Hardware:
I think the smartest defensive move Facebook can make at this stage is doing whatever it takes to become a major player in consumer hardware. Even if they breakeven, or lose money on this endeavor it can be treated as user acquisition costs for the people who wouldn't make a Facebook account otherwise, or as a way to make Facebook accounts as sticky as possible to protect against people leaving the platform. Anecdotally, I've seen people that have preached "Facebook is evil" for years, say that not they will not ever delete their newly open accounts because if they did their Oculus hardware wouldn't work, and they'd lose all of their purchases.
Facebook is dominating the growing VR market with an iron fist. Non-advertising revenue grew 156% in Q4, and IDC estimates 3 million Quest 2's were sold in Q4. Oculus Quest 2 has stellar reviews, despite the mandatory Facebook account for use. Facebook's VR devices also use Messenger for messages, Workplace for enterprise, and I believe Facebook Horizon (which is integrated with the FB app) will eventually be the place users load into initially, and launch third party apps from.
High investment cost makes it unlikely that other social media company can compete with Facebook in hardware (especially AVR), and this should give Facebook a permanent utility advantage against its peers. The companies that could compete, big tech, and gaming giants seem unwilling to make the investment to compete. I think they're aware that Facebook is completely fine making $0 to be dominant in the VR space, and that's scared them away in addition to facts like VR being a relatively small market for them.Apple is rumored to be considering a release of a Quest-like headset in later 2022, but the device will be priced far above $1000 according to Mark Gurman.
VR is where I'm most confident in Facebook's ability to achieve its hardware dreams, but consumer AR is also an area where its only competition in terms of investments made is Apple. So I think their chances there are decent too. Facebook is working on long term AR glasses, but is also releasing Smartglasses in collaboration with Luxottica (Ray-Ban and Oakley) this year. There's also Facebook's line of smart video chatting devices, Portal.
Traditionally Listed Moats
Intangible assets consisting of the vast amount of data users have shared: sustained and growing, but people are also sharing things about themselves on other apps increasingly.
Growth of users means network effects still growing
Number and diversity of advertisers, and advertiser verticals still growing
Competition?
There is rising social media competition, and always the threat of new entrants. That being said, competition seems to carve out niches, so they aren't competing as directly as we'd think. The closest thing to Facebook the Blue app, for connecting with family and friends is Instagram. Competing apps can have similar features, but the main utilities are different. Tik Tok is mostly a short video app, Youtube is a long video app, Twitter is a breaking news app, Reddit is a communities app, etc. Facebook's utility first and foremost is connecting with REAL people who's identity you can verify, like friends and family. Like previously mentioned, the closest competitor is Instagram.
Messaging
There can be lack of differentiation here, but Messenger tied to Facebook, Instagram, Portal and Oculus. I suspect it'll be tied to future hardware as well. Whatsapp has network effects, and may one day have lock-in comparable to Chinese super apps (at least that's what's being worked towards). iMessage is the the main competitor here, because they are automatically installed on every iPhone
Misc
I think Facebook Marketplace, the Craigslist alternative benefits greatly from Facebook using real identities, and is an overall better product. If you want to sell something locally FB Marketplace is the best option, and I think it's a strong reason to have an account. Usage of Marketplace is growing.
The integration with Jio in India, and importance in Indian society is worth mentioning for Whatsapp.
Facebook Groups, have competition in the form of Reddit, and Discord. The edge here will be real identities, and the tools they are building to make moderating a Facebook group profitable (subscriptions, etc)
The only other pure "Real Identity social network" is Linkedin is a professional network.
Problems
No young people use Facebook? This seems to be a US centric cliche, as Facebook is popular among all age demographics around the world. According to Pew Research 76% of people 18-24 use Facebook, only superseded by Youtube. For teens in 2018, 51% of teens used Facebook which is good in my opinion for a social network not targeted to teens like Tik Tok. I personally think the utility of Facebook kicks in after college age, but regardless if there is a problem, I think the cure can be User Acquisition through hardware.
Chance of mass exodus? again, mitigated by the lock-in of hardware, but this is a concern of mine based on Facebook's reputation. 1. Privacy, there is truth to some criticism here, because Facebook's business model does depend on data collection, and in many ways is opposed to strict definitions of privacy, but much of it is also pushed by myth like "Facebook sells data". Facebook has the same business model as its advertising funded peers, but perception is what matters, and Facebook is losing the perception battle. 2. Politics, In my opinion has been half of Facebook's reputation problem. Recently Zuck said that they are trying to make Facebook less political by not recommending political groups, and lowering reach on political posts. Also, Donald Trump being gone should make the next 4 years less politically controversial. Since Facebook is in the business of advertising, and people can mostly say what they want, there's always the small chance of a #DeleteFacebook movement reaching critical mass based on these themes.
Being banned in countries? Mitigated by becoming a hardware player, but this is an unlikely outcome for many reasons that my hands are too tired to elaborate on.
Apple's privacy stance and iOS 14: The hit to revenue estimates I've seen are between 1%-7%, but it could also be a boost to revenue since third party signals being reduced will give the edge to whoever has the best first party signals, we'll have wait to see. This is something to watch closely, but transferring third party data into first party data by having ecommerce on the platform through initiatives like Facebooks shops, and Instagram shopping can be the cure. Also, being in control of hardware mitigates this risk
Antitrust- generally not concerned
Privacy as a theme that is adversarial to advertising - slightly concerned but I don't think ad funded business models are going anywhere, many people like not paying for things
Might add more to this later...

Hardware:
I think the smartest defensive move Facebook can make at this stage is doing whatever it takes to become a major player in consumer hardware. Even if they breakeven, or lose money on this endeavor it can be treated as user acquisition costs for the people who wouldn't make a Facebook account otherwise, or as a way to make Facebook accounts as sticky as possible to protect against people leaving the platform. Anecdotally, I've seen people that have preached "Facebook is evil" for years, say that not they will not ever delete their newly open accounts because if they did their Oculus hardware wouldn't work, and they'd lose all of their purchases.
Facebook is dominating the growing VR market with an iron fist. Non-advertising revenue grew 156% in Q4, and IDC estimates 3 million Quest 2's were sold in Q4. Oculus Quest 2 has stellar reviews, despite the mandatory Facebook account for use. Facebook's VR devices also use Messenger for messages, Workplace for enterprise, and I believe Facebook Horizon (which is integrated with the FB app) will eventually be the place users load into initially, and launch third party apps from.
High investment cost makes it unlikely that other social media company can compete with Facebook in hardware (especially AVR), and this should give Facebook a permanent utility advantage against its peers. The companies that could compete, big tech, and gaming giants seem unwilling to make the investment to compete. I think they're aware that Facebook is completely fine making $0 to be dominant in the VR space, and that's scared them away in addition to facts like VR being a relatively small market for them.Apple is rumored to be considering a release of a Quest-like headset in later 2022, but the device will be priced far above $1000 according to Mark Gurman.
VR is where I'm most confident in Facebook's ability to achieve its hardware dreams, but consumer AR is also an area where its only competition in terms of investments made is Apple. So I think their chances there are decent too. Facebook is working on long term AR glasses, but is also releasing Smartglasses in collaboration with Luxottica (Ray-Ban and Oakley) this year. There's also Facebook's line of smart video chatting devices, Portal.
Traditionally Listed Moats
Intangible assets consisting of the vast amount of data users have shared: sustained and growing, but people are also sharing things about themselves on other apps increasingly.
Growth of users means network effects still growing
Number and diversity of advertisers, and advertiser verticals still growing
Competition?
There is rising social media competition, and always the threat of new entrants. That being said, competition seems to carve out niches, so they aren't competing as directly as we'd think. The closest thing to Facebook the Blue app, for connecting with family and friends is Instagram. Competing apps can have similar features, but the main utilities are different. Tik Tok is mostly a short video app, Youtube is a long video app, Twitter is a breaking news app, Reddit is a communities app, etc. Facebook's utility first and foremost is connecting with REAL people who's identity you can verify, like friends and family. Like previously mentioned, the closest competitor is Instagram.
Messaging
There can be lack of differentiation here, but Messenger tied to Facebook, Instagram, Portal and Oculus. I suspect it'll be tied to future hardware as well. Whatsapp has network effects, and may one day have lock-in comparable to Chinese super apps (at least that's what's being worked towards). iMessage is the the main competitor here, because they are automatically installed on every iPhone
Misc
I think Facebook Marketplace, the Craigslist alternative benefits greatly from Facebook using real identities, and is an overall better product. If you want to sell something locally FB Marketplace is the best option, and I think it's a strong reason to have an account. Usage of Marketplace is growing.
The integration with Jio in India, and importance in Indian society is worth mentioning for Whatsapp.
Facebook Groups, have competition in the form of Reddit, and Discord. The edge here will be real identities, and the tools they are building to make moderating a Facebook group profitable (subscriptions, etc)
The only other pure "Real Identity social network" is Linkedin is a professional network.
Problems
No young people use Facebook? This seems to be a US centric cliche, as Facebook is popular among all age demographics around the world. According to Pew Research 76% of people 18-24 use Facebook, only superseded by Youtube. For teens in 2018, 51% of teens used Facebook which is good in my opinion for a social network not targeted to teens like Tik Tok. I personally think the utility of Facebook kicks in after college age, but regardless if there is a problem, I think the cure can be User Acquisition through hardware.
Chance of mass exodus? again, mitigated by the lock-in of hardware, but this is a concern of mine based on Facebook's reputation. 1. Privacy, there is truth to some criticism here, because Facebook's business model does depend on data collection, and in many ways is opposed to strict definitions of privacy, but much of it is also pushed by myth like "Facebook sells data". Facebook has the same business model as its advertising funded peers, but perception is what matters, and Facebook is losing the perception battle. 2. Politics, In my opinion has been half of Facebook's reputation problem. Recently Zuck said that they are trying to make Facebook less political by not recommending political groups, and lowering reach on political posts. Also, Donald Trump being gone should make the next 4 years less politically controversial. Since Facebook is in the business of advertising, and people can mostly say what they want, there's always the small chance of a #DeleteFacebook movement reaching critical mass based on these themes.
Being banned in countries? Mitigated by becoming a hardware player, but this is an unlikely outcome for many reasons that my hands are too tired to elaborate on.
Apple's privacy stance and iOS 14: The hit to revenue estimates I've seen are between 1%-7%, but it could also be a boost to revenue since third party signals being reduced will give the edge to whoever has the best first party signals, we'll have wait to see. This is something to watch closely, but transferring third party data into first party data by having ecommerce on the platform through initiatives like Facebooks shops, and Instagram shopping can be the cure. Also, being in control of hardware mitigates this risk
Antitrust- generally not concerned
Privacy as a theme that is adversarial to advertising - slightly concerned but I don't think ad funded business models are going anywhere, many people like not paying for things
Might add more to this later...

NEW INFO 5 Results from share redemption are posted. Less than .2% redeemed. Very bullish as investors are showing extreme confidence in the future of PLBY.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/playboy-mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-120000721.html
NEW INFO 4 Definitive Agreement to purchase 100% of Lovers brand stores announced 2/1.
https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Playboy+%28MCAC%29+Confirms+Deal+to+Acquire+Lovers/17892359.html
NEW INFO 3 I bought more on the dip today. 5081 total. Price rose AH to $12.38 (2.15%)
NEW INFO 2 Here is the full webinar.
https://icrinc.zoom.us/rec/play/9GWKdmOYumjWfZuufW3QXpe_FW_g--qeNbg6PnTjTMbnNTgLmCbWjeRFpQga1iPc-elpGap8dnDv8Zww.yD7DjUwuPmapeEdP?continueMode=true&tk=lEYc4F_FkKlgsmCIs6w0gtGHT2kbgVGbUju3cIRBSjk.DQIAAAAV8NK49xZWdldRM2xNSFNQcTBmcE00UzM3bXh3AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&uuid=WN_GKWqbHkeSyuWetJmLFkj4g&_x_zm_rtaid=kR45-uuqRE-L65AxLjpbQw.1611967079119.2c054e3d3f8d8e63339273d9175939ed&_x_zm_rhtaid=866
NEW INFO 1 Live merger webinar with PLBY and MCAC on Friday January 29, 2021 at 12:00 NOON EST link below
https://mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/press-release-details/2021/Playboy-Enterprises-Inc.-and-Mountain-Crest-Acquisition-Corp-Participate-in-SPACInsider-ICR-Webinar-on-January-29th-at-12pm-ET/default.aspx
Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis
!!!WARNING READING AHEAD!!! TL;DR at the end. It will take some time to sort through all the links and read/watch everything, but you should.
In the next couple weeks, Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp is taking Playboy public. The existing ticker MCAC will become PLBY. Special purpose acquisition companies have taken private companies public in recent months with great success. I believe this will be no exception. Notably, Playboy is profitable and has skyrocketing revenue going into a transformational growth phase.
Porn - First and foremost, let's talk about porn. I know what you guys are thinking. “Porno mags are dead. Why would I want to invest in something like that? I can get porn for free online.” Guess what? You are absolutely right. And that’s exactly why Playboy doesn’t do that anymore. That’s right, they eliminated their print division. And yet they somehow STILL make money from porn that people (see: boomers) pay for on their website through PlayboyTV, Playboy Plus, and iPlayboy. Here’s the thing: Playboy has international, multi-generational name recognition from porn. They have content available in 180 countries. It will be the only publicly traded adult entertainment (porn) company. But that is not where this company is going. It will help support them along the way. You can see every Playboy magazine through iPlayboy if you’re interested. NSFW links below:
https://www.playboy.com/
https://www.playboytv.com/
https://www.playboyplus.com/
https://www.iplayboy.com/
Gambling - Some of you might recognize the Playboy brand from gambling trips to places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Cancun, London or Macau. They’ve been in the gambling biz for decades through their casinos, clubs, and licensed gaming products. They see the writing on the wall. COVID is accelerating the transition to digital, application based GAMBLING. That’s right. What we are doing on Robinhood with risky options is gambling, and the only reason regulators might give a shit anymore is because we are making too much money. There may be some restrictions put in place, but gambling from your phone on your couch is not going anywhere. More and more states are allowing things like Draftkings, poker, state ‘lottery” apps, hell - even political betting. Michigan and Virginia just ok’d gambling apps. They won’t be the last. This is all from your couch and any 18 year old with a cracked iphone can access it. Wouldn’t it be cool if Playboy was going to do something like that? They’re already working on it. As per CEO Ben Kohn who we will get to later, “...the company’s casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth.” Honestly, I stopped researching Scientific Games' sports betting segment when I saw the word ‘omni-channel’. That told me all I needed to know about it’s success.
“Our SG Sports™ platform is an enhanced, omni-channel solution for online, self-service and retail fixed odds sports betting – from soccer to tennis, basketball, football, baseball, hockey, motor sports, racing and more.”
https://www.scientificgames.com/
https://www.microgaming.co.uk/
“This latter segment has become increasingly enticing for Playboy, and it said last week that it is considering new tie-ups that could include gaming operators like PointsBet and 888Holdings.”
https://calvinayre.com/2020/10/05/business/playboys-gaming-ops-could-get-a-boost-from-spac-purchase/
As per their SEC filing:
“Significant consumer engagement and spend with Playboy-branded gaming properties around the world, including with leading partners such as Microgaming, Scientific Games, and Caesar’s Entertainment, steers our investment in digital gaming, sports betting and other digital offerings to further support our commercial strategy to expand consumer spend with minimal marginal cost, and gain consumer data to inform go-to-market plans across categories.”
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tMDAA1
They are expanding into more areas of gaming/gambling, working with international players in the digital gaming/gambling arena, and a Playboy sportsbook is on the horizon.
https://www.playboy.com/read/the-pleasure-of-playing-with-yourself-mobile-gaming-in-the-covid-era
Cannabis - If you’ve ever read through a Playboy magazine, you know they’ve had a positive relationship with cannabis for many years. As of September 2020, Playboy has made a major shift into the cannabis space. Too good to be true you say? Check their website. Playboy currently sells a range of CBD products. This is a good sign. Federal hemp products, which these most likely are, can be mailed across state lines and most importantly for a company like Playboy, can operate through a traditional banking institution. CBD products are usually the first step towards the cannabis space for large companies. Playboy didn’t make these products themselves meaning they are working with a processor in the cannabis industry. Another good sign for future expansion. What else do they have for sale? Pipes, grinders, ashtrays, rolling trays, joint holders. Hmm. Ok. So it looks like they want to sell some shit. They probably don’t have an active interest in cannabis right? Think again:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/09/24/playboy-gets-serious-about-cannabis-law-reform-advocacy-with-new-partnership-grants/?sh=62f044a65cea
“Taking yet another step into the cannabis space, Playboy will be announcing later on Thursday (September, 2020) that it is launching a cannabis law reform and advocacy campaign in partnership with National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Last Prisoner Project, Marijuana Policy Project, the Veterans Cannabis Project, and the Eaze Momentum Program.”
“According to information procured exclusively, the three-pronged campaign will focus on calling for federal legalization. The program also includes the creation of a mentorship plan, through which the Playboy Foundation will support entrepreneurs from groups that are underrepresented in the industry.” Remember that CEO Kohn from earlier? He wrote this recently:
https://medium.com/naked-open-letters-from-playboy/congress-must-pass-the-more-act-c867c35239ae
Seems like he really wants weed to be legal? Hmm wonder why? The writing's on the wall my friends. Playboy wants into the cannabis industry, they are making steps towards this end, and we have favorable conditions for legislative progress.
Don’t think branding your own cannabis line is profitable or worthwhile? Tell me why these 41 celebrity millionaires and billionaires are dummies. I’ll wait.
https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2019/07/12/top-celebrity-cannabis-brands/
Confirmation: I hear you. “This all seems pretty speculative. It would be wildly profitable if they pull this shift off. But how do we really know?” Watch this whole video:
https://finance.yahoo.com/video/playboy-ceo-telling-story-female-154907068.html
Man - this interview just gets my juices flowing. And highlights one of my favorite reasons for this play. They have so many different business avenues from which a catalyst could appear. I think paying attention, holding shares, and options on these staggered announcements over the next year is the way I am going to go about it. "There's definitely been a shift to direct-to-consumer," he (Kohn) said. "About 50 percent of our revenue today is direct-to-consumer, and that will continue to grow going forward.” “Kohn touted Playboy's portfolio of both digital and consumer products, with casino-style gaming, in particular, serving a crucial role under the company's new business model. Playboy also has its sights on the emerging cannabis market, from CBD products to marijuana products geared toward sexual health and pleasure.” "If THC does become legal in the United States, we have developed certain strains to enhance your sex life that we will launch," Kohn said. https://cheddar.com/media/playboy-goes-public-health-gaming-lifestyle-focus Oh? The CEO actually said it? Ok then. “We have developed certain strains…” They’re already working with growers on strains and genetics? Ok. There are several legal cannabis markets for those products right now, international and stateside. I expect Playboy licensed hemp and THC pre-rolls by EOY. Something like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/842996758/10-playboy-pre-roll-tubes-limited?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pre+roll+playboy&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1 Maintaining cannabis operations can be costly and a regulatory headache. Playboy’s licensing strategy allows them to pick successful, established partners and sidestep traditional barriers to entry. You know what I like about these new markets? They’re expanding. Worldwide. And they are going to be a bigger deal than they already are with or without Playboy. Who thinks weed and gambling are going away? Too many people like that stuff. These are easy markets. And Playboy is early enough to carve out their spot in each. Fuck it, read this too: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2020/10/20/playboy-could-be-the-king-of-spacs-here-are-three-picks/?sh=2e13dcaa3e05
Numbers: You want numbers? I got numbers. As per the company’s most recent SEC filing:
“For the year ended December 31, 2019, and the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s historical consolidated revenue was $78.1 million and $101.3 million, respectively, historical consolidated net income (loss) was $(23.6) million and $(4.8) million, respectively, and Adjusted EBITDA was $13.1 million and $21.8 million, respectively.”
“In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Licensing segment contributed $44.2 million in revenue and $31.1 million in net income.”
“In the ninth months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Direct-to-Consumer segment contributed $40.2 million in revenue and net income of $0.1 million.”
“In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Digital Subscriptions and Content segment contributed $15.4 million in revenue and net income of $7.4 million.”
They are profitable across all three of their current business segments.
“Playboy’s return to the public markets presents a transformed, streamlined and high-growth business. The Company has over $400 million in cash flows contracted through 2029, sexual wellness products available for sale online and in over 10,000 major retail stores in the US, and a growing variety of clothing and branded lifestyle and digital gaming products.”
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF
Growth: Playboy has massive growth in China and massive growth potential in India. “In China, where Playboy has spent more than 25 years building its business, our licensees have an enormous footprint of nearly 2,500 brick and mortar stores and 1,000 ecommerce stores selling high quality, Playboy-branded men’s casual wear, shoes/footwear, sleepwear, swimwear, formal suits, leather & non-leather goods, sweaters, active wear, and accessories. We have achieved significant growth in China licensing revenues over the past several years in partnership with strong licensees and high-quality manufacturers, and we are planning for increased growth through updates to our men’s fashion lines and expansion into adjacent categories in men’s skincare and grooming, sexual wellness, and women’s fashion, a category where recent launches have been well received.” The men’s market in China is about the same size as the entire population of the United States and European Union combined. Playboy is a leading brand in this market. They are expanding into the women’s market too. Did you know CBD toothpaste is huge in China? China loves CBD products and has hemp fields that dwarf those in the US. If Playboy expands their CBD line China it will be huge. Did you know the gambling money in Macau absolutely puts Las Vegas to shame? Technically, it's illegal on the mainland, but in reality, there is a lot of gambling going on in China. https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/10/19/magic-johnson-and-uncle-buds-cbd-brand-enter-china-via-tmall-partnership/?sh=271776ca411e “In India, Playboy today has a presence through select apparel licensees and hospitality establishments. Consumer research suggests significant growth opportunities in the territory with Playboy’s brand and categories of focus.” “Playboy Enterprises has announced the expansion of its global consumer products business into India as part of a partnership with Jay Jay Iconic Brands, a leading fashion and lifestyle Company in India.” “The Indian market today is dominated by consumers under the age of 35, who represent more than 65 percent of the country’s total population and are driving India’s significant online shopping growth. The Playboy brand’s core values of playfulness and exploration resonate strongly with the expressed desires of today’s younger millennial consumers. For us, Playboy was the perfect fit.” “The Playboy international portfolio has been flourishing for more than 25 years in several South Asian markets such as China and Japan. In particular, it has strategically targeted the millennial and gen-Z audiences across categories such as apparel, footwear, home textiles, eyewear and watches.” https://www.licenseglobal.com/industry-news/playboy-expands-global-footprint-india It looks like they gave COVID the heisman in terms of net damage sustained: “Although Playboy has not suffered any material adverse consequences to date from the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has been impacted both negatively and positively. The remote working and stay-at-home orders resulted in the closure of the London Playboy Club and retail stores of Playboy’s licensees, decreasing licensing revenues in the second quarter, as well as causing supply chain disruption and less efficient product development thereby slowing the launch of new products. However, these negative impacts were offset by an increase in Yandy’s direct-to-consumer sales, which have benefited in part from overall increases in online retail sales so far during the pandemic.” Looks like the positives are long term (Yandy acquisition) and the negatives are temporary (stay-at-home orders).
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921006093/tm213766-1_defa14a.htm
This speaks to their ability to maintain a financially solvent company throughout the transition phase to the aforementioned areas. They’d say some fancy shit like “expanded business model to encompass four key revenue streams: Sexual Wellness, Style & Apparel, Gaming & Lifestyle, and Beauty & Grooming.” I hear “we’re just biding our time with these trinkets until those dollar dollar bill y’all markets are fully up and running.” But the truth is these existing revenue streams are profitable, scalable, and rapidly expanding Playboy’s e-commerce segment around the world.
"Even in the face of COVID this year, we've been able to grow EBITDA over 100 percent and revenue over 68 percent, and I expect that to accelerate going into 2021," he said. “Playboy is accelerating its growth in company-owned and branded consumer products in attractive and expanding markets in which it has a proven history of brand affinity and consumer spend.”
Also in the SEC filing, the Time Frame:
“As we detailed in the definitive proxy statement, the SPAC stockholder meeting to vote on the transaction has been set for February 9th, and, subject to stockholder approval and satisfaction of the other closing conditions, we expect to complete the merger and begin trading on NASDAQ under ticker PLBY shortly thereafter,” concluded Kohn.
The Players: Suhail “The Whale” Rizvi (HMFIC), Ben “The Bridge” Kohn (CEO), “lil” Suying Liu & “Big” Dong Liu (Young-gun China gang). I encourage you to look these folks up. The real OG here is Suhail Rizvi. He’s from India originally and Chairman of the Board for the new PLBY company. He was an early investor in Twitter, Square, Facebook and others. His firm, Rizvi Traverse, currently invests in Instacart, Pinterest, Snapchat, Playboy, and SpaceX. Maybe you’ve heard of them. “Rizvi, who owns a sprawling three-home compound in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a 1.65-acre estate in Palm Beach, Florida, near Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, moved to Iowa Falls when he was five. His father was a professor of psychology at Iowa. Along with his older brother Ashraf, a hedge fund manager, Rizvi graduated from Wharton business school.” “Suhail Rizvi: the 47-year-old 'unsocial' social media baron: When Twitter goes public in the coming weeks (2013), one of the biggest winners will be a 47-year-old financier who guards his secrecy so zealously that he employs a person to take down his Wikipedia entry and scrub his photos from the internet. In IPO, Twitter seeks to be 'anti-FB'” “Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia looks like a big Twitter winner. So do the moneyed clients of Jamie Dimon. But as you’ve-got-to-be-joking wealth washed over Twitter on Thursday — a company that didn’t exist eight years ago was worth $31.7 billion after its first day on the stock market — the non-boldface name of the moment is Suhail R. Rizvi. Mr. Rizvi, 47, runs a private investment company that is the largest outside investor in Twitter with a 15.6 percent stake worth $3.8 billion at the end of trading on Thursday (November, 2013). Using a web of connections in the tech industry and in finance, as well as a hearty dose of good timing, he brought many prominent names in at the ground floor, including the Saudi prince and some of JPMorgan’s wealthiest clients.” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/technology/at-twitter-working-behind-the-scenes-toward-a-billion-dollar-payday.html Y’all like that Arab money? How about a dude that can call up Saudi Princes and convince them to spend? Funniest shit about I read about him: “Rizvi was able to buy only $100 million in Facebook shortly before its IPO, thus limiting his returns, according to people with knowledge of the matter.” Poor guy :(
He should be fine with the 16 million PLBY shares he's going to have though :)
Shuhail also has experience in the entertainment industry. He’s invested in companies like SESAC, ICM, and Summit Entertainment. He’s got Hollywood connections to blast this stuff post-merger. And he’s at least partially responsible for that whole Twilight thing. I’m team Edward btw.
I really like what Suhail has done so far. He’s lurked in the shadows while Kohn is consolidating the company, trimming the fat, making Playboy profitable, and aiming the ship at modern growing markets.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-ipo-rizvi-insight/insight-little-known-hollywood-investor-poised-to-score-with-twitter-ipo-idUSBRE9920VW20131003
Ben “The Bridge” Kohn is an interesting guy. He’s the connection between Rizvi Traverse and Playboy. He’s both CEO of Playboy and was previously Managing Partner at Rizvi Traverse. Ben seems to be the voice of the Playboy-Rizvi partnership, which makes sense with Suhail’s privacy concerns. Kohn said this:
“Today is a very big day for all of us at Playboy and for all our partners globally. I stepped into the CEO role at Playboy in 2017 because I saw the biggest opportunity of my career. Playboy is a brand and platform that could not be replicated today. It has massive global reach, with more than $3B of global consumer spend and products sold in over 180 countries. Our mission – to create a culture where all people can pursue pleasure – is rooted in our 67-year history and creates a clear focus for our business and role we play in people’s lives, providing them with the products, services and experiences that create a lifestyle of pleasure. We are taking this step into the public markets because the committed capital will enable us to accelerate our product development and go-to-market strategies and to more rapidly build our direct to consumer capabilities,” said Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy.
“Playboy today is a highly profitable commerce business with a total addressable market projected in the trillions of dollars,” Mr. Kohn continued, “We are actively selling into the Sexual Wellness consumer category, projected to be approximately $400 billion in size by 2024, where our recently launched intimacy products have rolled out to more than 10,000 stores at major US retailers in the United States. Combined with our owned & operated ecommerce Sexual Wellness initiatives, the category will contribute more than 40% of our revenue this year. In our Apparel and Beauty categories, our collaborations with high-end fashion brands including Missguided and PacSun are projected to achieve over $50M in retail sales across the US and UK this year, our leading men’s apparel lines in China expanded to nearly 2500 brick and mortar stores and almost 1000 digital stores, and our new men’s and women’s fragrance line recently launched in Europe. In Gaming, our casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth. Our product strategy is informed by years of consumer data as we actively expand from a purely licensing model into owning and operating key high-growth product lines focused on driving profitability and consumer lifetime value. We are thrilled about the future of Playboy. Our foundation has been set to drive further growth and margin, and with the committed capital from this transaction and our more than $180M in NOLs, we will take advantage of the opportunity in front of us, building to our goal of $100M of adjusted EBITDA in 2025.”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company
Also, according to their Form 4s, “Big” Dong Liu and “lil” Suying Liu just loaded up with shares last week. These guys are brothers and seem like the Chinese market connection. They are only 32 & 35 years old. I don’t even know what that means, but it's provocative.
https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1832415.htm
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-ii-002600994.html
Y’all like that China money?
“Mr. Liu has been the Chief Financial Officer of Dongguan Zhishang Photoelectric Technology Co., Ltd., a regional designer, manufacturer and distributor of LED lights serving commercial customers throughout Southern China since November 2016, at which time he led a syndicate of investments into the firm. Mr. Liu has since overseen the financials of Dongguan Zhishang as well as provided strategic guidance to its board of directors, advising on operational efficiency and cash flow performance. From March 2010 to October 2016, Mr. Liu was the Head of Finance at Feidiao Electrical Group Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese manufacturer of electrical outlets headquartered in Shanghai and with businesses in the greater China region as well as Europe.”
Dr. Suying Liu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp., commented, “Playboy is a unique and compelling investment opportunity, with one of the world’s largest and most recognized brands, its proven consumer affinity and spend, and its enormous future growth potential in its four product segments and new and existing geographic regions. I am thrilled to be partnering with Ben and his exceptional team to bring his vision to fruition.”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company
These guys are good. They have a proven track record of success across multiple industries. Connections and money run deep with all of these guys. I don’t think they’re in the game to lose.
I was going to write a couple more paragraphs about why you should have a look at this but really the best thing you can do is read this SEC filing from a couple days ago. It explains the situation in far better detail. Specifically, look to page 137 and read through their strategy. Also, look at their ownership percentages and compensation plans including the stock options and their prices. The financials look great, revenue is up 90% Q3, and it looks like a bright future.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF
I’m hesitant to attach this because his position seems short term, but I’m going to with a warning because he does hit on some good points (two are below his link) and he’s got a sizable position in this thing (500k+ on margin, I think). I don’t know this guy but he did look at the same publicly available info and make roughly the same prediction, albeit without the in depth gambling or cannabis mention. You can also search reddit for ‘MCAC’ and very few relevant results come up and none of them even come close to really looking at this thing.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gOvAd6lebs452hFlWWbxVjQ3VMsjGBkbJeXRwDwIJfM/edit?usp=sharing
“Also, before you people start making claims that Playboy is a “boomer” company, STOP RIGHT THERE. This is not a good argument. Simply put. The only thing that matters is Playboy’s name recognition, not their archaic business model which doesn’t even exist anymore as they have completely repurposed their business.”
“Imagine not buying $MCAC at a 400M valuation lol. Streetwear department is worth 1B alone imo.”
Considering the ridiculous Chinese growth as a lifestyle brand, he’s not wrong.
Current Cultural Significance and Meme Value: A year ago I wouldn’t have included this section but the events from the last several weeks (even going back to tsla) have proven that a company’s ability to meme and/or gain social network popularity can have an effect. Tik-tok, Snapchat, Twitch, Reddit, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter. They all have Playboy stuff on them. Kids in middle and highschool know what Playboy is but will likely never see or touch one of the magazines in person. They’ll have a Playboy hoodie though. Crazy huh? A lot like GME, PLBY would hugely benefit from meme-value stock interest to drive engagement towards their new business model while also building strategic coffers. This interest may not directly and/or significantly move the stock price but can generate significant interest from larger players who will.
Bull Case: The year is 2025. Playboy is now the world leader pleasure brand. They began by offering Playboy licensed gaming products, including gambling products, direct to consumers through existing names. By 2022, demand has skyrocketed and Playboy has designed and released their own gambling platforms. In 2025, they are also a leading cannabis brand in the United States and Canada with proprietary strains and products geared towards sexual wellness. Cannabis was legalized in the US in 2023 when President Biden got glaucoma but had success with cannabis treatment. He personally pushes for cannabis legalization as he steps out of office after his first term. Playboy has also grown their brand in China and India to multi-billion per year markets. The stock goes up from 11ish to 100ish and everyone makes big gains buying somewhere along the way.
Bear Case: The United States does a complete 180 on marijuana and gambling. President Biden overdoses on marijuana in the Lincoln bedroom when his FDs go tits up and he loses a ton of money in his sports book app after the Fighting Blue Hens narrowly lose the National Championship to Bama. Playboy is unable to expand their cannabis and gambling brands but still does well with their worldwide lifestyle brand. They gain and lose some interest in China and India but the markets are too large to ignore them completely. The stock goes up from 11ish to 13ish and everyone makes 15-20% gains.
TL;DR: Successful technology/e-commerce investment firm took over Playboy to turn it into a porn, online gambling/gaming, sports book, cannabis company, worldwide lifestyle brand that promotes sexual wellness, vetern access, women-ownership, minority-ownership, and “pleasure for all”. Does a successful online team reinventing an antiquated physical copy giant sound familiar? No options yet, shares only for now. $11.38 per share at time of writing. My guess? $20 by the end of February. $50 by EOY. This is not financial advice. I am not qualified to give financial advice. I’m just sayin’ I would personally use a Playboy sports book app while smoking a Playboy strain specific joint and it would be cool if they did that. Do your own research. You’d probably want to start here:
WARNING - POTENTIALLY NSFW - SEXY MODELS AHEAD - no actual nudity though
https://s26.q4cdn.com/895475556/files/doc_presentations/Playboy-Craig-Hallum-Conference-Investor-Presentation-11_17_20-compressed.pdf
Or here:
https://www.mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/default.aspx
Jimmy Chill: “Get into any SPAC at $10 or $11 and you are going to make money.”
STL;DR: Buy MCAC. MCAC > PLBY couple weeks. Rocketship. Moon.
Position: 5000 shares. I will buy short, medium, and long-dated calls once available.

Artist: Yung Lean
Album: Starz
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Listen:
Youtube
Spotify
Apple Music
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Background
“If someone’s inspired by me, I want them to be inspired to, you know, look into themselves and make music. Make art, and find out about themselves.”
Jonatan Leandoer Håstad has always been surrounded by mystery. Starting the year he was born in 1996, when an astrologist had a premonition that Leandoer would become successful in music, his public life has been a mix of highs and lows so extreme that it reflects the internet-centric era that he grew up in. At 17, he and his longtime collaborators Yung Gud and Yung Sherman had already helped pioneer modern rap with the release of the Lavender EP in 2013. The music video for “Ginseng Strip 2002”, one of three songs on the project, has amassed over 30 million views since its release in March of 2013, and tightly associated the image of Yung Lean with bright, vaporwave-esque aesthetics and Arizona Iced Tea. Titled “Sad Boys Entertainment (SBE)”, Lean, Gud, and Sherm followed the Lavender EP with Lean’s debut album Unknown Death 2002 and legendary single “Kyoto” that same year, with Unknown Memory coming in 2014. At this point, though Lean was consistently developing his current sound, many felt that a lack of growth had stagnated Lean’s career.
However, fast forward two years to 2015, where an extended visit to the US to work on music spiraled into a drug-fueled craze that highlighted the internal battle that an 18-year old Leandoer had been facing.
“Lean found himself slipping into characters that were hard to shake. He started dressing like a nurse, in hospital scrubs. He began to carry a knife. Most nights the drugs kept him up, so he’d sit out on a balcony, writing a book in his iPhone called Heaven that retold childhood nightmares about people turning into rats — the animal sign of his Chinese Zodiac.”
The visit eventually resulted with Lean in the hospital after a mental breakdown led him to destroy the condo he had been staying in, and ended in the tragic death of close friend Barron Alexander Machat.
This Miami trip served as the catalyst and developing grounds for his 2016 album Warlord, which replaced the bright instrumentation of previous albums with darker synths and almost punk-like vocal performances from Lean across the record.
For more on the trip to the US, and the creation of Warlord in general, read this article published by the Fader in 2016. While long, it’s one of the craziest stories I’ve ever read and the article itself is so well-written that no summary could do it justice.
It was also around this time that Leandoer found even more room for experimentation in side projects. Under the title Död Mark, Leandoer released a ten track Swedish-Punk album in 2016 titled Drabbad av sjukdom. If Warlord was a middle ground between Lean’s older style and a more distorted sound, Drabbad av sjukdom was a complete push in that direction, losing the drawn out rapped delivery that Lean was known for in exchange for abrasive punk vocals.
In the time since his debut at the beginning of the 2010’s, Yung Lean has had a profound musical evolution comparable to that of contemporaries Mac Miller or Tyler, the Creator. All three artists became popular for their exaggerated personas and often over-the-top lyrics, but transitioned into an oftentimes softer and more melodic style, while keeping intact the uniqueness that gave them a platform to start. Lean’s 2017 album Stranger is a perfect example of this, focusing primarily on his time in a psych ward and the vivid hallucinations he experienced. The album polishes the cloud rap Lean has always made to its peak, with producers Gud and Sherman joined by Drain Gang member whitearmor crafting ethereal melodies as Lean reflects on his time in isolation using beautiful imagery that, while straying away from his lyrical style up to that point, fit his sound in a way that made Stranger one of the greatest listens of that year.
Earlier in 2017, another side project from Leandoer emerged. Under the name jonatanleandoer96, Psychopath Ballads was released months before Stranger, and gave fans a chance to see how Lean could hold his own when he was only singing, rather than rapping or yelling, which would eventually manifest itself on Stranger. However, the production was heavily focused on live instruments such as piano or acoustic guitar accented by synths, an extreme departure from any of Lean’s previous works. Songs such as “Never Again” and “Hotel in Minsk” show off his prowess in this style as well, and he adapted his accent and style of delivery for rapping perfectly into singing.
Following these two releases, Yung Lean dropped a variety of singles showcasing a more trap-focused Lean, and collaborations with artists such as Drain Gang Legendary Member Thaiboy Digital and DMV rapper Lil Dude. This led to the Poison Ivy EP in late 2018. The project was reminiscent of Stranger, but whitearmor’s production led to more experimental cuts such as “French Hotel”, a dance-inspired track that has become one of my personal favorites in the time since it dropped.
After this, the album Nectar was released under jonatanleandoer96, a 9-track expansion on the sound of Psychopath Ballads. Yung Lean continued dropping singles in 2019 (including a two-track EP Total Eclipse), featuring a production style similar to that of his friends in the Drain Gang collective. This change in sound was due to the two tracks on Total Eclipse being produced by whitearmor and RipSquad respectively, with Whitearmor being a member of Drain Gang and RipSquad working closely with Lean’s close friend Bladee.
Early in 2020, Lean rented out a studio in Portugal; joined by Sherman and whitearmor among other close affiliates. After recording about 40 songs there, Lean and whitearmor went back to Sweden and set up a studio on top of an old abandoned girls ballet school in order to record additional sounds. Lean described the experience in a magazine interview:
“...me and whitearmor went on to the west of Sweden to record additional sounds. We set our studio on top of an abandoned old girls ballet school that was pretty much haunted. If we listen back to the recordings, we can hear certain sounds and voices that most definitely didn't come from us. It is amazing. This album will be my best work yet, I just know it.”
Lean’s close work with whitearmor, his experimental side projects, the haunting background surrounding the creation of the album, and his legendary legacy as a founding father of a genre he hadn’t found the mainstream commercial success in that his peers had all contributed to the sound and feeling of his 2020 project, Starz. Preceded by three singles and a wholly new aesthetic for Lean, Starz dropped on May 15, 2020
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Review
Starz is one of Lean’s longest albums, only behind the deluxe edition of Warlord by a few tracks and clocking in at 16 tracks and 44 minutes. Combining Lean’s drastic improvement in singing with distorted but dreamy production from whitearmor (the project’s sole producer), Starz feels like the culmination of everything that Leandoer has set out to do in music. This includes his discography as Yung Lean, as well as his projects as jonatanleandoer96 and Dod Mark.
The album opens with what I believe is easily Lean’s most harrowing track, and starts with a 10 second clip of sound I can only assume to be taken from the haunted ballet academy where Lean and whitearmor recorded. “My Agenda” is perfectly named, with distorted melodies surrounding Lean as he delves into a stream of consciousness combining intense and horrifying imagery with real-life flexes about him and the company he keeps. As the drums drop out of the song, the bridge sees Lean transition from a rough vocal mix to a small bridge where his singing is on full display, eventually fading into background vocals to support Lean’s rapping. The track is dynamic, highlighting whitearmor’s status as one of the best producers in the game as he effortlessly weaves together sound after sound until the picture is fully realized: listeners have been introduced to the world of the album, and it's nothing like one fans have heard before.
The follow-up track “Yayo” is a small bit of controversy on the album, with a verse from Playboi Carti not cleared by his label appearing only on physical copies of the album. Carti’s unreleased verse isn’t BAD (in comparison to his other features this year), but I’ll talk about the version without him as that’s the one available on streaming services. Lean shows his mastery of melodies over one of the beautiful instrumentals I’ve heard this year, with everything from his uplifting lyrics to his softer delivery making this feel like the start to a dream after the sonically nightmarish opening of “My Agenda”. Being given some of the genre’s greatest production and still taking the spotlight is nothing new to Lean, but the way he does this on “Yayo” creates one of my favorite songs on this record and still feels like a breath of fresh air on every subsequent listen.
“Boylife in EU” was the first single for this album, and feels distinct from anything that Lean has done before. The song starts with Lean slowly singing over a single minimal synth, eventually adding light drums towards the second half of the verse as he calls to an unknown muse for affection and understanding. Suddenly, at the end of the verse, the entire song goes silent for a second. It feels like the top of a roller coaster ride, a moment in time before the drop throws you into one of the greatest musical moments Lean has ever pulled off. His singing on the hook is paired with an absolutely stunning wall of sound, and the song’s juxtaposition between soft verses and a hectic chorus exemplifies a defining trait of this album: the contrast of noise and silence, of roughness and polish, of horror-inspired imagery and romanticized lyrics that fit as well in songs as they would in poems.
Up next is “Violence”, the second single for the album and a decidedly staggering change in sound that once again highlights the contrasting nature of Starz. Lean is at his most braggadocious on this fast-paced banger, with flexes ranging from material wealth to his influence on music.
“Outta My Head” and “Dance in the Dark” are more lowkey cuts in comparison to the first four tracks, but don’t lose the momentum they created. “Outta My Head” is a fun, catchy and upbeat glimpse into Lean’s outlook on life in a relationship, while “Dance in the Dark” details his and his partner’s binge while keeping with the writing style that he’s perfected on this record.
The next track, “Acid at 7/11” is seemingly named after an experience Lean had in which he witnessed a man split his head open at a 7/11 while on acid. While he described the experience as “traumatic” the song contrasts this, instead focusing on an enjoyable day out with his friends. Friends such as Ecco2k and the rest of Drain Gang (including whitearmor) are referenced, as well as Lean including a nod to his 2016 collaboration with A$AP Ferg, “Crystal City”. Lean’s use of acid, highlighted heavily in this track, is written as a recreational habit rather than a dependency or an addiction, contributing to the feel-good mood of the song.
The album’s title track “Starz” is one of the greatest, most fully realized songs in Lean’s discography. It’s everything that defines this album at the highest possible standard, the slow burning first half melting into a chorus sung first by Lean himself, then by hypnagogic pop legend Ariel Pink(making the only official feature on the album). While this may seem like a sparing use of such a prolific artist, it’s executed gracefully and leads into a loud, glitchy outro that drives home the overarching motif of sonic contrast that makes the album so captivating. This track sharing its name with the album makes sense, it's the perfect summation of the sounds and styles that went into the project on all sides.
“Hellraiser” sounds in many ways like it could have been on Stranger in a different dimension, with both the production and rapping on the track harkening back to that era of Lean’s music. Cocky lyrics with seemingly little cohesion are backed by fluid vocal effects and a beat that Lean fits on perfectly to create a fun, albeit simple banger that works in the flow of the album to kick off the second half after the climax of “Starz”.
“Butterfly Paralyzed” is the next track, and features Lean sweetly reflecting on feeling love for the first time in his adolescence. Like many songs on the album, it features a simple hook over a distorted break which serves to contrast from the softer, prettier verse sections. However, the instrumental sets itself apart with the inclusion of a guitar in the second verse, making the song reminiscent of Leandoer’s work as jonatanleandoer96. The following track “Dogboy” is another sweeter cut, showcasing what might be Lean’s weirdest vocal performance on the record. The pseudo-falsetto delivery that Lean uses on the hook paired with a bouncy synth melody makes it the most wholly upbeat song on the album. It’s weird to see a song like this on the same album as tracks like “Violence” or “Hellraiser” in hindsight, but the album flows together so well that it’s hard to tell while listening.
The melody that introduces “Iceheart” almost sounds like a slowed down, darker version of “Dogboy”’s lighter instrumental lead, making it a smooth transition back into the relatively darker sonic space that Starz occupies. Lean uses flows pretty typical of a modern trap song, but they take a completely different shape when paired with the distorted adlibs and expansive beat characteristic of the album. Lean’s take on the beat, including a beautiful sung bridge towards the middle of the song, remind me of some of the cuts off of Poison Ivy, but the beat shows an evolved whitearmor that distinguishes the song from any of Lean’s previous work.
Next up is “Pikachu”, the third single released for Starz. The instant I heard this song for the first time in the music video for “Violence”, I knew that it’d be one of my favorites off of the album. What I didn’t know, however, was just how amazing the full song would end up being. “Pikachu” uses its runtime of just over two minutes to seamlessly blend together the best parts of Lean’s older music (namely the beat, whose melody sounds reminiscent of songs like “Ginseng Strip 2002”) with the iconic songwriting style that Lean has developed throughout his career. His monotone delivery on the track sounds like a pocket he would’ve used on this song if he had been given the beat in 2013, but this only highlights how much his voice has matured for the better since then. The instrumental is beautiful, the lyrics are heartwarming and nostalgic without sacrificing Lean’s charm and humor, and the melodies on the track mesh with the beat perfectly.
If “Pikachu” was the culmination of Lean’s career up to this point, “Low” is the culmination of everything Starz was trying to be. This track contains some of his best songwriting, with the first verse talking about the challenges that Lean has faced. Addiction, not knowing who to trust, his influence going unspoken, and how much he’s lost are all mentioned, which may at first seem like a confusing way to start a song with the bright production that “Low” has. However, as the second half of the verse begins, Lean balances the lows in his life with the optimism ever-present on Starz. He ends the verse by seemingly referencing the death of Barron Alexander Machat in 2015 as the instrumental drops into one of Lean’s greatest hooks. The pairing of a repetitive “Low life, low life” and Lean’s unique background vocalizing effortlessly combine catchy with emotionally impactful. The second verse is shorter than the first and includes more imagery, another staple of the songwriting on this album. Overall, the song feels like a trip into the hopeful side of the mind of someone who has been through enough struggle in his life to justifiably lose hope several times over, but who continues to dream about a brighter future.
The penultimate track on Starz is a complete shift in tone, so far in the opposite direction of “Low” that it feels like two sides of the same coin and highlights the motif of contrast that carries throughout the project. On “Sunset Sunrise”, Lean no longer finds repose in his optimism on this track, and his hushed delivery gives his dark lyrics even more meaning against the haunting synths that lead and accent the track. The lyrics sweetly yearning for his partner present earlier in the album are gone, and the void that it leaves is filled with regret and apathy towards life, love, and any other subject that Lean wanders to on the song.
“Put Me in a Spell” is the final track on Starz, and may seem at first like a confusing way to end such an eclectic album. The instrumental harkens back to “Agony” the dismal second-to-last song on Stranger. The sparse lyrics on the song talk about Lean wanting to do better for his partner, and about how he feels undeserving of love due to his outbursts of cruelty. As he sings, the themes of the song come into full view. “Put Me in a Spell” is an acknowledgement that there is a long road of growth ahead for the rapper, but it also acts as a vow of dedication to work as hard as he can for the one who “puts him in a spell”. Lean’s leading vocal contributions disappear about halfway through the track, and whitearmor interjects with some of the most beautiful synth work to come from a producer already considered as one of the greatest of his generation. The song, and consequently the album, ends with the same piano that has persisted throughout the track, and Lean pleading for his partner to “put it on him”. What he means by this is up to interpretation, but it is seemingly in reference to him wanting his partner to put pressure on him to change, which they are referenced earlier in the song as doing. The song fades out, and Starz ends on a more solemn, yet just as beautiful note as the rest of the album.
Starz is a coming of age album with Lean as the main character, someone who was faced with international stardom just as most people his age were transitioning into normal adulthood. This stardom cut two ways, just as this album bounces between Lean’s brightest songs and his darkest. The album overall, though, is upbeat, focusing on Lean looking back at his past mistakes and learning from them as he continues to grow into the person-and artist-that he has strived to be since he began making music over a decade ago.
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Favorite Songs

1. Pikachu
2. Low
3. Violence
4. Starz
5. My Agenda

Favorite Lyrics
“Palm trees, Cadillacs, Ziploc bags
She told me take the trash and come over here
I said if I die here tonite (I die)
I just want you to look over me”

• Yayo

“See, you're a product of your environment
My environment's a product of me”

• Violence

“Got your eyes and your smile, but I don't feel like you
See the buildings, they fallin', it's all for her
Pledge allegiance to myself, know what to do
Pledge allegiance to what we started, it's all I do”

• PIkachu

“Hell in me
Never lose myself, I lost, lost many things
Keep working yourself 'fore you do anything
My dreams are in hell, and i won't sell you them
Yeah, I lost a friend but we will meet again”

• Low

Questions

• What did you think of this album?
• How does this project compare with Stranger, Lean’s last full-length LP?
• How would you describe the overall mood of this album?
• Do you think that “Yayo” works better with or without Playboi Carti’s feature?
• Musically, where do you think Lean will go from here?

When the Paranormal becomes normal.

 I am going to tell you right off the bat that I am going to say some pretty crazy things. Half of America probably believes in the paranormal but still might feel skeptical about stories they are told.. While I did believe in the supernatural/paranormal, I never had an experience that I thought was even possibly paranormal....until recently. I never imagined I would ever experience anything like this. It’s not easy for me to share this. While this kind of thing is very rare, it is as real as you are reading this right now. I have some footage that is unlike anything else I have seen, you will see the link for them in my story. I will show that they are straight off a Nest-cam feed, so that at least rules out CGI. I didn’t wanna share my story unless I could get some type of evidence. The things that you will see are obviously not normal. I feel like with footage of this, you can’t question my sanity. You can still question my integrity if you decide. I have to share this because it’s one of those things if I don’t do, I will always be thinking about it. In June of 2017 I moved in with a grandparent who couldn’t really live alone but didn’t want to go in a nursing home. This gave me the opportunity to get back on my feet and start my life over after living the wrong way for so many years. This was a home that I spent some of my childhood living in so it had a familiar comfortable feeling. The very room I settled into was a room that I would later feel real happiness and eventually complete terror. It’s amazing how much life can swing up and down, even in just one day. Over the next few years of my new life I had ups and downs like anyone else. 2020 was a crazy year for everyone, when COVID-19 broke out and businesses were shutting down, I would wake up in the morning and think “Is this really real?”....but I definitely didn’t see this one coming. I can’t say exactly when but sometime in late 2019 or early 2020 I had some strange occurrences happen. As strange as they were, they never brought fear. The main one is I would be laying in bed getting ready to fall asleep, I was looking at my phone and my bed was lightly pushed, like it was given one very very light kick. I definitely felt it and couldn’t figure out where it came from, my best guess was it must have been from the oil burner kicking on. The oil burner is on the floor below me and about 18ft away, this did not make sense but it was the only answer I could come up with. The amount of force used was enough for me to notice but not too much to get seriously startled. I actually mentioned it to a few people after it happened a few times i said something along the lines of “I think I may have a ghost in my house”. I said this nonchalantly, I was more joking than I was serious. It happened maybe 5 or 6 times over the course of roughly a year. I was never frightened or lost sleep over this, but I did always remember it. Another weird thing was there were quite a few nights I would look at the blanket on my bed at night and the wrinkles on the blanket looked like they were moving, just like ripples in the bay. It was very subtle. Not even visible on video, but I definitely noticed it and I have great vision and I thought maybe it was the light reflecting off the blanket. I didn’t feel alarmed whatsoever. Looking back, I know whatever eventually made itself known was for some reason spending a lot of time on my bed. Some people believe that when we sleep we are closer to the other side, like in between worlds. This is probably why sleep is called the cousin of death. The downstairs of the home is lived in by another person and this person is always in bed and quiet by about 10pm. I think about three times spaced apart, I heard two people having a conversation. It didn’t sound like the person who lived downstairs and it didn’t sound like it was coming from a TV. I couldn’t make out where exactly it was coming from and when I asked the person living downstairs the next day, he told me he did not have anyone over and was asleep. I made it a point that I wasn’t complaining, I was just trying to figure out where the voices were coming from. That was a little unsettling. While I was hearing this I was sure someone was in the house. I’m convinced that this was also related to what I will soon tell you about. Looking back, all these little events were warnings like before a volcano erupts, but I wasn’t able to see what was about to take place. I don’t think these things happening over the course of 9 months to a year would make most people that worried. I wasn’t at all. This is the part where things get crazy. Everyone has those days in their life that separate time, we look at our lives as “Before this happened, and after this happened”. 11/16/20 is one of those days for me, the day before my birthday. The month prior to November 16th I did not have any of the strange occurrences I mentioned take place, they were very few and far between. On 11/15 I had a new mattress delivered, ironically it was a “Casper” brand mattress and I even bought an $85 foam pillow to go with my new mattress. I bought these because my old mattress was worn, not because of any of the things I mentioned before. These was a gift to myself. On 11/15 I slept on my new mattress....and this night was the last night of undisturbed sleep I have had since. On 11/16, I went to bed and while laying in my bed thinking to myself, I remember feeling something come up from the foot of the bed and I could feel the very slightest bit of pressure being put on the blanket and work it’s way up from my feet to right before my head. It hovered for 30 seconds or so. I remember at that moment feeling scared, shocked and confused trying to figure out whether my gut reaction was right. My gut reaction felt a presence hover over me and a persons instant reaction is usually correct. Am I being visited by someone? I was too scared to move or react, I remember only a single tear rolled down my eye. I was stunned. (Why does the same eye always drop the first tear when crying?, anyone else notice that?). The next day I talked about the incident and this was to intense to brush off. At that point I don’t think I was 100% convinced that my gut reaction was right, but I was pretty sure. I spoke to my mom and she did not have anything negative to say, she thought maybe it was someone visiting me. I myself didn’t think it could be something malevolent. I have never experienced anything like this before. The next night I went to bed and within a minute of getting into bed and turning off the lights I felt the bed shake gently, very gently. I would say that the force used was similar to a 4 year old boy pushing at the frame or base of the bed. Before this night, past incidents were just a single nudge, this however was something/someone making themselves known. This lasted for 30 seconds or so and then stopped. I was stunned and eventually I fell asleep and the next day all I could think about was what was happening and why. The next 3 or 4 nights this continuously happened and some nights were worse than others. It lasted 30 seconds or maybe a few minutes. A few times I got up out of bed after it started, and it suddenly stopped. I didn’t feel pure fear but I felt very uneasy. I spent a lot of time trying to find something online about someone having a similar experience. I wanna mention that if you search “bed shaking phenomenon” on YouTube, a video will come up from a YouTuber called “Paranormal Kativity”....Yes it’s Kativity. Never mind what is said in the video, the point I wanna make is that there are over 500 comments of people who must have had their bed strangely shake for no obvious reason and they were concerned enough about it to search it on the internet in hopes of finding an answer. I doubt that all 500+ people are crazy. BI believe that there is some sort of supernatural reason that causes this...There was another YouTube channel of a guy who recorded his bed slightly shaking...It was not enough to be seen on film, but it was obvious these videos were posted by a guy who was shook up and trying to find answers, people did comment and describe some strange things they experienced also. I actually messaged him to try and talk to him but I don’t think he even opened the message. So while this is going on I am consumed by trying to figure it out, but what could I really do, I still had to sleep at night. This continued and by the weekend like the 21st or so the light shaking of the bed continued, one time it shook and my body swayed the tiniest bit from the force. I remember thinking “WTF IS HAPPENING?!?”. Now besides the shaking, at times I felt that something was bubbling up from with in the mattress, like in the way that water boils, at times it felt like it was almost breathing. Looking back I think something was slowly gaining strength or form. I’m sure you are trying to imagine a mental picture of what this was like, it was not severe like in the Exorcist, not even close, but it was enough for me to notice. One thing to remember is I bought a new mattress, so some of my family wondered, “is he freaking out over a new mattress?” I know that some people can bring haunted objects into their home, but I don’t think it had anything to do with a new mattress, there were definitely strange events before the mattress was delivered. The first night I slept on it (15th), everything was normal. I think it had something to do with my birthday. What that is?'... IDK. Anyways after 5 nights of my bed moving at night and me searching the internet for some kind of info, I messaged a paranormal group and explained what was happening and a response was given that said “perhaps it is someone trying to get your attention somehow and it doesn’t sound like anything negative so maybe either acknowledge it or just ignore it”...Up until that point I still didn’t try to speak to whatever was there...It is probably pretty hard for anyone to figure out what is going on based off the few things I spoke of. I kept repeatedly messaging this group and they stopped responding at one point. I’m not the type of person to be imposing, but you can imagine my state of mind at this point. After almost a week of this, I started to get hesitant to get in bed at night. The fear was definitely there by now. I did call out to it and say “who is there?”...but I wasn’t expecting a response and I didn’t get one. Then at one point, probably 2 days or so before Thanksgiving, while in my living room. I feel a vibration in the air right by me. I can’t compare this feeling to anything else I have ever felt...It was just the feeling of a magnetic type of pressure. I just knew that this vibrations feeling I felt beside me, it was related to whatever was shaking my bed. Well at this point I am obsessed with trying to figure out what is going on, and I am hesitant to get in bed. Thanksgiving Eve I pulled my phone out and started recording my room. There I was on Thanksgiving Eve like a crazy person recording my room and moving the camera slowly around despite the fact that nothing blatant is happening. Then while sitting in a chair in my room I suddenly swung the camera to face behind me because I felt a presence behind me. I turn around and see nothing ....I know I felt it. Here is the video that I took that night. 

((Recorded with an iPhone 12 mini) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eKDPkicmfU4

 In the video there is a sound like the chair is tapped or something, I did not hear that while recording.... It played in my mind over and over with zero explanation. I went to bed and the same shaking continued. Thanksgiving morning I wake up and go about my day, I go to my moms house and I return home. I am sitting in my living room on the couch and I am researching anything I can that is paranormal and stumble across another video where people are describing a similar experience to mine. This was the night that who I was as a person changed forever. Later on I am back in my room and I am once again hesitating to get in bed and I start viewing the recordings I made the night before. I know I felt a presence behind me but I didn’t see anything when I viewed the footage that night. I was scared to get in bed and determined to find an answer. I had the video where I spin the camera behind me because I felt a presence... and then I view the clip that I recorded just one minute after. I hear whispering, I play it back and I hear a person whispering....See if you are able to make out what is being said, about half of the people who listen are able to make out the words being said. You need to use headphones and be in absolute quiet. I will tell shortly in case you are not able to make it out. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XtIOepvXp3U
I never felt so terrified and joyed at the same time...Now I could not doubt that something with intelligence that is not flesh and blood was in my room and making itself known. The presence I felt behind me was very real and it spoke to me but I could only hear the voice when I listened to the clip. The past week I was researching paranormal stuff and read about EVP’s. “electronic voice phenomenon” I didn’t know they could be picked up with an iPhone and special equipment was not needed. Whoever said that knew I was looking around for some kind of presence or whomever, and he was saying basically “Turn around” I know you are looking for me.
I texted my Mom at 11:59PM and insisted she listen to the clip right now and I wanted to sleep over her house. She did not want me to come over at midnight and make a scene. I insisted, but she told me to go to bed and that we would talk in the morning. I think we spoke on the phone briefly after she saw I texted her but we just had the same conversation we had through text over the phone. So I sat down again in my room and once I sat down I quickly felt a STRONG presence begin to build behind me. I immediately jumped up scared and said to myself “NO FUC**** WAY, NO FUC***WAY” ... There was no chance of me falling asleep at this point. I thought to go on Facebook live because I wanted to tell the world that ghosts were real and I had one in my room this very moment. I don’t have a big social circle at all and I don’t even really interact on Facebook, but I wanted to tell anyone who would listen. I decided against it. That night I never felt my mind race faster. I couldn’t even process what was happening. It really just can’t be put into words. I looked back at text messages for a reference point to type this story. I saw that night my mom said “I think this is an evil spirit”. She was right, I didn’t think it was a friendly one but I didn’t think things were about to get anywhere near as bad as they did. I got in bed and and pulled the blankets over me and now I don’t just feel the bed shaking. I felt what was like someone or something moving on the bed right around my feet...I jumped out of bed in shock, turned on the lights and thought “WTF!!!....OH SH* ! FU** THAT!!” The bed is not just shaking, now, something/someone is moving on it...I felt shocked, there is no way this is really happening, I heard this voice on tape so I know I’m not going crazy. It was just an unimaginable fear that you cannot stop thinking about. “What is this thing? Who is it?” “Why is it here?”...That moment/memory is one that is burned into my mind. It was almost 4AM, and I had to be up for work at 7AM....I needed to get to sleep...I got back in bed and asked this spirit to please leave me alone. I said “I don’t care if you wanna hangout here but please leave me alone and let me sleep”. This was NOT the right thing to say as this only feeds into it, like I am inviting it by conversing with it. At this point I still didn’t realize what I was dealing with was evil and about to torment me, I thought it was someone just trying to get a message across....I woke nthe next morning and sent the recording of a voice to members of my family and said “please listen ASAP” about half of them were able to make out what was being said without me telling them....I felt relieved that I had proof of whatever was occurring. I got ready for work feeling exhausted yet my mind was still racing. While at work I sat down and realized that something was pushing my chair lightly, it was not enough to push me out of my chair, nowhere near, but I definitely felt it.... I realized that whatever was in my room was now following me wherever I went. I got in my car to go home and I was having my seat pushed from behind me. I realized at this point this was not a friendly spirit, it was an evil one. It could clearly see that I am scared, yet it continues to do the same thing. I got home feeling exhausted and physically hungry but I couldn’t even eat due to the stress. I am home at 6pm and was desperate to sleep. I was terrified to go to sleep in my room with the lights off, so I laid on the couch in the living room my grandparent there with the lights on while he watched TV. Whatever was following me now was touching my feet as I tried to sleep. It just felt like one finger slowly moving back and forth on my foot, barely much pressure at all, but I felt it. It was at that very moment I realized I was screwed. About 5 or 10 minutes later my mom came to my home feeling concerned. She saw a pale, terrified and stressed person. I forgot what I wanted to tell her but I whispered something to her because I did not want this spirit to hear what I was saying. My mom being my mom just repeated very loudly what I had just whispered. (I can laugh now looking back on it) She believed me at this point and yelled for whatever was here to get out and leave me alone...I did not have faith that this would work but there wasn’t much else to do but pray for this thing to leave me alone...There was no way I was falling asleep anytime soon (once again) so I eventually went to get something quick to eat because I had to at this point. I don’t think I even ate lunch that day....Whatever this was it knew it was tormenting me. I went to bed later on, I turned off the lights and within one minute, I felt 2 small dog like animals jump on the bed and would walk all around me, and at times come right up to my face. I remember feeling what felt like a wet nose touch me. Even though I was never once hurt by them. I would wrap my legs up in the blanket tightly, if I didn’t they would make a digging motion just like a regular dog would, and they would try to get under the blanket just to crawl around underneath it. These particular ones couldn’t move right through the blanket. While the dog like animals were doing that, someone would still shake the bed lightly. I have heard of homes being haunted, but my family was the original owner and never experienced anything paranormal. I was the only one who was experiencing this. I have never in my life heard of animal like creatures harassing people. “Are they trying to take my soul?” “Are they going to try and possess me?”...This was the first of many scary nights to come and the worst had not happened yet.
I woke up that Saturday morning of Thanksgiving weekend and while this was all happening, besides fear I just felt absolute shock. “How could this be happening?” “Why is this happening?” I felt so scared and I felt so alone, no one that I knew could offer me any advice nor had they been through anything similar. So Saturday morning I went to work for a half day and put on my game face to hide what was happening. I could barely focus at work but I pushed through. That day I told my boss at my job what was happening. I felt comfortable telling him the whole story because he’s a down to earth person and I knew he would listen to me. I thought I might be on the verge of a nervous breakdown and I didn’t want him to think something else was wrong. I felt like I didn’t know what was gonna happen and thought I might need to be hospitalized at some point. As people get older we see more tragedy, maybe we lose a family member or we see someone go through cancer or maybe we ourselves get stricken with illness. At the very least we see someone else go through it and we sympathize. We see these unfortunate scenarios and we wonder what it would be like for us. It is probably difficult for you to sympathize for me because it just seems impossible to happen. Nothing can prepare a person for something like this, the only thing that can is a previous paranormal experience.

 Well, anyways back to my crazy story. So i am at work on Saturday. I keep this little box on a shelf at my job that only I know about, I keep pens and a set of keys that I use. I am the only one who knows where it is. At the end of work on Saturday I went to put a pen and a set of keys in there and the box was not where I always keep it. I noticed that in its place was a light USPS padded envelope with my name on it. I remembered that I through it in the garbage at my home. This envelope was definitely thrown out at my home, I would not bring it in my car or job for any reason. I saw that the box that is usually in that spot was moved on the opposite shelf. Something moved this item and did it to show me it’s power that it can physically move things. This just sent me into a further panic. I left work and on my way home, I parked my car in a shopping center and called another paranormal group that I was messaging back and forth. I called this woman and told her what was happening. At this point I was talking in that right on the verge of crying voice. I asked her if this spirit could physically hurt me, like basically how much physical strength might it have. She said “at times some do have some strength” some spirits really do have strength but it was impossible for her to tell what exactly I was dealing with based off a conversation. She told me to be strong and that whatever this is will feed of my fear,. She sent me the St. Michael prayer and told me that a more experienced investigator would call me back in the next few days to speak about my situation. So there I was feeling terrified, frightened and my only hope was a woman I had never met would contact me and be able to somehow help me. I was banking on her to bring me back to a normal life. I went to a deli to get an egg sandwich, I regularly go there once a week. I am pretty good at putting on a mask to hide my emotions, but by now I feel like I am about to lose my mind. I walked in the deli, and the same young girl that is always working was there as usual. When I walked in we both looked at each other, the moment we did, I saw the look on her face instantly change. She thought to herself “I don’t know what it is but I just got a bad feeling, something is VERY wrong with him”....She was the only stranger who seemed to pick up on this. I wonder if she realized by the look on my face that I knew that she knew. Since she picked up on one thing she probably picked up on that also. After that I went to a jewelry store to purchase a crucifix. When you’re being harassed by something supernatural, if you were not religious before, you will become religious really quickly...at least I did. I don’t know if my belief was 100% sincere, but I channeled whatever faith I had. So there on the busiest shopping day of the year where most people are getting hyped for Christmas, I was buying a crucifix in hopes that this thing would ward off this evil spirit, just like the way it does to a vampire in a movie. I returned home and at this point I am still exhausted from the lack of sleep I was getting at night. I laid down on my bed in my room with some natural sunlight and closed my eyes to try and rest. Within about five seconds of closing my eyes, footsteps of what seemed to be four-legged something walked alongside my body and got to my chest and stepped right over me. I jumped up and I screamed at the top of my lungs “GET THE F*** OUT OF HERE” “LEAVE ME ALONE! ”. I screamed as loud as I possibly could for 30 seconds. This probably made my tormenter happy because he saw how upset I was. Once again I was not falling asleep anytime soon. I went to a friends house I have known for 20 years and I was in touch with him about all that was happening. This person did have their own experience or two, and they believed me because when you know someone for 20 years, you know them well. I explained to him and his girlfriend that something was following me and would walk around me right on my bed. It didn’t matter if I was trying sleep at night or if I even closed my eyes at this point. I then sat between him and his girlfriend and wanted to see if what was bothering would still come right by me while I was sitting in between two people, it did not. We tried to make sense of what was going on but couldn’t. I had their small dog sit on my lap while they backed away. I sat there petting it and like any dog it was happy with me doing this. Within a few minutes this spirit came right up against me with that same pressure and the dog jumped out of my lap and yelped like it had just been electrocuted. The dog was never hurt, it just felt the pressure of this thing which would make a dog or any person jump. When the two of them saw that, there was no doubt in their mind about something paranormal was happening with me. I soon left because I couldn’t really sit still and I went back home. I sat down on the couch and continued on with what was one of the worst days of my life. There was another day in my life that felt just as bad, but in reality it was nowhere near as bad, I was just a young child who didn’t know what was right and wrong in life and that was my immature reaction to that other bad day. That’s another story for another day. Whatever this was, it was now shaking the couch I was sitting on back home. It did not have the strength to flip the couch, but I felt it shaking. It would never do anything to expose itself while around poeple. However my grandpa couldn’t catch on to much and it was like they knew that. I thought to myself “How much stronger is this going to get?”. By this point if I closed my eyes while sitting on my couch I would see a flashing bright light with my eyes closed and whatever this was would walk on the couch right beside me, it actually always tried to move directly towards me. Even thought at this point it didn’t touch me, it’s not an easy thing to ignore. Another way to harass me was that it would scratch the carpet all around my feet, it would never actually touch them but that by itself was scary enough. Once it realized that I wasn’t reacting to this, it began to scratch on the couch right between my legs, it would scratch the sofa right by the last place a guy wants to be maliciously grabbed. So this being had intelligence and knew exactly what would freak a person out. Once that happened I just felt shock and thought, how will I ever explain this to another person, this is absolutely crazy!!! I was messaging back and forth with the woman I spoke with earlier today, she gave me the benefit of the doubt that I was not suffering from mental illness and she told me that I could get past this nightmare. I was told to pray and be strong and soon I would have another person call me back to help me. I was helpless, I couldn’t go to a hospital and tell them about the spirits harassing me. Otherwise I would be in a psych ward and whatever this is would be harassing me in the psych ward. Why a person and dog spirit were bothering me I don’t know, if you google hellhound there is a belief in a black dog that is a malevolent entity. My grandpa still had his wits despite his age. The past year and half maybe, there was a weekly or bi weekly occurrence where he would be on the couch dozing off, then he would jolt awake and tell me that he just saw a person in front of him. He was always adamant that he just saw someone, they were usually people he didn’t know. A few times he saw people he once knew who had passed away. A few times he was sure he felt someone had touched him. I figured he was old and getting senile, but there were no other aspects in his life where he appeared to be losing it. This happened not often but like I said maybe bi weekly on average. Well maybe a few months before this whole thing started, I googled “old people start to see people who aren’t there”. Some people believe they are getting closer to the other side and they are starting to see deceased people. Similar how some people believe kids are fresh from the other side and they can see ghosts/spirits. The reason I bring it up is because the week before this started, he told me one night he saw a black dog with a long nose just outside my room in the middle one night. I asked him if he was dreaming, he didn’t think he was. There was not one instance other than that where he saw any type of animal....I know that what he saw was related to what was going on with me....No doubt in my mind. So Saturday night I go to bed and it’s the same thing again. I would turn off the lights and lay down and it would immediately begin. I would literally feel the weight of them on the mattress, I would reach out to try and touch them and they wouldn’t they be there, the. they would just come from a different angle. They could move under the blanket and when I lifted the blanket they wouldn’t be there. Then they just came at me from a different angle. You are probably asking yourself “ Why not just leave a light on” ...the thing is if I left a light on they would still harass me. The freakiest thing is that they would come from behind me or right from the side of me, really just wherever I was NOT looking. I would close my eyes and I would feel them moving towards me. When I would open my eyes they would not be there...imagine that for a moment, it is a crazy scary thing to deal with. I woke up that next day which was a Sunday and I could feel the weight of one on my bed. It was probably there all night. It was Sunday morning and the initial horror and fear of the past 2 days had peaked. I still had no clue what was happening and what all this meant, but I was determined to still continue with my life. Whatever this was it wasn’t hurting me physically, and I wasn’t going to mentally give up. I made a decision to go about my life whether or not these things were bothering me. I had hope that this nightmare could one day be a piece of my past. My close friend offered to go to church with me and I said “No”...I am sure that some of you probably are thinking to yourself “That is the first place I would go! “ I made a decision that I was going to go food shopping do my laundry and a few other errands that I did not do for the past few days because I was barely able to function. I was determined to not let whatever this was control my entire life. I took care of a few errands and went to my moms for dinner while whatever was following me was there gently pushing my chair at the dinner table and I couldn’t prove it was happening to them but it was. It was just enough so I could feel it but not for others to notice. As night time comes around I am still waiting on this woman who has experience dealing with things like this to call me back and maybe offer some insight. I just had to get through this hard time so that my life could one day be normal again. I went to bed Sunday night and again the same thing continues. So Monday starts a new work day and I went to work and noticed that whatever was following me would make my thin necklace move on my neck. It was like the necklace was being flicked from behind, I did not feel anyone touch my skin, but I felt the necklace constantly move. Now this did not cause and pain at all it was just psychologically stressful, it was this things way of saying, “I am going to follow and torment you allllll day”.....So towards the end of the day on Monday, I was the only one left in one part of the building. I experienced something that would only happen one other time, this was one of the scariest parts of this experience. I legitimately was worried that this thing would try to possess me. I would of NEVER before worried about something like that and I bet you haven’t either. Well after the past weekend NOTHING sounded impossible. I felt this spirit sort of like fly into me, this was different then putting pressure against my body. I felt this spirit fly right at my me and I got the most intense butterflies, and at the same time I got this panicked feeling like something bad was about to happen. I felt mentally frozen like I lost my power to think and decide anything. The whole thing lasted maybe 15 seconds and that ended. Looking back I truly believe that something was trying to take me over. I drove home from work that day while this thing pushed my car seat from behind me and again I am just anxiously waiting for this woman to call me back so I can maybe resume a normal life again. Once I get back home the harassment changed and started in a new way. This particular method only lasted one day. I eventually sat down and the spirit would get right behind my back and I felt this pressure coming off it. This is something that is very hard to describe, it was air pressure. It felt NOT like a wind type of pressure, it felt like a 500 pound tiger condensed into 1 square foot and was poised to pounce on me. I was sitting on my couch with my back NOT pressed up against the back of the couch. This thing was right behind me giving off this pressure, so I moved to sit all the way back and it just moved on the top of the back of the couch. I couldn’t escape it. Whichever way I would turn it would move exactly as I would. It once again caused my whole body to feel butterflies and tense, even if you know this thing is not going to jump, just feeling that physical sensation causes a natural reaction in the body to be scared and tense. There is no other physical situation that compares to it. Finally, I hear my phone ring and see it’s this woman who can maybe help me. I answered my phone and this woman was very understanding and uplifting, just speaking to her made me feel better. She asked me standard questions for this kind of thing. “Did I play with a Ouija board ever or dabble in any sort of magic? or “Do I know anyone who practices any such thing” I told her I used a Ouija board a few times in 1996/1997, other than that I did nothing else similar. I told her that I made frequent trips to a cemetery to bring a grandparent to visit family’s graves. She said that cemetery’s are very active places for spirits and something could have followed me home. I explained to her that I did use drugs every day at one point but that’s been over with for years now. I was told that something could have been with me since when I played with a Ouija board those few times, perhaps since I was no longer destroying my life, maybe something that was influencing me was now trying to destroy me directly through harassment. I was told it could also be someone putting a hex or a curse on me, or maybe it was an old curse that was placed somewhere and I just walked through the wrong place at the wrong time. I also had a near death experience and sometimes that can maybe open up a level of consciousness that gave me new abilities. I became drug and alcohol free in 2016 after many years of addiction, and after like 19 months clean I relapsed and overdosed. I remember right before I was revived, I was flying fast through somewhere totally dark. As I’m flying fast through this darkness, there is like some type of explosion (NOT like a fire) happening right behind me. It was literally right behind me the entire time. While this is happening I can’t see anyone, but I hear friendly voices who are trying to help me escape whatever is happening right behind me. This lasted maybe a minute and I regained consciousness. Now I don’t know if I was really about to cross over to the other side, or if my mind gained consciousness before my body did, and that was how I interpreted the chaotic scene of the doctors trying to revive me. I just want to mention as much as I was terrified there was always a little bit of me that was maybe 2% fascinated 98% terrified by this whole thing. Ok so back to the conversation I was having, this woman told me at some point she could do an investigation and maybe make this thing go away. Also I wanna mention as soon as I got on the phone with her she told me to turn off every noise around me so that she may be able to hear any voices of spirits in the background, she did hear a few but couldn’t figure out much based off that. I think that just helped her to figure out whether I was really experiencing paranormal activity or if I was just crazy. This was all help provided free of charge so this person had no reason to lie to me. We were on the phone for about an hour and once I hung up the phone with her I remember she told me this might go away on its own without their intervention....When she said that I thought, “Hey if that’s possible, I am going to believe that and run with it”. I didn’t feel this presence for about 3 minutes when we ended the call, but it soon came back around. I eventually went to bed and the harassment seemed more intense now.” Whenever it came by my face I would always worry, will it posses me and have me hurt my family?” I prayed and used whatever faith I had to ask god for help and I did not want to feed this thing with fear. It seemed to make sense that it fed off fear, because at first the harassment was only in bed at night, then I felt the vibrations in the air a little bit, then it went to 24/7 after about a week. It seemed like it had to build itself up. I was determined to no longer be afraid and I hoped this thing would go away on its own. Over the next three days the fear did die down a little bit and it seemed as this this thing was getting weaker. It wasn’t pushing that hard on the back of my chair as it had before. It also wasn’t really flicking my necklace. By Thursday night, there was nothing that was walking on my bed, it was just back to only shaking a little bit. I felt this positivity like I could handle whatever life throws at me and just relief because I thought maybe it was almost over and done with...Things got ALOT worse before they got better, the crazy thing is they are still going on. Throughout my life one thing I have learned is that I am stronger then I think I am. I think that is true for most people, the ones who say nothing phases them are usually the first to fold. It’s like that saying in kindergarten with the poster of the kitten hanging onto the bar. “You have no idea how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have” ....I had to cut my Story short due to a character limit on Reddit but things got a lot worse before they got better, activity still goes on I am just used to it at this point. This activity only affects me, no one else in the house. I didn’t wanna share this but I feel like I had to....Maybe I can get some answers.....These clips below were taken with a Nest-cam. I have no animals or rodents in my house of any kind. I have seen nothing like this anywhere else. I know my room looks plain like a room of a mental hospital. One of my co workers pointed that out. I was sleeping with a hat because this spirit was touching my hair. 

Light orbs flying by
https://youtu.be/61Pz-fBp5us
I have no idea what this thing jumping at my face is... https://youtube.com/watch?v=8tW10oSTGQc&feature=share
This was recorded at 6:30AM. Again...no idea
https://youtu.be/0eHtIwyVGx8

Brevity is not my strong suit. No one is going to read this whole thing, but as long as one person reads at least one section of this, I'll be happy. Feel free to skip ahead to a section you specifically want to read a comparison about, if you don't want to read the whole thing. I recommend the Performance and Gaming sections.
Firstly, here is a Dropbox folder of photos, screenshots, gameplay footage, (no camera videos yet) for the things I will be referring to.
Secondly, I am no phone reviewer. I buy phones once every 3-4 years, until this time where I jumped the gun to switch to a Pixel, so I have only used 5 phones in my life (mostly midrange) and don't have too much to compare to.
Thirdly, this is long enough to have an outline, so feel free to jump to read something that interests you if you don't want to read the whole thing:

1. Introduction
2. Dimensions
3. Haptics
4. Display
5. Fingerprint sensor
6. Speakers
7. Microphone
8. Battery
9. General software and features
10. Default Launcher
11. Always On Display
12. Performance
13. Gaming
14. Camera
15. Dual Screen
16. Conclusion
17. tl;dr

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Introduction

Hi /GooglePixel I picked up a LG G8X as about 4 months ago when my Moto Z Play died on me, and the LG G8X seemed to have everything I wanted in a phone at the great price of $500 CAD (at the time – the phone’s even cheaper now!). Snapdragon 855, 4000 mAh battery with positive battery reviews, AMOLED display, wide angle camera, 128gb storage + expandable, headphone jack, front-facing fingerprint scanner (in this case, in-screen). I also could have bought a separate dual screen if I wanted.
Unfortunately, after having used it for 4 months, I started feeling wary of the phone. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not, but I felt the performance felt faster than the MZP definitely, but not… remarkably faster than this 4 year old midrange phone with a Snapdragon 625? The phone was heavier than I’d like and was actually straining my wrist with prolonged usage (weak wrists I guess), the standby time at my home was draining about 2%/hour, recently opened apps and websites seemed to require refreshes frequently, and most frustratingly of all, the “previous app” gesture was completely busted to the point I just use the Recent Apps page to go to my previously used apps.
For Boxing Week in Canada, lots of carriers had the Pixel 4a 5G for $260. This is the phone I would have bought if it had been out when my MZP died, so I decided to pick it up. If I didn’t like it, I’d have 15 days to return it. If I did like it more than the LG G8X, I’d try to sell my LG G8X. My fears were that the Pixel would have worse performance with its midrange SD765 (especially compared to the LG G8X's SD 855, 2019's fastest Android processor), possibly worse battery, I’d miss the expandable storage, and most importantly… that I wouldn’t be able to sell the LG G8X at a reasonable price to recoup the costs.
So here is an ludicrously in-depth, very long-winded comparison between the two phones, based on my personal experiences with them. Keep in mind the LG G8X is a 4 month old phone so in some ways may have deteriorated in terms of performance and battery. I guess you could say it’s a bit unfair to compare a brand new days-old phone with a 4 month old phone, but I guess it could also be said that it’s a bit unfair to compare a SD 855 phone with a SD 765 phone. That being said, I haven’t noticed an appreciable decline in performance or battery on the LG.
So, which came out on top? (Spoiler: surprisingly, despite its “worse specs” on paper, the Pixel won out in nearly every regard, completely creamed the LG in memory management, is basically the same in terms of app and website opening speeds, even games better.)
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Dimensions

Perhaps a dumb reason, but one of the main reasons I was thinking of switching away from the LG G8X is the weight. I didn’t realize how much of a difference 27g would make, but my wrist gets tired using the LG G8X after a while, whereas my wrist does not with the Pixel nearly as much. In terms of the length and width, though the LG is bigger, it doesn’t feel much bigger to use (outside of the weight).
Some people like huge phones, and good for them! For me, the Pixel’s lighter profile wins out by far.
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Hardware

Power buttons for both phones are on the right side. Pixel has volume also on the right, which makes taking screenshots a pain. LG has the volume buttons on the left, much more convenient for screenshots. LG also has a useful Google Assistant physical button on the right below the volume buttons, which is not remappable. Pixel has a matte plastic back with a camera bump, the LG G8X has a glass back that is completely flush with the camera. In theory this sounds nice for the LG G8X, but I suspect the glass contributes to the weight of the phone. This is an incredibly slippery phone! The weight of the charging cord is often enough to pull this slippery guy off a tabletop. Can be solved with a case.
LG wins here. The glass feels more premium, and the buttons are a lot nicer. The flush nature of the device is really nice.
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Haptics

Not something I care too much about honestly. I had read some review somewhere saying the LG haptics were bad, but I didn’t mind it at all at the time. Similar to the MZP. Now that I have the Pixel though, I think I see what they mean. The LG feels …tinnier? than the Pixel. The first time I received a notification on the Pixel I almost jumped out of my seat at how full and robust the vibration was.
Pixel wins here, I think. Maybe. But I don’t really care much for haptics so it’s a non-issue for me.
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Display

LG G8X has a slightly bigger screen at 6.4” vs 6.2”. In practice I can’t really tell the difference. In terms of image quality, I am no expert at distinguishing this. Pixel appears a bit brighter than the LG G8X at max brightness. Pixel appears a bit darker than the LG G8X at minimum brightness. Honestly not a huge difference either way. At low brightness, the LG has a bit of a “black smear” effect that I notice while scrolling that isn’t as evident on the Pixel. Colours, I don’t know. Reds and whites look more natural on the Pixel otherwise hard for me to tell much of a difference. However, LG gives you a lot of flexibility in playing around with the colours of the display and stuff and I’m sure you could get it to look the way you want. The Pixel only offers 3 colour options. Finally, the status bar on the Pixel is HUGE and feels like they could’ve saved a lot of space if they cut it down. Thus for many apps the LG G8X feels significantly more spacious because of the status bar – the Pixel’s status bar is, from what I can visually estimate, literally twice as tall as the LG’s. Auto brightness: LG G8X is way better. Smooth gradation, whereas Pixel is abrupt.
Overall I think the Pixel is maybe a tad nicer on default settings, but I’ll give it to LG G8X for the flexibility with adjusting the screen colours however you want, as well as the extra real estate afforded by the much smaller status bar (and of course bigger screen).
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Fingerprint sensor

LG G8X fingerprint is frustratingly inaccurate. I am only successfully like 60-70% of the time with my thumbs. Sometimes it’s fantastic, other times I cannot get it to work 5 times in a row and I need to enter the passcode manually. I can’t seem to recreate the conditions where it doesn’t work. That being said, I really like having front-facing fingerprint scanners: my phone is often sitting on my desk, and it’s really nice to be able to check things on my phone without having to lift up the phone or entering a passcode. Also, when my phone is on my desk, I unlock my phone with my index finger which is a lot more accurate than when I use my thumb, I guess because the index finger has such a smaller surface area. Thus that frustration with inaccuracy isn’t as big of an issue when my phone is on my desk, but it’s still generally much slower than a regular fingerprint reader.
The Pixel fingerprint reader on the other hand works ridiculously well (maybe because of the index finger thing? Though my old thumb Moto Z Play was also a lot quicker and more reliable than the LG G8X), and is much quicker in recognizing the fingerprint. There is also a “Swipe down on fingerprint reader” gesture to bring down notification panel. I constantly get false positives when I accidentally rest my finger on the sensor, so I’ve turned it off. The fingerprint reader is incredibly shallow to the point where I sometimes don’t know where it is because it’s hard to feel. As a result, sometimes I need to search for it a bit, and other times I accidentally turn it on without even noticing that I activated the fingerprint sensor. Both problems could be solved with a case (which I don’t have yet)
Overall it’s a tossup for me. I like the reliability and speed of the Pixel’s, but I like the front-facing sensor on the LG for when I have the phone laying on my desk (which is a lot of the time).
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Speakers

I can’t tell. They both sound different. The max volumes are very similar in volume. The Pixel has a much quieter, almost imperceptible min volume. The Pixel 4a 5G sounds more… spacious? Maybe echoey. The LG G8X’s speakers sound more… precise? There is an obvious difference in the two sounds, which sounds “better” might be an obvious difference to others but I can’t tell. I have to assume that the LG G8X’s headphone jack audio is much better than the Pixels with the HI-Fi Quad DAC thing, but I don’t have any high end headphones so I can’t test it really. The LG G8X has some fancy “DTS:X 3D Surround” effects, which all sound terrible always, so I never leave them on. LG G8X has an equalizer, Pixel does not. Audio for both come out of the bottom right “speaker grille” and the earpiece speaker grille. For both phone the bottom speaker is louder than the earpiece, but the Pixel’s speakers are closer in volume than the LG G8X’s: block the bottom speaker, and the audio is greatly diminished.
I think the LG wins this one with the audio options and flexibility? There’s probably something fundamentally different between the speakers on the two phones but I really I can’t tell which I prefer. People had a lot of complaints about the Pixel 5 speakers, I have no clue if the 4a 5G have the same problems.
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Microphone

Take a listen for yourself. I read a very relevant CBC report with both phones about 15 cm away from my face. I also recorded my laptop playing some music, about 30cm away from the phones. I think the Pixel maybe takes in more sound, but as a result also has more background noise than the LG. On the contrary the LG sounds tinnier to me.
Overall I still think I like the Pixel better, but again take a listen yourself!
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Battery

The Pixel has a 3800 mAh battery, the LG has a 4000 mAh battery. That being said, there are obviously many other factors contributing to battery life (processor, cell signal, etc). If I just use both phones nonstop, they both have great SOT. Both get about 8-9 hours for me of SOT uninterrupted. It’s the standby time that the Pixel excels at though. Overnight drain is <1%/h on the Pixel whereas it’s about 1.5% on my LG. Standby drain while out and about is about 1%/h on the Pixel whereas it’s about 2%/h on the LG. It’s unfortunately the standby drain that turns the LG G8X from a true 2 day phone to a not-quite-fully-2 day phone. (Also keep in mind cell signal plays a big role in battery drain – the signal in my area isn’t super great. I’m sure the drain for others isn’t as bad as the 2%/h I’m experiencing, but you might live in an area with better reception!)
Both phones have great battery life. I will give this one to the 4a 5G for the great standby time. I’ve included screenshots of my (very phone heavy) holiday break battery life, as per Accubattery. I may continue to add Pixel battery life screenshots as the days go by.
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General software and special features

Mostly just going to list features here, bear with me. Pixel has the huge advantage of having day 1 Android updates for 3 years. LG G8X has maybe 1 update left in it, if at all? Both phones have double tap to wake. LG has double tap the status bar to sleep, which is very nice. Pixel has call screening with the phone, Now Playing song recognition. Notifications are basically identical. LG G8X technically has a 1 handed/Reachability mode, but it has worked a grand total of 2 times for me despite trying it countless times. Would have been nice. The Pixel’s “Recent apps” screen has a Screenshot button and a Select (text) option. I don’t find the screenshot button very useful at all as I can just take a screenshot with the (admittedly uncomfortable) Power button + Volume Down combo. Select text I have not used yet but I could see being useful. The LG has an, in my opinion, much more useful set of frequently used icons on the bottom. Not customizable, but pretty true to what I use frequently. I use the feature very often. In addition to split screen apps, LG also gives you the option for a “pop up window”, Windows style, that you can drag around the screen, which could be useful for multitasking I guess but I’m still not sure in what use cases you’d have multiple windows-style windows open (they don’t work on the dual screen).
LG apps
LG has a bunch of bloatware that I never use and I disabled right away. I haven’t tested out the Whale browser at all. LG has its own LG Health app which I did not check out. It has an FM Radio which could be useful. There is a screenshot tool/app which could be useful, but I just use the regular screenshot shortcut. (Speaking about screenshots: Android 11 brought with it screenshots that are instantly taken as soon as you press Power + volume down, which is fantastic on the Pixel. On the LG, you still have to hold the buttons for a second or two. That being said, it is very annoying taking screenshots on the Pixel due to the volume and power buttons being on the same side. Android 11 also removed the ability to take a screenshot by holding the power button, which could have been great.) LG also has a pretty robust “HD Audio Recorder” app with lots of flexibility, but doesn’t do the transcribing that the Google audio recorder does (Which you can download though to the LG via apk). LG G8X has 2 apps you can assign to each bottom corner of the lock screen, which is where I put my GCam. Both phones have double tap power button to turn on camera shortcuts. LG also has a “Context Awareness” feature, which lets you adjust your sound profile, Bluetooth, wifi settings automatically based on your location. Also lets you find your parking spot. Neat in theory, but I didn’t use it much for concerns about battery drain (did not test to see if it really drained much). LG has a “Floating bar” you can turn on, which is a little tab which gives you shortcuts to apps that you can set, audio controls, screen capture, quick contacts. I could see this being really useful! I didn’t realize til just now writing this that we could set our own apps though, so I haven’t tested it to see if I’d actually use it. Finally, the G8X has a desktop mode, which I unfortunately don’t have access to. I can imagine this being useful in certain situations.
LG's previous app gesture
One big complaint that I have a big reason I was tempted to ditch the LG. The “previous app” gesture is completely busted on the LG. I won’t talk about it much here as I’ve already documented it elsewhere. In short, it’s completely unreliable and only works the way you’d expect it to work like 30% of the time. It is infuriating and makes me want to chuck out the windows at times. I’ve stopped using the gesture entirely and just open the Recent Tabs instead, which over time adds up a decent amount of time. The Pixel has no such problem. Generally the LG is also buggier than the Pixel, with jankier animations, turning off out of nowhere, sometimes getting stuck on the Recent Apps screen, completely going unresponsive at times – the latter three problems being quite rare, but they’ve happened.
Pixel power menus
Emergency info, power off, restart, Google Pay, Google Home devices. No longer has screenshot. LG power menu: Power off, power off and restart. Pixel definitely wins here.
Volume menus
Pixel has media volume slider, notifications toggle, Live Transcribe, and a shortcut to an audio settings overlay. LG has a context-sensitive volume slider (media volume slider when there’s audio playing, call volume during a call, notification volume otherwise), and a drop-down menu for individually controlling the different types of volumes. If you don’t want a context-sensitive slider, you can also set it to by default open just the one type. Pixel wins here for me: though the context sensitive slider can be useful, Live Transcribe is a pretty neat feature. Pixel also lets me control both notifications (Toggle) and media volume slider within one tap, whereas the LG only lets me change (in one tap) whichever context sensitive option is available at the time, otherwise I’d have to open the menu.
Overall, LG has a lot of features crammed in, but I rarely if ever use any of them. They are functionally bloatware for me. LG does have some genuinely useful software quirks like double tap status bar to sleep, the Floating Bar (I guess), and the lock screen shortcuts, but I have never been so aggravated with a phone before in my life with the previous app gesture and other bugs that I have to give Google the win here. (Also, reliable frequent software updates, less bloatware, and other useful features like Call Screening, Live Transcribe, Now Playing). The caveat is I haven’t used the Pixel long enough to see the bugs present in the Pixel.
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Default launchers

Google uses the Pixel Launcher. Very minimal flexibility, but it is pretty slick to use with great animations. Google search bar on the bottom, At A Glance (temperature, date, calendar events) at the top, Google feed to the left. You can’t adjust icon packs or grid size. App drawer showing frequently used apps at the top, and the rest of the apps in alphabetical order in a scrolling pile/list. LG has their own launcher with more flexibility (screen swipe effect, icon shape, grid size, option for left swipe to be Google feed or LG’s whatever feed). Unfortunately LG’s app drawer is truly horrendous, a horizontally moving multipaged mess that doesn’t automatically sort (if you add an app, you need to manually sort alphabetically to get them all alphabetical again). I never know which page I am on (there is an indicator at the bottom, but still) and thus it takes me far longer than it should to find an app I’m looking for. Just give me a scrolly bar!
Either way, both launchers aren’t great (except for animations -they’re both slick) and you should really use some 3rd party launcher instead. I use Microsoft Launcher personally, which has some janky animations but lots of great functionality. Nova of course is another popular option with even more customization.
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Always On Display

Pixel Always On Display displays 5 notification icons, time, date, weather, battery. No customization. LG G8X lets you customize the home screen quite a bit (you can add your own images, change aspects of the format, displays time, date, battery but only displays 3 notification icons. Has quick icons you can swipe to access to eg. turn on flashlight, change songs, etc. The Pixel’s is dimmer than the LG’s, which I think I prefer. The LG’s is very bright at night when I’m trying to sleep. Finally, picking up the Pixel will wake it up and bring it to the lock screen. Picking up the LG does nothing.
Kind of a toss up. At first I was leaning toward the LG for its flexibility, but the Pixel’s 5 notification icons are frankly more useful to me. I also like the dimmer AOD of the Pixel. If you’ve got the Dual Screen, you’re almost never even going to see the AOD on the LG.
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Performance

Okay, so I realize that “opening apps and web pages in quick succession” is not something anyone ever does in real life. That being said, I think there is a little bit of merit to it.
Another reason I was thinking of switching away from the LG G8X was that this supposedly high end Snapdragon 855 didn’t feel nearly as quick or snappy as I thought it would. A definite improvement from my Moto Z Play, but also not quite the blazing fast speed I was expecting? So I did a ridiculously unscientific speed test between the two. Keep in mind the following caveats:
- MY LG G8X is 4 months old
- LG G8X has 111gb used of 128gb, Pixel has 75.14gb used of 128gb.
- Apps are close to parity but not quite
- I love reading about tech, but have not myself owned too many products. I am not a professional reviewer by any means, and have never really owned any high end phones (I had an iPhone 4 when it came out, the next “highest end” phone I’ve owned would be this LG G8X). So eg. with displays, I’m not the best at judging.
- I only got the dual screen a day before I got the Pixel, so most of my LG G8X impressions are from Dual Screen use. I’ve also used the Dual Screen for a bit since getting it, so I do have thoughts in its own section.
- I did comparisons in two different scenarios: 1st scenario, both phones were restarted, full battery. 2nd run, both phones had been on and used over a period of about 48 hours without turning them off. LG G8X was at 70% and Pixel was at 100%. Pixel was used generally much more than the LG phone was all day. The reason for doing it both after a fresh restart and after a few days on is that I had noticed that my LG seemed to perform worse after several days, and seemed to be better after a fresh restart.
1st run
With both phones freshly restarted and at the same battery percentage, geeeeeeeeeeeeeenerally the LG G8X was faster at opening apps than the Pixel. But honestly not as frequently as I was expecting. The LG G8X was generally able to open more intensive apps a bit faster than the Pixel. I’ve attached the “stats” here. In short, the LG was able to open 12 apps less than half a second faster than the Pixel, whereas the Pixel was able to open 9 apps less than half a second faster than the LG. The LG was able to open 8 apps more than half a second faster than the Pixel, and the Pixel was able to open 6 apps more than half a second faster than the LG. The phones opened 7 websites equally quickly. In terms of websites, the LG was able to open 23 websites faster than the Pixel, and the Pixel was able to open 9 websites slightly faster than the LG. They opened 3 websites at the same speed.
The most egregious thing here was the Pixel completely smoked the LG in terms of keeping app and websites in memory. It wasn’t even remotely close. Even before I got the Pixel I had noticed my LG seemed to be dropping apps quickly, but it wasn’t clear how quick it was until I directly compared these two phones. On my first run, after loading tons of Chrome tabs, both phones had to reload 80 days (the most recent app). After that, the LG continued to consistently reload apps, whereas the Pixel was able to load at least 7 apps without having to reload before I stopped testing.
2nd run
At this point I had both phones on for about 48 hours and had used my Pixel for about 3 hours that day (then charged to 100%) and then used my LG for about 2 hours right before testing it (battery about 70% when I started testing). I cleared all the apps from memory. I have no clue if the battery difference contributed or what, but the results completely flipped around, and quite dramatically. The Pixel was able to open apps slightly faster by <0.5s than the LG with 38 apps. The LG was slightly faster by >0.5s than the Pixel with 10 apps. The Pixel was noticeably >0.5s faster than the LG with 8 apps, and the LG was noticeably faster >0.5s than the Pixel with 6 apps. They were equally fast at opening 17 apps.
Really striking results. I rarely turn off my phone, which is maybe why I’ve been feeling my LG gets sluggish pretty easily? Clear something about keeping the LG on for periods of time causes… stuff… to build up, and the Pixel completely smoked the LG in terms of app opening on the second run. That being said, the <0.5s speed advantages really are quite miniscule, could very much be due to margin of error from my tapping, and of course there are always a million variables impacting how quickly an app opens up. But still, the Pixel is no slouch with its SD 765.
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Gaming

I also ran the Dolphin emulator on The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Both phones performed equally well, hitting 29-30 fps for Wind Waker and 59-60fps for Fire Emblem consistently. Genshin Impact ran a bit smoother on the LG than the LG (and the default setting for LG was “Medium” graphics, while for the Pixel was “Low”.) Both phones had lots of frame drops. I’ve included some screen recordings of Genshin Impact, both ran at medium settings, as well as the Dolphin games at default settings, using each respective phone’s default screen recorders. I’m not sure why the LG recording is such miserable quality (and muted), they both visually looked the same while actually playing the game. Similarly, I have no clue why the Pixel recording made the voices all echoey, they sound fine normally. Similarly, with the Dolphin emulator, normally Wind Waker is able to hold 29-30 pretty well, I suspect also running the screen recorder simultaneously caused it to drop frames. I repeated the Dolphin emulation after resetting the phone, and I still got frame rate drops. But uh, yeah, the Pixel also held its framerate better with the screen recorder than the LG did (normally they’re both good at holding the framerate).
Using Dolphin to emulate Xenoblade was a completely different story. Through the opening sequence, both phones (and my laptop) hiccupped at the same places. That being said, outside of those hiccup spots in cutscenes (and one area with a larger concentration of enemies), the Pixel 4a 5G was mostly able to maintain 30fps. Exploring Colony 9 was a smooth 30fps throughout the city. The LG G8X hiccupped in those cutscenes, but in other places where the Pixel was 30fps, the LG G8X was chugging along at 15-25fps. Most notably this occurred while exploring Colony 9. I have no clue what’s going on here, I didn’t actually expect the Pixel to perform so well here, or the LG G8X to perform so poorly. I tried walking around Colony 9 again when my phone cooled down a bit and it performed better, but quickly tanked back down to ~20fps within 15 seconds. I suspect LG throttles its phone pretty hard?
Overall, shockingly, I have to give the Pixel the win here. It’s no comparison. You can check out the gameplay vids yourself. I don’t know if I have a lemon of an LG G8X or what. If anyone else is able to emulate Xenoblade on their LG G8X, let me know how it performs for you. Is my phone a lemon? Or did LG just optimize their phone extremely poorly? (ALSO Apologies for the terrible resolution for the LG recorder, I didn’t realize you could change the resolution to full HD til my rerecording after the phone had cooled down).
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Camera

I thought the LG’s camera was fantastic coming from the Moto Z Play. Then I got the Pixel! GCam does help, but unfortunately you can’t set it to the double-tap-power button shortcut. The LG camera app does have some merits (lots of flexibility in image settings if you have the time to tweak settings to take a photo), but for a quick point and shoot it just doesn’t compare to the Pixel a lot of the time. That being said, I feel the LG actually sometimes takes more accurate photos? If I take a photo of something drab and dull, the LG captures it pretty accurately, whereas the Pixel takes a far nicer looking photo but doesn’t look like the drab reality. The Pixel though also takes much nicer, realistic photos of nice vibrant things, whereas the LG’s photos look more washed out. For day shots, or shots facing light, the… dynamic range? Is that what it’s called? For the Pixel is far better than the Pixel. The LG will blow out eg. the details in clouds (ie. Clouds will just appear white and uniform), while the Pixel will preserve the detail and colour of the clouds. For night shots, the LG actually takes better non-Night mode night shots than the Pixel. But the Pixel’s Night Mode absolutely smokes LG’s Night Mode, no questions asked. LG with GCam’s Night Sight helps a lot though. The LG’s selfie camera focuses off into the distance instead of your face so is functionally useless. Finally, I don’t take videos so won’t really comment on it. LG’s wide camera is a lot wider than the Pixel’s, which is a plus for LG.
Overall, the Pixel has a better camera but the LG isn’t too shabby, and sometimes takes nicer shots than the Pixel. Non-Night mode shots are actually better on the LG, but usually Pixel’s night mode turns out better looking. I’ll let the photos do the talking, where I have comparison shots between the LG (with the LG cam as well as the GCam), vs. the Pixel. I’m a lot more interested in shots with challenging lighting, thus the weird dark shots. Unfortunately the weather isn’t great here so no nice outdoor shots. Also unfortunately I have now noticed that a lot of them are blurrier than I’d like – I am too lazy to change them now! I may add more photos to the albums later.
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Dual screen

I just picked this up a day before the Pixel came in. I was pretty excited for it because there are definitely times where I want to multitask, or where I’ve got split screen open trying to copy some text from what window to the other but the keyboard pops up and blocks my view.
Unfortunately, the dual screen implementation feels far more half-hearted than that of what I’m hearing about the Surface Duo. The two screens feel more like two separate machines with a tenuous link, than like two parts of the same unit. At the same time, the 2nd screen doesn’t have the same functionality as the main screen: you can’t split screen it, you can’t change the launcher, the home screen is not continuous at all with the main screen’s home screen, and when you throw one screen’s contents over to the other screen, it often feels like a mystery what will occupy the screen whose contents you just threw over to the other screen.
Using one screen as a keyboard for the other screen in theory sounds really neat, but it only works with the LG keyboard, which has an embarrassingly tiny dictionary with terrible autocorrect suggestions. Even when it works with the LG keyboard, when you tap in a text field on the top screen, the phone does this janky animation where the keyboard first shows up on the top screen before jumping down to the bottom screen. If you tap on a text field on the bottom screen, it won’t by default push the bottom screen contents up and open the keyboard on the bottom screen (which could be what some people want, I guess).
Very, very, very few apps make good use of the dual screens, even with the 3rd party Wide Mode app which forces any app into Wide Mode (which just turns apps into Tablet Mode rather than giving unique content to each screen). The LG Whale browser seems to be the best app to make use of the dual screen (you can open links in one screen on the other screen) – that being said, I’d much rather use other browsers. Chrome does a reasonable job, and you can open taps from one screen in the other screen. I can’t find a way to get Youtube to open a video on one screen and me scrolling through comments/searching through other videos on the other screen.
Overall something I really wish they would have incorporated was, say, opening a link in one app and the internet browser automatically opening in the other screen, or at least giving me the option to open in the other screen! Say, a friend sends me a link to a website and then I open the website in the opposite screen automatically and then continue talking to my friend on the first screen. Not a feature that is currently implemented.
The LG Gamepad mode seems like a great idea: the top screen acts as the screen, the bottom screen acts as the gamepad. Supposedly the games will detect it as a native gamepad. Unfortunately, it was not compatible with Stadia, Xbox GamePass Streaming, or Dolphin Emulator. It was compatible with Final Fantasy V and PPSSPP. Games like Genshin Impact, a game without controller support absolutely begging for it, work really well with it as you can also create a custom gamepad with buttons that correspond to tapping areas on the game screen. I was most looking forward to it working with Stadia, Gamepass and the emulators though (I don’t play too many native Android games) so I definitely am pretty bummed.
My biggest complaint though is there just simply is no easy way to type with the dual screen vertical. Though I’d like to make use of the dual screen features sometimes for the occasional time I want to multitask, I sadly discovered the few times I would use the dual screen to its potential does not warrant having the carry this colossal phone around with its incredibly uncomfortable typing position. The obvious solution would be to have a “wide mode” split keyboard, which actually does appear if you Wide Mode an app and then use the keyboard. But from what I can tell, there is no way to “wide mode” a keyboard when you’re using the dual screens as, well, dual screens. On single screen phones I usually type with two hands, whereas I can’t type with one hand on this phone because the keyboard only shows up on one screen, and the other screen is in the way. On this phone, the only way to type is to hold the phone with one hand, and use a finger on the other hand to peck at or swipe the keys.
Overall, I think I like a dual screen in theory, but LG didn’t execute it very well at all. Instead of feeling like an extension of the main screen, it feels like its entirely own entity and doesn’t always flow well with the main screen. The absolute paucity of apps making use of the dual screen to its full potential is unfortunate. The biggest culprit is that typing in dual screen vertical mode (The way I use it most frequently) is extremely uncomfortable. All these drawbacks don’t make keeping the dual screen on worthwhile, as someone who only occasionally requires the dual screen.
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Conclusion

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! This wound up being nearly 7000 words… wasn’t expecting it to be, like, even a quarter that long. I'll be happy if even one person reads through 50% of this.
I think the Pixel demonstrates that spec sheets really are not everything. Either that, or I got a lemon of an LG G8X (not outside the realm of possibility). With the caveat of the LG having much more fuller storage and being used for 4 more months, despite the LG’s supposedly better chip, performance is objectively pretty similar between the two phones in terms of app opening and opening websites. The Pixel was actually beating out the LG pretty consistently after both phones were used for 48 hours. Both phones run Genshin Impact kind of miserably, and run Gamecube games on Dolphin without a hitch. The Pixel was significantly better than the LG in emulating the Wii. The Pixel consistently destroyed the LG in terms of memory management. The Pixel’s smaller battery capacity of 3800 mAh outlasted the LG’s 4000 mAh battery, even when the LG was brand new. The camera in the Pixel is far better than the LG. The software experience of the Pixel is smoother and less buggy (and certainly less frustrating). The fingerprint sensor is a tossup for me. The audio is maybe better in the LG, but I can’t really tell. Screens are similar. The LG does “feel” more premium, but I do prefer the lightness of the Pixel. The one definitely advantage the LG has over the Pixel is the expandable storage.
Needless to say, I think I am going to keep the Pixel. I didn’t want to leave the LG G8X community behind though without giving a good reason to do so, and I hope this 6000+ word document with accompanying Dropbox folder of photos, screenshots, and screen recordings explain why I did so, and also demonstrate that spec sheets aren’t everything. I’ll probably try to sell the LG G8X + Dual Screen, but taking a look at how long these phones stay on Facebook Marketplace/eBay, I’m not very hopeful I’ll be able to sell it at even a fraction of what I bought it for. Anyway, thanks for reading.
I spent way too much time on this.
Also I haven’t proofread this, so I’m sure there are mistakes abound.
Also I really need to get working on actually important stuff. Thanks for reading!
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Much needed tl;dr (Which is still long):

- Spec sheets are not everything.
- Was getting tired of LG G8X's weight, previous app gesture being busted, standby drain, general glitchiness, slower performance than expected, so I picked up a Pixel 4a 5G.
- Did lots of tests which you can check out in the Dropbox
- I subjectively like Pixel's camera, speakers, microphone, default screen colour balance, software cleanliness better.
- Really surprisingly, my specific days-old Pixel 4a 5G outperforms my 4 month old LG G8X in app opening and website opening (unless I freshly restart both phones). REALLY surprisingly, my Pixel ran circles around the LG in Wii emulation, and was equally competent at Gamecube emulation and Genshin Impact
- I will be keeping the Pixel. I will try to sell the LG G8X but am not hopeful. I will miss LG G8X's expandable storage but not much else.