The Therapy LP
| The Therapy LP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Studio album by John Anthony | ||||
| 📅 Released | October 30, 2019 | |||
| ⏳ Length | 1 hour, 4 minutes | |||
| Language | English | |||
| 🏷️ Label | Villainous Records | |||
| 🤑 Producer | Various producers | |||
| John Anthony (rapper) chronology | ||||
| ||||
Buy this album The Therapy LP or listen to it on amazon
The Therapy LP is the debut studio album by American rapper John Anthony. It was released on October 30, 2019, by Villainous Records. Development for the album began in 2017, with early recording beginning in the Spring of 2018. The album originally released as an EP in November that same year, before being scrapped two weeks later. On October 30, 2019, he re-released the album as an LP. The album's production was contributed from a variety of record producers, including Young Taylor, Cheta Meister, Wyshmaster and more. A deluxe version of the album was released three months later on February 1, 2020 and featured nine additional songs.
Background[edit]
John Anthony released four mixtapes between 2012 and 2016. These mixtapes grounded the beginning stages to his career, which he built his fanbase from. On March 26, 2016, John Anthony restructured his music career, settling on the stage name "John Anthony" and released his fourth mixtape Double Standards EP, which achieved very little success and was later scrapped. It featured seven tracks and was recorded and distributed locally by Pyramid Records in Avoca, Pennsylvania. The EP's failure to gain exposure was generated from the mixtape's lack of production quality, which lead to a dispute between John Anthony and Pyramid Records, which ultimately had the EP taken down from music streaming services. After the mixtape's failure to draw attention, John Anthony would participate in a small rap battle tournament in Scranton, Pennsylvania. That same year, he joined his childhood friends rap tournament The Bunker, where local rappers were able to freestyle, preform or battle rap every Friday night. In the summer of 2018, he recorded a six-song extended play The Therapy EP. This was set to be John Anthony's sixth mixtape and was scheduled for release in November of 2018. During this time, John Anthony was dealing with personal and legal issues from a former girlfriend. In October 2018, John Anthony was charged with accusation of psychical abuse by his former girlfriend. Though the accusations were denied, Anthony was still charged with a three-year restraining order. This subject would later be touched upon in his mixtape The Therapy EP. The mixtape would be scrapped two weeks before its initial release date of November 28, 2018.
On March 8, 2019, John Anthony reconstructed and founded his own record label Villainous Records. At the time, John Anthony would re-release his fifth mixtape the Four Forty Four EP. In the summer of 2019, he would restructure The Therapy EP, re-recording several songs from the original mixtape. He would release "Jump-In (Freestyle)" as the first single for the album on August 29 before announcing the release of his debut album The Therapy LP on October 10 and later releasing the second single "Time Will Heal" on October 20, 2019. The album kept five original songs from the 2018 mixtape while including five new tracks. Songs like "Time Will Heal", "Abuser", "Jump-In (Freestyle)", "Dying 2 Live" and "For The Better" were all original songs from The Therapy EP, while "Karma", "No Time", "In My Dreams", "Rocketship" and "My Brain" all were newer adds to The Therapy LP. "My Brain" was added the album just one week before its initial release.
Composition[edit]
While The Therapy LP's development spanned over two years, it only featured ten songs. Some of the originals songs from the EP were kept on the LP’s release, however, several of them were rewritten and recorded. The first song to be composed was “Time Will Heal”, which was the albums opening track. In a 2022 article with Apple Music, John Anthony expressed what made the song special, stating “One of my earliest songs I wrote… [The Therapy LP] expressed a lot of challenges I faced at that time.” The song was produced by Young Taylor and features American singer Breana Marin. The song received a positive critical response from audience and also helped gain attention, while also shinning anticipation for The Therapy LP’s release. Work on track two, "My Brain", began one week before the albums release. The song was a late addition to the album, being written and recorded in a day. The production was done by Dystinkt Beats, while extended production was done by John Anthony. The next three songs, "Abuser", "Jump-In (Freestyle)" and "Dying 2 Live" were all original songs from The Therapy EP carried into The Therapy LP. "Abuser" was the second song written from, dating back to November of 2018. In the song, John Anthony deliberately disses his ex-girlfriend, who back in October of 2018, filed charges for accusations of physical and mental abuse, resulting in a restraining order. Only partial lyrics from the song on the EP were changed for the LP's release. The song was produced by rapper and producer Tony K, while the vocals in the chorus sample "Copycat", a song by American singer Billie Eilish.
The next track, "Jump-In (Freestyle)", was the first single released from The Therapy LP. It originally was part of The Therapy EP, however, about 70% of the song's lyrics were rewritten. The song consisted of production from Kato On The Track and also features sampled audio from the Smithsonian channel television series "1950's Nuclear Tests" for the introduction. For "Dying 2 Live", John Anthony remixed "Runnin' (Dying To Love)", a song by American rapper 2Pac, with an additional posthumous verse from The Notorious B.I.G. from the soundtrack album Tupac: Resurrection. One of the original songs from The Therapy EP, John Anthony re-records and partially rewrites the song for The Therapy LP, while also keeping the use of the song's instrumental, which was produced by rapper Eminem. The next four songs were all newer additions to The Therapy LP. "Karma", which was produced by Dynasty Muzik, was recorded in early September. John Anthony verbally attacks the music industry and name drops several major rappers in the song: "I ain't no Kodak, Yachty, Trippie, 6ix9ine, Uzi or Pump / So please don't mix me with none of those others rappers, they chumps" he states. The song contains various insults against critics, while also using the slur "faggot" to describe many rappers and critics alike, resulting in the song receiving mixed reviews.
"Rocketship", the seventh track on the album, was also a last minute song added to the album. Recorded in September, the produced was by Aksil Beats and features sampled vocals from the 2006 American film "Rocky Balboa". The song was written and dedicated to a former friend at the time and was later used in Ride or Die, a mixtape dedicated to such former friend. "In My Dreams", a Wyshmaster Beats production, features chorus vocals from singer and songwriter Lydia Caesar and was recorded in late August. "No Time" was a diss song directed to an ex-girlfriend, not to be confused with the ex-girlfriend in the song "Abuser". John Anthony addresses this in the song: "And yeah, the song Abuser was a diss that's aimed at my ex / But that's my ex, ex-girl, my last chick was a mess" he states. The diss tracks comes after John Anthony being accused and charged in 2019 of psychical abuse by said ex-girlfriend, but charges were later dropped before a court date, when no evidence was found. The song was recorded in early June of 2019, with production by Kato On The Track. The album's closer, "For The Better", was an original song from The Therapy EP that had no re-records or rewrites for the LP's release. The three-verse track was kept exactly the same from 2018, with production by Cheta Meister. In the song, John Anthony's once again talks about his "Abuser" ex-girlfriend, however, the songs story-tells their toxic relationship in each verse, rather than verbally diss or insult.
Release[edit]
| The Therapy LP (Deluxe Version) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Studio album by John Anthony | ||||
| 📅 Released | February 1, 2020 | |||
| ⏳ Length | 1 hour, 6 minutes | |||
| Language | English | |||
| 🏷️ Label | Villainous Records | |||
| 🤑 Producer | Various producers | |||
| John Anthony (rapper) chronology | ||||
| ||||
Buy this album The Therapy LP or listen to it on amazon
To promote the album, Villainous Records posted a trailer video on their Instagram, while John Anthony shared a picture of him holding a CD copy of The Therapy LP. The album released on October 30 and was only available on free music streaming platforms such as YouTube, SoundCloud, BandCamp and AudioMack. The album wasn't released on major streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify until early 2021. John Anthony promoted the album throughout its initial release, doing merchandise drops and selling physical copies locally.
On February 1, 2020, John Anthony released the deluxe version of The Therapy LP, featuring nine new songs. Its lead single and the opening song "Pressure" was released three months before the deluxe dropped as a single. CFX produced the beat and was recorded in late October of 2019. The song hit hundreds of digital streams in its first week.
Singles[edit]
On August 27, 2019, John Anthony revealed that the first single "Jump-In (Freestyle)" would be released on August 29, 2019 in the US. The song was recorded in 2018, before being rewritten in 2019. It originally was released as a stand alone single before the announcement of The Therapy LP, then becoming the first single from the album. The song was available on free music platforms upon its release, before being added to major streaming services in 2023.
On October 19, 2019, the audio to "Time Will Heal" featuring Breana Marin, was teased on John Anthony's Instagram story. A day later, the song premiered on John Anthony's YouTube channel before being available on free streaming platforms on October 20. The single became his groundbreaking hit.
On November 15, 2019, a song titled "Pressure" was released on free streaming services by Villainous Records. The song's release also came with the announcement of the deluxe version of The Therapy LP.
Track listing[edit]
Track listing for The Therapy LP.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Time Will Heal" (feat. Breana Marin) | Anthony G. Grandinetti, Breana Marin | Young Taylor | 3:01 |
| 2. | "My Brain" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Dystinkt Beats | 3:34 |
| 3. | "Abuser" | Anthony G. Grandinetti, Billie Eilish | Tony K | 4:56 |
| 4. | "Jump-In (Freestyle)" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Kato On The Track | 3:22 |
| 5. | "Dying To Live" | Anthony G. Grandinetti, Edgar Winter | Eminem | 3:21 |
| 6. | "Karma" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Dynasty Beats | 3:01 |
| 7. | "Rocketship" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Aksil Beats | 3:24 |
| 8. | "In My Dreams" (feat. Lydia Caesar) | Anthony G. Grandinetti, Lydia Caesar | Wyshmaster | 2:36 |
| 9. | "No Time" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Kato On The Track | 3:12 |
| 10. | "For The Better" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Cheta Meister | 4:41 |
Track listing for The Therapy LP (Deluxe Version).
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pressure" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | CFX Beats | 3:14 |
| 2. | "Take The World By Storm" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Kevin Peterson Beats | 3:15 |
| 3. | "Anger" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | EPIK THE DAWN | 3:39 |
| 4. | "Empty Road" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Malakkor Beats | 1:53 |
| 5. | "Same Old Thing" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Scott Storch | 4:08 |
| 6. | "Save Me" (feat. Hyfy) | Anthony G. Grandinetti, Hyfy | Ghost Beats | 2:50 |
| 7. | "Cross" (feat. Nas) | Anthony G. Grandinetti, Nasir Jones | Eminem | 3:38 |
| 8. | "Forever Different" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | Exclusive Beats, Jakomo Beats | 4:05 |
| 9. | "Goodbyes' Never It" | Anthony G. Grandinetti | LexNour Beats | 5:03 |
Notes[edit]
- "Time Will Heal" features vocals by Breana Marin.
- "Abuser" features edited vocals by Billie Eilish.
- "Dying 2 Live" features edited vocals by Edgar Winter.
- "In My Dreams" features vocals by Lydia Caesar.
- "Save Me" features vocals by Hyfy.
- "Cross" features vocals by Nas.
Sample credits[edit]
- "Abuser" contains samples of "COPYCAT" (2017), written by Billie Eilish.
- "Jump-In (Freestyle)" contains audio samples of "1950's Nuclear Testing Television Series" from The Smithsonian Channel.
- "Dying 2 Live" contains samples of "Runnin' (Dying to Live)" (2003), written by 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G., and vocal samples of "Dying to Live" (1971), written by Edgar Winter.
- "Rocketship" contains audio samples of American film "Rocky Balboa" (2006).
- "Same Old Thing" contains samples of "We Came Here To Party" (2008), written by Tony Yayo.
- "Cross"contains samples and vocals of "The Cross" (2002), written by Nas.
