Missing one Nino Paid bar can feel like talking about the game after only looking at the box score. It’s been that way since his 2023 YouTube drops, which seemed like accidentally uploaded therapeutic voice memos, and has continued as his writing has transcended the modern clichés of “pain rap.” I don’t even like to consider Nino Paid “pain rap” because that term—that I tend to throw around loosely when speaking on one-note bawlers like Rod Wave and Toosii—sells him short. On Somewhere Over the Rainbow, it hurts when he hurts; it’s fun when he’s having fun. There aren’t many Somewhere Over the Rainbow songs that will blow you away individually—possibly the intensity of “Nun But Drums” or the fatalistic sentimentality of the intro—but it’s the totality of taking in this emotional whirlpool all at once.