When he broke through in 2019 with his viral single “Heart on Ice,” Rod Wave shot to the forefront of the growing genre of “pain music”—intimate street rap ballads on the subject of inner demons. On albums like Ghetto Gospel, the Florida rapper/singer delivered stories about trauma and heartbreak in a voice with more range than most R&B singers. Seven years later, Rod marvels at how much has changed—including himself. “Ain’t gonna lie—sometimes I listen to [my old music] and be like, ‘Damn. I was a little dramatic,’” he tells Apple Music. “But I feel like that’s just a part of growing.” Growth is the prevailing theme across the 24 tracks of his seventh album, Don’t Look Down. Where early hits found the rapper running from love, songs like “Piece of Your Love” and “Mainstay” showcase the 28-year-old at his most open-hearted. (Rod describes the latter as “my favorite song I ever did.”) Part of that perspective comes from being a father; his twin daughters were born in 2020. “Like, wow, I was a kid, and now I’m a parent,” he says of his evolution since first entering the spotlight, highlighting “Look at Me Momma” as a monument to that maturity. “Finally, I’m a grown man. Even though I was grown at 21, I wasn’t really grown. My frontal lobe hadn’t developed. We done healed.” Don’t Look Down abounds with expensive-sounding samples and slick interpolations, from the dreamy Selena flip on “One More Time” to the pair of Kanye West “Last Call” interpolations that bookend the album. But the soulful vulnerability is entirely Rod’s own—a testament to his journey of self-improvement. “That’s just the way I live life,” he explains. “How can I be a better son, a better friend, a better CEO, a better husband, a better dad, a better artist? How can I be better for my fans? How can I take what I already got and make it the best that it is?”