By Emmett Favreau

Fans of the multitalented artist Quadeca had been expecting a change in style from his fast-paced backpack-rap roots following the release of his hyper pop ballad “Sisyphus” in 2021, but when a new single of his - “Born Yesterday" - released in September of 2022, it took many by surprise. Quadeca appeared as a new person, covered in white garments and singing about death through images of missed birthdays and lost memories. While I and many others were confused at first by this sudden change, a YouTube commenter theorized that Quadeca’s next album, cleverly titled I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You (2022), would be told through the perspective of a poltergeist doomed to haunt the world of the living.

A few weeks later, Quadeca confirmed this theory, and released the album. From start to finish, I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You is a triumphant feat of production and lyricism. The scratchy, intense instrumentals featured on the album help to establish the dark themes presented, and, when matched with the heartfelt lyrics, form a completely new Quadeca. Additionally, the songs captivate the listener by building suspense and then exploding with a barrage of sounds, all merging perfectly. While I could talk about the big picture all day, I organized this review by analyzing my favorite tracks, offering brief but detailed thoughts on each.

The album’s opening track, “sorry4dying,” opens the album beautifully while simultaneously introducing the audience to the album’s narrative. The track’s constantly shifting production begins in the introduction, where a few eerie notes are played before being surrounded by a wash of sound. Around one minute into the song, these sounds suddenly drop out, leaving Quadeca to start his verse accompanied by rhythmic piano chords. The sounds from the beginning re-enter, and by the chorus, percussion is added to create a beautiful composition. “sorry4dying” displays Quadeca’s immense production skill, and the washes of sound help to support his eerie vocals. My favorite moment on the track is the chorus, in which Quadeca sings:

I’m not the one, I look around and I see nothin’
Reach through the walls, I tried to scream, it won’t come out
Sorry for dying
I just wanna hold you without haunting

For me, the chorus displays the ghost’s desperation to communicate with his loved ones and the complications of being undead in the world of the living. The track’s final moments sound like a choir of Quadecas singing together, perfectly transitioning the listener into the album’s next track, “tell me a joke”.

“tell me a joke” is my second favorite track on the album. It is also one of the only tracks to receive a music video, which clarifies how the song adds to the album’s narrative. In the video, Quadeca appears in comedian’s attire, standing in front of a run-down cabin (we can assume this is where he used to live while he was alive, but we’ll get back to this later). The song begins slowly, with Quadeca singing beautiful high notes and reciting basic comedic punchlines such as “a man walks into a bar…” and “what’s the deal with airline food?”. The instrumental then begins to take form with the first chorus and builds more and more before eventually exploding in a beautifully chaotic final chorus in the song’s ending moments. As for the subject matter, “tell me a joke” explores the backstory of the ghost character and how or why he may have died. One of my favorite lyrics compares the feeling of being dead to the reaction of a bad joke: “All I could hear were the crickets, funny the joke is on me.”. Typically, when a bad joke is delivered on stage, the room is so silent that all the comedian can hear is the chirp of a cricket. Similarly, in the afterlife, the ghost can only hear silence and feels that his new circumstances are his fault. This line also hints that the ghost could have died by suicide; since he believes he’s at fault for his own death, it could have been own decision to die.

“house settling” features another unique analogy for how Quadeca feels as a ghost, being invisible and ignored by the living. As the seventh track on the album, Quadeca sounds more frustrated and depressed as he begins the song. He describes his desperation to create paranormal activity within his household, only for the living to disregard it as house settling – the unusual noises of a building the longer one lives in it. The term comes up again in the song’s chorus as Quadeca sings: “Can you let me be house settling?”. This can be seen through the perspective of both Quadeca, who wishes to still settle in the house even though he is dead, and through the view of the living, who wish for Quadeca’s presence to simply be house settling and move on. The most interesting part of the song begins after Quadeca resorts to filling the house with carbon monoxide to bring someone to the world of the dead with him. As the carbon monoxide is released, so is Danny Brown, as he raps through the perspective of the deadly gas accompanied by a sudden vicious beat breakdown. The song is terrifying, incredible, and a stand-out track on the album.

To fans of Quadeca, I understand that choosing “picking up hands” as my favorite track of the album may be a hot take. For the most part, the lyrics are repetitive, and it is in no way the deepest song. However, the arrangement of Quadeca’s vocals and the movement of the track is what makes it perfect for me. The central instrument assisting Quadeca is a distorted acoustic guitar that changes between the chorus and verses. Additionally, percussion and violin are introduced to add more color to the track. My favorite moment on the track, and the entire album, follows the second chorus. The percussion drops out, and for a moment, the violin is the central instrument playing. For a split second, there’s silence before the track explodes, introducing new sounds of the guitar accompanied by high-pitched vocals and distorted entrances of bass to accent the rhythm. It is a beautiful transition, and one that fills with me emotion every time I listen to it.

The reception of I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You was overwhelmingly positive in all forms of media. TikTok fans preached the genius of the album’s narrative and production, with one user joking that the album ends with “the most beautiful several minutes of static noise I’ve ever heard.”. The album received a rave review from Anthony Fantano, a music reviewer who rarely expresses overwhelming praise. Quadeca took a massive risk by changing his sound so radically, and I’m overjoyed to see the incredible amount of support he received for this album - potentially inspiring other ambitious artists. For example, there’s been frequent conversation comparing Quadeca’s album with Let’s Start Here (2023), Lil Yachty’s experimental rock album. While this could be due to the close mindedness of a trap artist’s fan base, the reception to Lil Yachty’s album was more mixed than Quadeca’s. Many fans felt disappointed, with some even claiming to no longer be fans of the “new” Lil Yachty. However, I believe that anyone who respects an artist for what they do should have a more open mind to change.

Quadeca’s artistic growth over the past few years has amazed many, as he’s grown from a YouTube content creator known for his diss tracks and fast-paced meme rap into a versatile artist capable of creating amazing projects. One thing that inspires me the most Quadeca’s growth is that following the release of I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You, Quadeca kept the same name and keeps his old music on streaming platforms, which I believe is a testament to how long he’s been growing into the amazing artist he is today.