When lovers work together to love, love is beautiful, kind, warm, arousing–all the good things. However, when there’s toxicity involved, love sucks. You know that you should break away or that you yourself should stop being a piece of crap. However, as you’ve become twisted and jaded to life, it’s a bit harder. That’s because there is something tragically inebriating about the way that you and your partner “love” each other. I say this because I’ve, unfortunately, been on both sides of the toxicity fence to a degree. It is not fun and I would recommend people stay on the lookout for the signs–both from their partner and themselves.

“But Speed, how did you learn to stop being toxic and stop accepting toxicity?” How I learned to actually love myself and, in turn, love others better was simple. I stopped saying “ah wellp, I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t” and actually forced myself to change for the better. Once you do that, the world opens up. However, there are those who’ve become so gone, they feel as if they “thrive” in chaos. There are those people who willingly stick themselves in neutral and just…exist in a relationship because of fears of the unknown. That’s not putting the blame on any one exclusively, as toxicity involves many factors and many people.

Louie tha Profit’s “Unconditional” mostly revolves around complete toxicity. In those sorts of situations, there is a bit of a symbiotic/codependent relationship that’s formed. They know they should leave, but they can’t break the cycle. They love the other person unconditionally, even though they aren’t good for them. Inversely, they enjoy being loved unconditionally and don’t really care who it hurts. Unconditional love doesn’t mean that we love unconditionally, though. That’s something we all must learn.

The story in Louie tha Profit’s “Unconditional” features two people that, for worse, haven’t gotten to that point of self-awareness and that level of wanting to change just yet. They’re at the point that they know it’s wrong, but the wrongness of it is what makes it “right” and appealing. We get it from both sides, with each partner playing a sick game of cat and cat. After all, neither wants to be the mouse. In other words, neither wants to be the equalizer and the other half to the other person. They both’d rather fight and make things difficult. And by not doing so, they essentially say “screw being your peace, I’d rather control you in one way or another.” This is highlighted especially by Louie’s overly laidback flow here.

As mentioned above, I woke up by accepting that I couldn’t be lackadaisical. I couldn’t just say “well…I’m screwed either way. Let the chips fall where they may. Let me just keep on keeping on.” The stories in “Unconditional” have this laissez-faire nature to them, flow-wise. Hearing them may make you want to scream out to the participants. That’s okay, it’s a legit reaction. That means you know the signs of an unhealthy love. Just know that, even if they were to ever hear you, they wouldn’t care what you think.

It reminds me of people who cycle through these feelings in their relationships in real life. Often, the participants don’t care if you cringe. They will argue you down when they tell you “oh me and XYZ got back together. Y’all don’t understand.” They will go out of their way to say “[partners] ain’t shit” but still deal with someone who…well, ain’t shit (be it themselves or their partner). And while we may not understand, I think we all can agree that breakup to makeup and back over, ad nauseum, it’s a destructive thing. It’s something we should avoid at all costs, regardless of the situations surrounding it.

This feeling of “meh, it is what it is” is further highlighted by the instrumental Louie used here. It’s a slow-tempo soul sample-ish melody that switches up several times. Knock-wise, the beat specifically takes advantage of “dusty” drums and bass. It’s intoxicating. While these folks’ love is toxic, it sounds so good to hear. I think that Louie, with his bars and the beat, capture that “tragic inebriation” quite well. Overall, this is one helluva song and it has actively made me go out of my way to find more of his music. He’s a gifted storyteller, his beat selection is pretty legit, and his flows capture the emotions of his characters (or of himself at any given time).

Check this one above and support dope music in all its forms.