Editor's Note: The title of this article was edited to correct the name from the album from "33" to "</3^3." The Spectrum apologizes for this error.
Album: </3^3
Label: Opium/Interscope
Release date: September 19, 2025
Rating: 6.2/10
Destroy Lonely has had quite the career trajectory. When he released his mixtape “</3” in 2020, its ghastly production served with assertive mic presence made him a force to be reckoned with. Over a year later, he signed to Playboi Carti’s Opium imprint, where he would take his talents to the mainstream with his major label debut mixtape “NO STYLIST” — a turbulent surprise release — in August 2022. Claiming his spot as the dark lord, it was his destiny to succeed.
Since “NO STYLIST,” he’s attempted to bridge multiple influences together for a sonic realm. Though he may lack the cohesion — and the substance — to do such, he finds himself well off. On his debut studio album “If Looks Could Kill,” he drowsily wanes on fiery and hazy alternative rock licks inspired by the likes of The Cure and Crystal Castles. On “LOVE LASTS FOREVER,” he juggles sultry croons and boastful bars over twinkling trap beats.
“</3^3” shines in its production, of course. Frequent collaborators Clayco, Cxdy, Lil 88 and Cade deliver dark soundscapes. Its opening track, “aint hard,” features ominous bounces of heavily EQ’d 808 patterns to juxtapose airy melodies. There’s an eerie syntax that looms over each song in an attempt to reignite the feeling of the ghoulish “</3.” Its familiarity settles in when moving through the mixtape thanks to its transitions. Songs like “no pressure” could be played during a haunted mansion walkthrough and the overdosing hellscape that is “screwed up,” features howling werewolf vocals for the rising of the full moon.
Though much of his lyrical subject matter is boastful and nasally inflected, Destroy Lonely’s ability to submerge himself in the pocket of a flow is incredible. “kansas” finds him punching in, seeping through the pop filter studio microphone. He’s waltzing across each track like a mummified ballroom dancer. “not the mayor” is rooted in absolutes, his choppy flows ring out ‘we are not the same’ energy.
The catchy money anthem “soooo high” doubles down as he shops through different designer brands and designer drugs. This is real life, not a fantasy. When he’s not “popping his collar, he turns inward. The mixtape’s interlude “party n get high” is sullen, as he reflects on past relationships and unearths unhealthy coping mechanisms. Because the high life isn’t so sweet, he coasts off into oblivion for a late-night yearn session, a snapshot of a rough breakup that has you looking out the car window wondering where it all went wrong.
While “</3^3” does fairly well in redelivering ideas, it doesn’t serve its predecessor justly. Surely one can appreciate Destroy Lonely’s growth, upscaling his slightly dated work for a more refined sound. Yes, he’s brought back his main group of producers, dressed himself up in gothic designer clothes and probably sat in a dimly lit studio like Count Dracula to record this project, but where is the boldness? His hubris used to jump right out at you humorously; who else would flex a $45 haircut other than him? That self-assuredness feels hollow now.
“I definitely want to still show people like, hold on now, I could make whatever the f**k I want to. Right now I’m choosing to make whatever I want artistically, but this is a project that I really just want to be for my fans. Like, it’s just my old producers on there, and old s**t that I would do. Just me being completely myself, nothing else.” He recounts in an interview with CLASH Magazine on why he returned to the </3 series.
Keeping this notion in mind, it’s clear that this version of Destroy Lonely sees himself as refreshed, coming off the heels of the messy LOVE LAST FOREVER, its surrounding controversy and subsequent turmoil. But ultimately, “</3^3” leaves too much on the table. In its handful of favorable tracks, the misfires (“open it up” with labelmate Ken Carson feels stale in energy considering its title) and familiarity to previous sounds (“kool on ya” could’ve been a leaked LLF track), there’s no insight to the future. Yes, this is Destroy Lonely right now, but we’ve been here. This time, the grim ambience is substituted for a radio friendly horror soundscape.
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