The Incredible True Story

***The Incredible True Story*** debuted at No. 3 on the *Billboard* 200, selling 135,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, and it also reached number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Rap Albums charts.

## Synopsis

### Plot

By 2023, Japan and the U.S. merged to create a super-nation designed combat famine, depleted resources and the increasing extinction in animals caused by the amplification of pollution. The leaders world science conjoined nations and were able to create genetically-engineered meat that was enhanced and grown in an unconscious state, which was then slaughtered for consumption. They decided that the quickest way to distribute the food on a worldwide scale through China, as China interlinked with other world countries in Europe and Oceania. China then used their newfound power to their advantage, often overpricing the conjoined nation for its distribution route through the country. This prompted the conjoined nation to contact Russia, who had displaced democracy in favor of a royal family. The conjoined nation then entered a working agreement with Russia to assassinate the President of China, in exchange for the Russian occupation of Alaska, which the conjoined nation reluctantly agreed to. Soon after, the President of China is assassinated and replaced by the country's vice president.

Following the successful assassination, a secret treaty was to be agreed upon between the conjoined nation and Russia, to formerly hand over Alaska. As soon as the Russian King arrived, however, he died from cardiac arrest at 59, which called off the treaty. The Prince of Russia heard the news and immediately suspected the conjoined nation, declaring war by firing nuclear missiles at the conjoined nation. As a result of the nuclear attack, the world's oceans became poisoned, forcing the remaining first world countries to move to and operate in the Midwestern United States, alongside the Great Lakes. Dubbing the new city "Babel", they worked to purify the Earth's oceans, hoping to eradicate the issues that had arisen from the nuclear attacks.

A chemical was soon created, which adequately purifies the water to make it fit for human consumption on a global scale. Following the creation of the chemical, billions of people died, leaving scientists dumbfounded. Babel soon decreased in size from billions to millions. It was later revealed that the genetically engineered meat previously created reacted negatively with the chemical, forming a inharmonious solution with the purified water. As the remainder of Babel calculated the rate at which humans were dying, the decision was made to get the rest of Babel's population off of Earth. By 2065, the residents worked to create the Babel Space Station, which held the remaining 5 million of Earth's population, and they left in search of a planet similar to Earth.

The album follows the story of Captain Quentin Thomas, William Kai, and Thalia, who are listening to *The Incredible True Story* on their way to Paradise. They use the album as a backing track to the queries they have on life, often contemplating the point of finding Paradise, and what it will hold should they survive. During the journey, they enter into the vicinity of another ship, an out-of-the-norm situation due to the *Aquarius III* being one of the only remaining ships in current space travel. Thomas soon instructs Thalia to hack the system, before she stumbles upon a damaged audio distress signal located in its interface. Upon opening the signal, it details Christopher Smith, a pilot from *Aquarius I*, in his final hours, warning future travelers to suspend their journey and to return from whence they came. Despite initially being shaken by the message, Thomas instructed the *Aquarius III* to continue. Following further travel, they arrived at a planet with similar conditions that they are searching for and leave the ship. The album concludes with the trio successfully landing on what is now known as the planet Paradise.

### Cast

* Steve Blum as Quentin Thomas
The captain and pilot of the *Aquarius III*.
* Kevin Randolph as William Kai
The first man in charge of infantry on the *Aquarius III*, and Thomas' partner. He was named after the AKAI MPC 2000 XL musical instrument.
* Anna Elyse Palchikoff as Thalia
The name given to a computer program that operates the *Aquarius III*.
* Will Poulter as Christopher Smith
The deceased captain and pilot of the *Aquarius I*.
* Big Lenbo as Thalia
He has a cameo appearance, as a demonstration of Thalia's ability to be unisex.
* Big Sean as Thalia
He also has a cameo appearance, as a demonstration of Thalia's ability for the user to have a conversation with anyone in recorded history.

## Composition

*The Incredible True Story* was noted for its "improvement in production" and its emphasis to be "aesthetically pleasing [in terms of music]" in distinction to Logic's previous works. Martin Caballero of *The Boston Globe* called the album a success due to the way it was able to portray itself as "polished and appealing" material, in comparison to the "overeager and overproduced nature" prevalent in his previous releases. The album also represented a significant tonal shift, with Logic exploring duality across the album, introducing a back-and-forth of lighter and darker tracks. Insanul Ahmed of *Complex* outlined the album's sound, calling the music "some of the happiest [Logic's] ever made, but there are dark undertones to songs like "Fade Away" and "City of Stars", which [mesh] together to create something special."

The album's production and lyrics also drew multiple comparisons to various songs in hip-hop, which can be seen on "City of Stars" and "Paradise". The former was described as appearing extremely similar to Kanye West's "Kanye West", borrowing the emphasized drums inertly prevalent in West's release eight years prior. "Paradise" was deliberately crafted to resemble the sound displayed by hip-hop duo Outkast. "Paradise" openly referenced "SpottieOttieDopaliscious", a single from Outkast's 1998 release *Aquemini*. Logic also had wanted to reunite Outkast by featuring both André 3000 and Big Boi on the track, who began working as solo artists following the dissolution of Outkast. The duo were unable to participate in the song, deciding against the reunification of the group.

## Track List

### Unreleased Deluxe

Though Logic released the two tracks "Top Ten" (featuring Big K.R.I.T.) and "Tree of Life" (featuring Slug and Killer Mike), Logic released them as singles. The would-have-been deluxe of *The Incredible True Story* likely would have included them, however, though it can be presumed that they'd be placed at the end of the album, it's not known for sure.

### Other tracks

Two of the original versions of tracks from *The Incredible True Story* were scrapped in favor of newer ones. Considering the number of revisions that Logic goes through per album, the number of rewrites is shocking.

 "Paradise [OG] (AKA: "When I Rise")"

### Throwaways

A total of nine tracks for *The Incredible True Story* were thrown out, though one of them later appeared on *Bobby Tarantino* the year after. One of the tracks was an instrumental, one was a scene, and some of the others were supposed to make it onto the scrapped deluxe edition.

 "Akira & Beats (Instrumental)"
 "Christopher Smith (Scene)"
 "Control"
 "Overtime"
 "I'll Be Damned"
 "Two Shades (AKA: "44 Bars [OG]")"
 "*Untitled* (feat. Big Daddy Kane)"
 "Young Sinatra IV (AKA: "YSIV [OG]", "Innermission [OG]")"

## Video(s)

Logic - The Incredible True Story (Album Announcement)Logic - The Incredible True Story (Album Trailer)Logic - Young Jesus ft. Big Lenbo (Official Video - Explicit)Logic - Just Another Day Ep. 31- The Incredible World Tour-2Logic Solves Rubik's Cube SECONDS Before PerformingLogic - The Making of "Like Woah" (Behind The Scenes)Logic - Just Another Day Ep. 35- The Incredible World Tour-2
### Logic's Incredible Journey

Logic's Incredible Journey Day 1 - Los AngelesLogic's Incredible Journey Day 2 - San DiegoLogic's Incredible Journey Day 5 - San AntonioLogic's Incredible Journey Day 6 - Fort WorthLogic's Incredible Journey Day 7 - IndianapolisLogic's Incredible Journey Day 9 - PittsburghLogic's Incredible Journey (Full Documentary)
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Goddard, Kevin (November 24, 2015). "Logic Explains Background Story Behind *The Incredible True Story* (New Video)". *HotNewHipHop*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ahmed, Insanul. "The Winning Formula: How Logic Found the Key to Success". *Complex*.
3. ↑ Caballero, Martin. "Album review: Logic 'The Incredible True Story'". *The Boston Globe*.
4. ↑ Zach Frydenlund (November 5, 2015). "Check Out Logic's New Song, "Fade Away"". *Complex*.