**This is no Dream. It is a Nightmare!**

CONTENT WARNING: The following song is labelled as explicit on Apple Music. Reader discretion is advised.


Dream is arguably one of the most polarising figures in the YouTube zeitgeist, proving once and for all how society standards have dropped significantly. Recently, he admitted to ‘unknowingly’ cheating in his world-record speedruns (yeah, sure). This caused outrage in the gaming community, even though the speedrun was already invalidated therefore having no quantifiable impact whatsoever. All this for an accolade that has no magnitude in the real world. I am willing to tread lightly here as, after all, we all know the most persecuted species on the planet is the gamer. I wouldn’t dare silence oppressed gamer voices so I will not discuss this further.


Additionally, Dream has cultivated what can only be described as a cult-like following that zealously worships him. Because of this, I am afraid that if I criticise Dream’s music endeavours, I will be killed for it. As George Orwell once said: “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” However, read my lips. These elementary school children will not influence my journalistic integrity.


The dichotomy of the ride-or-die fans and the haters are illuminated in his 2nd single, his first on the Dream Music YouTube account, simply titled ‘Mask’. Overwhelming positivity has coincided with a massive backlash. As one who equally hates stan culture and the gamer ideology, I went into this song with an unbiased mind. Tabula Rasa, if you will.


For some, the ‘mask’ metaphor might be too hard to comprehend after the first few listens. This must be the case, as the annotation on Genius is literally the length of an essay. For an intellectual such as myself, this can be reduced into a single sentence. The ‘mask’ works as a double-entendre, symbolising how he hides his negative feelings from the public whilst simultaneously illustrating that he is a faceless content creator on the groovy social media site YouTube. Dream understands how deep this observation is as he repeats this metaphor twice, yes twice, in the pre-chorus. Dream probably thought this would be where the listeners gasp in awe as they finally get it – the secret behind the ‘mask’. I do wonder if Dream got one of his Grade 7 fans to write the lyrics because the concept of masking your feelings with a literal ‘mask’ is quite possibly the most surface-level, basic way to discuss mental health. In other words, it is an uncreative concept which undermines the serious messaging the single was intending to communicate. This embodies a significant problem with the song – despite it being an obviously personal song, Dream continually jeopardises this aspect through elementary and impersonal metaphor.


It does not help that Dream’s lyricism is successful in undermining and distorting any form of genuine intrigue into blatant confusion. This is demonstrated when Dream fears that ‘they think that \[he\] needs glasses’. This is amplified in the music video by a frankly unprofessional doctor’s slip saying that he is not normal. What is the problem with wearing glasses (a cultural misunderstanding mayhaps)? This supposedly alludes to his troubles with ADHD, however, the reach audience members have to make this conclusion is too far. Not even the most pretentious English Teacher would go as far as to proclaim that the requirement to need glasses symbolise one’s ADHD. There is a reason that this specific line has been clowned on relentlessly. Another cringe moment is when he ad-libs “yeah I’m okay, bitch!”. Way to throw the tone of the song out of the window. ‘Mask’ is meant to discuss his mental health issues but instead, inclines to rather triumphantly say he is fine and swears (which is not cool), making it sound that he is having a gay old time. Can you imagine a Dream concert where his fans scream this line on the top of their lungs? The fact that he had to make up a new word (okayish) so that it could set up a rhyme is just comical, once again undermining the concept of the single.


For me, the worst aspect of the song is the production. ‘Mask’ is about hiding your emotions from others through the adoption of a persona. The production should compositionally convey and heighten this concept. Five seconds in: we have gentle guitar strumming that is interrupted by jarring producer tags (“Secure the bag, know what I mean? Banrisk on the beat”, “Ayo, Perish, this is hot, boy”). Can you hear me shaking my head? Don’t they realise how much this undermines the personal nature of the song? Ayo, Perish, you know what’s hot? Depression.


Beyond that, the song sounds generic as it resorts to safe, emo-pop. This was a missed opportunity. Dream could have opted for something sounding overwhelmingly optimistic, juxtaposing the dark subject matter in the lyrics. An example of this would be Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’, energetic production contrasting with lyrics about a relationship on the verge of collapse. This could even work for ‘Mask’ thematically, as the over-saturated positivity itself masks the deeper meaning of the song. Instead, Dream decides to take a radio-friendly approach, resulting in such bland composition. Out of anything, it makes the debilitating experience of depression sound somewhat pleasant.


Dream’s singing has gone under the radar by most reviewers, as discussing every aspect of why this song is terrible would certainly induce severe burn-out. Nevertheless, Dream somehow manages to completely air-ball (a-la-Westbrook) his vocal performance into oblivion. He is singing way beyond his vocal range. You do not need to be a vocalist to hear how much Dream is straining his voice. The production somehow one-ups this by adding autotune, ironically failing to mask Dream’s weaknesses but alternatively amplifies it, making it the worst of both worlds.


It would be a crime if I did not at least briefly elaborate on the MV, as I believe it adds a significant contribution to the song’s inspiring meaning. I do not need to tell you that the MV is appalling, the proof is in the pudding. From what I’ve gathered, the MV was hastily animated by a group of minors who were already out of their comfort zone, given that they specialise in Minecraft animations (time to get a new hobby). This results in one of the worst music videos in recent memory. Watch, as Dream melts in front of your eyes, his eyes popping in and out of their sockets as his shirt kind of does whatever throughout the video. This is only scratching the surface of the issues with the MV. It is computer-generated images (CGI) like this released in 2021 that destroyed the conspiracy theory that NASA had the capabilities to film the moon landing in a Hollywood studio in 1969 and make it appear realistic. At best, the video is comedy gold. At worst, it possibly sets a dangerous precedent in dealing with mental health issues, given that his audience is mostly kids that would look to imitate the actions of their idols. This is especially pertinent when despite being prescribed \*groans\* normal pills, he chucks them down what I assume is a sink. Subtlety was never Dream’s strong suit.


Ultimately, Dream’s ‘Mask’ is one of the worst singles to drop this year. It fails in every category, actively jeopardising its own messaging, through terrible lyrics, uninspiring production, and a god-awful vocal performance, whose sheer awfulness is heightened by a terrible music video. I was strongly considering giving this a half-star but something this bad doesn’t deserve the attention that this review will receive, as it is shared across the world. As awful as a metaphorical car crash can be, sometimes it is hard not to look away. I reluctantly give this one star.