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This album was released on October 3rd in 2014. I’ve mentioned Cozz a few times before on my other Dreamville reviews. He’s always been a dope MC to me, and, from what I’ve heard, he seems to be one of the best on Dreamville. I’ve been meaning to check out this album for a long ass time, and since I’ve been doing a lot of other Dreamville releases recently, I thought now would be a good time to finally listen to it. Unfortunately I can’t find the GODDAMN production credits for each track. I know that there were four producers—Divenchi, Meez, Mike Free & Trauma Tone—involved with the album, but I’m not sure which tracks were produced by who. Or whom. How do you even use that word? I don’t think I’ve ever said “whom” before in my life, but that’s neither here nor there. I’m pretty upset about not having the production credits, but I’m still expecting to enjoy this album a lot. What I’ve heard from him already has been great.

UPDATE: Every song is produced by Meez, except where noted.

Track 1: Dreams

This song was my first introduction to Cozz. The day the news broke that he had signed to Dreamville, I saw that he caught J. Cole’s attention with a song called Dreams. There was a music video for it, so I decided to go ahead and check it out. It’s dope af. Oh shit… This album version seems to have a slightly altered beat. The bass is a lot heavier. Huh. It sounds like Cozz redid his vocals too. Maybe that’s just me. Yeah, now that I’m rewatching the video I see that it’s the same. I guess I just never noticed the nuances of the production. Well, I love the song either way. I love the tension and desperation behind Cozz’s lyrics. He has a really aggressive delivery too. It’s great. Just listen to the way he says “I came to raise hell, boy, and evil is within, man / All I know, is that bitch better have my money / ‘Cause money issues have your mom’s act funny with you.” He sounds so fuckin’ mad. He really wasn’t fuckin’ around when he recorded this shit. The first verse was a great introduction to the song, but he really goes off on the second verse. The hook honestly doesn’t do anything for me, but it doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of the song at all. It’s just there. It’s not like he’s a super talented MC lyrically, but you can really hear the hunger and passion in his delivery. His lyrics aren’t wack tho. They just aren’t super impressive. He has some very dope lines every now and then tho. “Nigga you listen to Casey Veggies, you ain’t about beef / Oh, you scary? Well, I’m more than scary / To the ordinary storytelling motherfucking author / Cooking up some shit your stomach could never process.” I’m not sure if that line about Casey Veggies is supposed to be a diss or if he’s just using his name as the antithesis of beef; it’s a dope line either way. There’s not really anything that I don’t like about this song. I love Cozz’s aggressive delivery on here. This is dope af. 5/5

Track 2: Come Get It

If I can’t find the production credits for a song, I’m just gonna assume that it’s produced by Meez. If anyone has the proper production credits, PLEASE send me that shit. Okay, this song is starting now. This beat’s cool. The first verse didn’t really impress me lyrically, but I liked his flow. Same goes for the second verse. The lyrics aren’t amazing or anything, but I enjoyed the song. He sounds good on a beat. It’s a laid back song. There’s not a lot going on. The structure is very simple. I like it tho. This is dope to me. I’m not sure what that singing was all about at the end when the beat was fading out tho… 4/5

Track 3: Cody Macc

I’m pretty sure I’ve heard this song before, but it must not have left much of an impression because I don’t remember anything about it. I know for a fact that I’ve seen the music video before tho. This beat is alright. His flow on this first verse is dope af. He killed that shit. The hook is fine. His delivery is REALLY aggressive on this second verse. He was rappin’ his ass off. The hook and beat weren’t great to me, but I really enjoyed the verses. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 4: I’m Tha Man (Prod. Mike Free)

This beat’s not bad. It’s pretty chill. It’s not that impressive to me, but it’s decent. Man, Cozz’s delivery is so fuckin’ dope. He really adds a lot of energy to every song even when he’s rapping over laid back production like this. The first verse was dope af. The hook is alright. He killed that second verse too. I just wish the production and hook were better. It’s not that they’re bad. They just don’t really stand out that much. He killed the verses tho. I enjoyed the song. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 5: Knock The Hustle (Prod. Trauma Tone)

Oh… I see some people saying that THIS is actually the song that got J. Cole’s attention. That may be true. I don’t know for sure. I’m SO fucking hungry right now. Anyway, this is another song that I’ve already heard before. This beat is dope af. I feel like this is a really well written song. It’s similar to Dreams in that it perfectly displays Cozz’s hunger. I mean listen to that hook. “I’ve been in this hood, dog, for way too long man / I’ve been quiet for way too long / Been patiently waiting; can’t wait too long, dog / I’ve been broke, man, for way too long / No hot water for way too long / You can’t knock the hustle it’s way too strong.” I like this song even more than Dreams tho. Something about that smooth ass beat just really elevates this shit to the next level for me. It’s that saxophone. It makes me think of Christmas for some reason. I really fuck with this song. This shit is dope af to me. 5/5

Track 6: Western Ave. Slaves Feat. enimaL

This beat is dope. Huh… Is this song about prostitution? If this is about prostitution then Cozz is an even better MC than I thought. He’s comparing prostitutes to slaves. Obviously the master in this analogy is the pimp. “I know that nigga hit you / You don’t deserve that type of shit / You a queen; you a god; you a perfect type chick.” This comes off WAY less soft than when Drake was talkin’ about strippers. Do strippers have pimps? I guess this is easier to take seriously since Cozz is talking about how pimps literally own human beings and abuse them. It really is slavery when you think about it. This hook from enimaL is alright. It kinda sucks, but it doesn’t really. It just sounds kinda off. It’s like the sound quality significantly decreases as soon as he starts singing. It’s not bad enough to ruin the track tho. The second verse was dope af. Fuck. I don’t know if I should call this dope or dope af. I love the lyrics and subject matter. The hook just kinda brings it down for me. Eh. Fuck it. This is dope. I like the song. The only thing that kinda made me like it less was the hook. I fuck with this. 4/5

Track 7: Murda

Oh shit; I found the production credits. YES. I got them through YouTube’s streaming service. I don’t know how accurate they are tho… It keeps listing “Mezz” as a producer instead of Meez. Whatever. It’s better than nothing. This song is starting now. Woah… That singing on the intro was fucking awful. I hope that wasn’t a preview of the hook. This beat on the other hand is dope af. Cozz killed the first verse, and the hook actually isn’t bad. I don’t think it’s good, but it doesn’t completely ruin the track. That seems to be the main flaw with this album so far. The hooks are kinda weak. They’re thankfully not bad enough to ruin the entire album tho. The second verse was really dope. I fuck with this song. Again, the only thing that really holds it back is the hook. It’s still a really good song tho. I fuck with this. This is dope to me. 4/5

Track 8: DKBU (Interlude)

This beat is really dope. Goddamn. Cozz is goin’ the fuck off. I love his aggression. I’m not in love with this hook tho. I really WANT to call this dope af, but the hook is pretty wack. I’m not really sure why this is labeled as an interlude. The only real difference between this track and all the other ones is that there’s only one verse. I wish there was no hook tho. This’d probably be one of the best songs on the whole album if it wasn’t for the hook. Oh by the way, DKBU stands for “Don’t Know ‘Bout U.” Anyway, I really fuck with this track. I feel like it would’ve been better without the hook, but I still like it. This is dope. 4/5

Track 9: LSN Feat. Free Ackrite

This beat is alright. Do y’all think I go too easy on production? I just noticed that I rarely call any beats wack… Anyway, this subject matter isn’t really appealing to me. Y’all know I don’t really like love songs or songs about girls. LSN stands for Light Skinned Nigga I guess. He’s talking about how “she really want that light skinned nigga.” The hook from Free Ackrite is alright I guess. I don’t know. This just really isn’t appealing to me at all. The shit he’s rapping about isn’t very interesting, and the hook & beat don’t stand out that much. This isn’t that bad of a song, but I know I’d never have the desire to listen to it again. It’s alright I guess. 3/5

Track 10: I Need That Feat. Bas (Prod. Divenchi)

Oh shit. This beat is awesome. The first verse from Cozz was dope af. “Still leave the crib and make sure I don’t forget the knife / The Knife got me feeling like I’m superman / But praying I don’t run into a crip tonight.” This guy’s got me thinking twice about that shit I said about him not being an amazing lyricist. I mean, he definitely ISN’T, but he’s still really good. He’s not the best lyricist I’ve ever heard, but he’s far above average. Oh I’ve heard this song before. I remember this hook. I actually like it. The way he says “I need that; that pussy” sounds slightly dumb, but I don’t think the hook is bad. It’s definitely one of the better hooks on this album. Bas’ verse was really dope. I actually really fuck with this song. This is definitely one of the best tracks on the album in my opinion. This is dope af to me. 5/5

Track 11: Ya Know Dat

This beat’s pretty dope. The first verse was cool. The hook’s nothing special. “The hoes gon’ be hoes and ya know dat.” I just listened to the whole song. It’s cool I guess. It was just another good song from Cozz. Nothing about this track really stands out. There’s nothing unique about it. It’s not bad. It’s just not that interesting. I enjoyed it tho. The replay value isn’t super high for me, but I could definitely see myself enjoying this again. I fuck with the song. It’s dope to me. 4/5

Track 12: Knock The Hustle (Remix) Feat. J. Cole [Prod. Trauma Tone]

Should I give this track it’s own rating? It’s got the same beat, and Cozz’s verses are all the same. Eh. Fuck it; I won’t. It’s not like it would change the overall album’s score that much anyway. Not that it really matters… Anyway, the first verse from Cozz was still here, but after that J. Cole completely takes over. He even redoes the hook himself. His first verse was pretty good. He didn’t murder Cozz on his own song. I guess he only does that to Bas because he didn’t do it to Omen either. He has a second verse tho. Maybe he’ll kill him there. Damn. Okay, maybe I spoke too soon. Cole’s second verse was dope af. I don’t think he COMPLETELY stole the show from Cozz. I mean, he definitely did on this track in particular since Cozz’s second verse was removed, but overall I think Cozz held his own. Either way, this song is dope af.

Track +: Wait’s Over (Prod. Divenchi)

This track was released on September 26th in 2014. I guess it was released as a promotional single for this album. This beat is dope af. Damn. His flow on this first verse is dope af. He killed that shit. The hook is really simplistic, but it works. I have no problems with this track so far. The second verse was great too. It’s over. Wow. I actually really enjoyed this song. I’m surprised this didn’t make the album. I have no problems with this track. This is dope af to me. 5/5

Final Thoughts:

This album is great. I really enjoyed this. The only thing that really ended up being a problem was the hooks. It’s not that the hooks were terrible. A lot of them were bad enough to make the songs less enjoyable for me tho. I think Cozz is a very talented MC. Most of the tracks on this album are about how Cozz wants to make it out the hood, and how he’s a great rapper, and he doesn’t like dumb hoes. It’s what you would expect from a rapper in the mid-2010s. That’s not necessarily a bad thing tho. It’s not like he didn’t do a good job. One of the few content driven tracks, Western Ave. Slaves, was actually really thought provoking tho. I think he did everything he tried to do very well. As I said before, it really helps that you can hear the hunger and passion in his voice. Aside from the hooks, which I already mentioned, anytime there’s a flaw it’s usually specific to a certain track, so there aren’t really any other consistent problems that I have with this album. I think this album is very dope. Man, I’m in fuckin’ beast mode.

This is the THIRD review that I’ve finished today. That’s much better than yesterday. All I did yesterday was that Vic Mensa EP. That’ll probably be posted by the time this review goes up, so if you haven’t read that yet, read it now. Anyway, this album is great. I definitely fuck with this one. It’s dope.

Favorite Song: Knock The Hustle

Least Favorite Song: LSN

Verdict:

83%

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