You guys are all missing the point. The point of the crackling and the point of his voice sounding broken is because he's emphasizing the fact that he is broken.
"Success has its price"=Midtown has broken him because lyrically he put himself out there and it was so personal and it was so emotional for him.
" Can you hear my now that I'm dumbing myself down?"= Basically saying that unlike with Midtown, Cobra Starship will not be personal.
"Am I filling you with doubt that I am who you thought?"= He is asking you if when you are listeing to Cobra do you think he sold out or underwent this dramatic change.
"I know it's just a game and I'm playing it to win, I won't forget from where I came but it's time to takeover."= Answering the previous question saying that he did not sell out, he is still the same person as he was in Midtown and will always cherish everything in the past, but he's removing his emotions from the music business because he realizes the industry is a business, and you can't let your emotions get to you in business. So basically he is saying Cobra Starship is his way of staying in the music business making it to the bigtime, having fun with it, and doing all of that without the emo aspect that was prevalent with Midtown.
With that being said, this song is amazing!!!!
You guys are all missing the point. The point of the crackling and the point of his voice sounding broken is because he's emphasizing the fact that he is broken. "Success has its price"=Midtown has broken him because lyrically he put himself out there and it was so personal and it was so emotional for him. " Can you hear my now that I'm dumbing myself down?"= Basically saying that unlike with Midtown, Cobra Starship will not be personal. "Am I filling you with doubt that I am who you thought?"= He is asking you if when you are listeing to Cobra do you think he sold out or underwent this dramatic change. "I know it's just a game and I'm playing it to win, I won't forget from where I came but it's time to takeover."= Answering the previous question saying that he did not sell out, he is still the same person as he was in Midtown and will always cherish everything in the past, but he's removing his emotions from the music business because he realizes the industry is a business, and you can't let your emotions get to you in business. So basically he is saying Cobra Starship is his way of staying in the music business making it to the bigtime, having fun with it, and doing all of that without the emo aspect that was prevalent with Midtown. With that being said, this song is amazing!!!!