Creative beats and rhymes genius “Player One” Mark Cooper continued his 5-album Player One Saga with the deeply personal fourth entry Success and Failure.
Here Cooper unearths his greatest fear while confronting his real life past, and I felt every second of it. Having fleshed out the heroic Player One persona on his three previous releases, Success and Failure confronted the very real circumstances of Cooper’s life outside the game.
After I learned that wearing the left-handed Power Glove comes with a caveat on “4 Months Left”, Cooper unleashed his one of his slickest, most well-written and delivered rhymes ever on “Therapy”. The lyricism and storytelling remained all-time best for Cooper on “2 Shots”, “Time”, and the title track.
I rewound a lot of lines listening to Success and Failure, but the rhymeless, story-driven “9, 18, 27” held my undivided attention with hands tucked away from the buttons. Here Mark spoke openly, reflectively, and encouragingly with himself. When it concluded I wanted to visit a mirror and have a few words.
This was the episode the Player One album saga needed before its final chapter.
Give it and the entire series a listen, preparing yourself for the epic finale, Gerald’s Field, which releases 02-22-22! |THIS.
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
