The Michigan-born rapper played New Orleans on the Halloween weekend, and My Spilt Milk caught up with him at the festival.

The top line in any bio of rapper NF mentions that he’s Christian, but it’s rarely obvious on this year’s Therapy Session album. The song “Oh Lord” erases all doubt, but his faith doesn’t temper his music, and it certainly doesn’t straitjacket it. On the album, he writes and performs as a guy with his foot caught in an existential bear trap. He spits with a constrained ferocity as he works through the hard shit in his life. The ballad “Wish You Wouldn’t” sympathizes with the girlfriend who’s had enough of his life and his his angst, and on “Grindin’,” he talks about his work ethic, which borders on pathological. NF doesn’t sound like he’s trying to save anybody other himself on Therapy Session, and that seems to be a full-time job.

NF was born Nate Feurerstein in Michigan, and Therapy Session is the follow-up to his debut album, Mansion. He performed at the Voodoo Music and Arts Experience on the Halloween weekend, and My Spilt Milk’s Vincent Kanyan caught up to him in his trailer. In conversation, he is his onstage self but dialed down. He’s not as intense, but he’s not relaxed either, and like in his music, NF sounds like he’s trying to work through some issues.