emotions,” and “molly” (ft. Bernard Jabs). After his song “emotions” blew up, he released his first EP Nothings Ever Good Enough in early 2019. In his most recent album released on November 8th, Iann Dior seemed to change his sound going from more basic rap to a mix of hip hop, contemporary R&B, pop, emo, and rap.
Darkside (ft. Travis Barker)
“Darkside” was released alongside a music video on November 7th, the day before Industry Plant came out. The music video features all of the producers behind Internet Money as members of the band play and later on in the video they smash and completely destroy everything on stage. Although the song has a lighter upbeat tone, the lyrics take on a deeper meaning about how hard it is to let someone go, even if you know how toxic the relationship was.
Problems
Talking about his relationship “problems,” Iann Dior expresses how he feels about a past relationship and all of its flaws. In the chorus, he references one of his most popular songs “emotions” in the line, “too much emotions, I’m feeling hopeless.” He has a similar lyric, “can’t take the pain anymore / I’m feeling hopeless,” perhaps referencing to the same affair he wrote about in the other song.
gone girl (ft. Trippie Redd)
“I fell in love, same time that you’re falling apart.” Getting to over 53 million streams on Spotify, “gone girl” is Iann Dior’s most streamed and most popular song, released as a single on July 4th, 2019. Most rap fans already know Trippie Redd, and being featured on the song really helped Iann Dior get on the map to becoming a more well-known artist. In a recent interview with Genius, he explains how he wrote the song about giving his ex-girlfriend a second chance and flying her out to LA to be with him, and later realizing that things ended for a reason. “I was just kind of wondering why she would do that, especially because I went out of my way to let her come to LA and see how I’m living now when I didn’t have to do that.” Since the song was released, a music video also came out, showing the two rappers in a van together and later walking on the moon.
WYA
WYA (Where you at) is one of the more relaxed tracks on the album. Asking where his partner was when he needed her, the breathy vocals mixed with the soothing beat created a calm atmosphere where Iann Dior tries to justify his want to take a chance with a girl, even though he knew it probably was not a good idea.
What Is Real
“What is real” was the first single released for Industry Plant on June 18th of this year. Sounding similar to his music from his first album Nothing’s Ever Good Enough, Iann Dior raps about how he thinks he is beginning to catch feelings for someone, and not knowing how to deal with these feelings in a high-school setting.
Flowers
Looking back on a past affair, Iann Dior reflects on how he could have done things better to make his relationship last. He did not want to leave the girl he was with, and wished that she would stay. “I hate it when you say goodbye (Don’t go) / Wish that I could hold you close (Don’t go away).” Although he wished that they were still together, Iann Dior keeps the song upbeat and makes the chorus have a pop feel to it while still including his rapped verses.
Strings (ft. Gunna)
As the third single released on Industry Plant, the song “strings” started racking up streams the day it was released on October 25th. Talking about being used and switched up on, the song showed that it is a good thing to cut yourself off from toxic people. The music video features Iann Dior and rapper Gunna being pulled by actual strings. The video creates an interesting perspective on being used by someone, making it seem like the duo are in a puppet show.
Lately
Iann Dior’s style of music expressed on Industry Plant can be described as in-between rapping and singing, and “Lately” is definitely one of the tracks where he is singing more. Singing over an upbeat instrumental, it sounds really light and is leaning towards a more pop atmosphere. Iann Dior showed his attraction and how he felt about this girl in the uplifting setting of the song.
Urself (ft. POORSTACY)
Beginning with a repeated guitar riff, “Urself” shines a light on how selfish people can be, and how being selfish can turn into playing games. “You only care about yourself / Where were you when I needed help?” Rapper POORSTACY introduces the track with his strong voice, and is later joined by Iann Dior in the chorus. The beat in the chorus is lead by a hard electric guitar, and the duo’s voices blend perfectly together, giving the song an alternative-rock feel.
In Too Deep
Although this slow track is lead by a peaceful guitar beat, the lyrics still show a lot of confusion in yet another one of Iann Dior’s relationships. Feeling like he has been blamed for everything, Iann Dior just wanted some space from his significant other to re-think this demanding relationship.
Searching (ft. phem)
“Searching” keeps to the common theme expressed on this album: that love can be risky and can ultimately, mess with your head. Explaining the endless mind games involved in a previous relationship, Iann Dior felt like he only falls for girls that end up hurting him. “Our love feels like I'm underwater / Hold me down just a little longer / I know I can't help myself / I love girls that are bad for my health / I can't stop, think I'm really addicted.”
Needed
Any Iann Dior fan immediately recognized “Needed” as the song that was teased on multiple occasions on Dior’s Instagram feed. He first posted a video on his story of him dancing in the studio to the upbeat chorus, leaving fans wondering if it was ever going to be officially released (and luckily it was). Starting with a catchy guitar riff, it talks about the feeling of knowing deep inside yourself that you can do better than the person taking advantage of you, and how he knows when someone has lied to him.
Never Is Enough
On “Never Is Enough,” Iann Dior explains how he tried using drugs and alcohol to forget certain parts of his past. Drugs and alcohol are a common topic in modern rap, and it is often given a bad reputation. However, a lot of people don’t think about the reasons of why these artists turn to drugs and alcohol, and think that they just use them for fun. Sometimes this is the case, but a lot of the time it can also be because of personal problems and feeling like it is the only thing to numb their pain.
Feel It Coming
Starting to bring the album to a close, this catchy song describes losing feelings for someone that has not lost feelings for you yet. “Girl, I can't love you anymore / Left my feelings at the door / You want less, I wanted more.” Iann Dior goes on to vent about his mixed emotions and how it is not a good idea for this girl to keep loving him.
Stay For A While
As the last track on the album, “Stay For A While” is a slower, more relaxed song about Iann not wanting his significant other to leave him. He wanted her to “stay for a while,'' despite their relationship’s flaws discussed on all the previous tracks of the album. The song features a soft acoustic guitar that makes it sound really soothing, and will definitely get you in your feels.
