Bookie doesn’t so much dance around the specifics of what’s happened since 2024 as he does flail haphazardly in their direction. Playing just four shows in the past 14 months, the sudden quietude has been startling compared to his booming breakout.
There has been internal grappling, between staying true to his art and chasing the kind of money or opportunity, for himself and his boys, that they’d only otherwise be able to get hands on selling “a lot of cocaine”. Splitting with his longtime agent, someone he considered his “best friend” at a certain point, has very obviously cut deep.
“You’re building something with someone, then you spiral out and lose your label and these other things saying ‘Fuck everyone!’ because that’s what you believe,” Bookie shrugs. “If I could back, would I do the same? Yes. But with more patience and less desperation, more selfishness without seeing that as a negative, more putting myself first and less worrying about who I’m going to upset.
“I like my chaotic nature. But I’m tired. I’ve run so much my legs hurt. It’s hard, this battle. But loss is good to grow. And everyone goes through it. You just need to pick yourself back up and move on.”
New album Cheaper Than Therapy II is the sound of that recovery. Bookie has previously spoken about the need to “kill” the version of himself who made 2021’s original Cheaper Than Therapy, and he echoes that sentiment explaining that this is a different beast, far less fixated on the trauma of his unruly youth.
Tracks like explosive opener H.A.T.E., bittersweet dissection of trauma Prettier and “anthemic ballad” C.E.L.A.Y.N. (‘Can’t Even Look At You Now’) burn with all the defiance and catharsis anyone who knows what he’s been through will expect. But more to-the-point are the collaborations, which the rapper refers to as “therapeutic conversations” to get beneath the skin.
Corey Taylor crops up once again, talking about “accountability and blame” on the aptly-titled BLAME, with Bookie also paying tribute to Slipknot on the excellent Disasterpiece. Get Out, Bookie’s 2025 collab with Corey’s son Griffin isn’t on here, but he is a good friend of the family.
“I was at their July 4 dinner,” Bookie laughs with lingering disbelief. “Corey is my favourite artist and one of my best friends. Griffin is like a little brother. I can’t wait to give Corey a big hug later!”