On April 27th, Andy Mineo released his first solo project in three years entitled Chapter I: The Arrow. Upon the EPs release, there was an immediate surge of energy in listeners. Although the project may have seemed to be a random release, attendees of the 2017 Friends and Family tour knew that Mineo was preparing to drop something new.
The Friends and Family tour was seemingly just a means for Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed to perform the tracks from their joint mixtape Magic and Bird alongside Marty and Fern of Social Club Misfits.
There was certainly truth to this. The Friends and Family shows were filled with anthemic sounds, bump-worthy beats, and hard-hitting lyrics. All of a sudden, smoke would fill the room and Mineo gave a small speech similar to that found on the outro of “Anxiety.” Mineo told those in attendance of his creative and personal struggles, but this was not the entire story. Just when life seemed to be at its absolute darkest, Mineo took a small USB microphone, the very same microphone he used to record his most popular single “You Can’t Stop Me,” finding a new declaration with the very same spirit of rebellion: “I Ain’t Done.”
Throughout the tour, Mineo performed this song repeatedly, preparing listeners for what was to come months later. “I Ain’t Done” would be just one of the six songs included with I: The Arrow, a small piece of a much larger story.
When I: The Arrow released, fans were alerted to the pain of their favorite Paisan. Mineo had been experiencing extreme feelings of doubt, depression, and anxiety, all of which were affecting the artist’s ability to create content that he was proud of. As Mineo stated in an article with DJBooth, “I became ‘careful.’ The worst thing a creative can be.” Caught between the ambition of perfectionism and the fear of failure, Mineo became stuck in a fog of stagnation. The ideas were there, the creative outlet was not. By the time I: The Arrow released, the six songs included told a tale of someone who was experiencing a profound feeling of losthood.
With I: The Arrow came a promotional video which gave Mineo fans a deeper look into his state of mind. Mineo talked about his inner turmoil, spiritual apathy, and “the search for clarity.” Andy’s wife, Cristina Mineo, gave her husband the push he needed to continue to pursue all that he has worked for his entire life, a stronger sense of faith, better art, and joy. Because of Cristina’s loving affirmation, we got Andy Mineo back. The end of the promotional video guaranteed Mineo fans three more EPs and an album by the end of the year. That was in April, now its August. The question is, where are the other EP’s?
Watch the Promotional Video Below:
Back in July, Mineo announced his newest fall tour, Better Late Than Never featuring himself, Lecrae, Wordsplayed, nobigdyl., and WHATUPRG. The tour will run from late September to early November, giving fans plenty of opportunities to see this star-studded lineup. A three-month tour with three EPs promised before the end of the year? Coincidence? Perhaps not. Releasing the next three EPs while on tour would guarantee a fresh, exciting experience for attendees throughout the tour, as they would be the first to hear these new tracks with the added bonus of experiencing them live.
Weeks after the release of I: The Arrow, the rapper released a remix of his gold single, “You Can’t Stop Me.” This is where many fans got their first inkling at the idea of a sequel to Mineo’s previous EP Never Land as the artist briefly rapped, “Never Land 2 on the way/I know I know that you needed more.” This line, although brief, could be seen as confirmation that the album promised in the promotional video for I: The Arrow is in fact Never Land 2. This idea was further evidenced by the outro of …”Lost,” one of the tracks featured on the I: The Arrow.
On the outro, Mineo speaks of the inspiration behind the cover of the EP. He said it was a bumpy flight he had been on wherein the plane had flown through a storm cloud. Naturally, this made the rapper anxious, but when his plane emerged from the clouds, he was greeted by the sun. This experience gave Andy the idea to display the arrow, an object from 2014’s Never Land going through a cloud. The arrow was just one of the “elements” that Mineo refers to in a callback to the original Never Land EP in the outro. Other elements include a key, sword, and feather, to name a few.
Listen to Andy Mineo Below:
So, here’s what we know. Reach Records’ YouTube page guaranteed three EP’s and an album from their second most popular artist by the end of the year. One of those EP’s has released. That EP and a subsequent single seemingly confirm that the album will be a sequel to the former Never Land project.
Mineo is going on tour for three months out of the year. If Mineo were to release his EP’s throughout the three months of the Better Late Than Never tour, he would not only have new music to play for attendees but would have the very last month of 2018 to release the complete Never Land 2 album.
Will the New York native follow this plan? Fans will just have to wait and see.
