SOO DO KOO is an artist from New York whose name I’d seen floating around social media for a few months prior to this album’s release on January 3rd this year. I was already intrigued, and then I saw that there would be a collaborative release with Sleep Sinatra, of whom y’all already know I’m a massive fan. They dropped an EP called Charred Remnants in March, and I believe they have more music coming in the future as well. Since I’m catching up on releases from this year, I decided to start with this one, which seems to be one of the first notable releases of 2025. It’s fully self-produced and there are no features. I actually think this is the best LP I’ve heard so far from 2025. Since this isn’t a full review, I’m only gonna be writing about a handful of tracks, but there’s not a single bad song here.

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The first highlight for me is called CATEGORICALLY OVERRATED. I think SOO DO KOO killed every verse on this album, and I really love the production throughout the whole project. However, this beat in particular was the first one that really reached the next level of dopeness for me. The song’s only a minute and fifty seconds long, but it hits pretty hard while it’s on. The beat sounds the way the album cover looks to me. It’s very majestic. I really love the combination of SOO DO KOO’s laidback vocal delivery with his steady flow. I’ve realized a lot of my favorite rappers out right now have that quality in common. I think SOO DO KOO sounds a bit like Evidence, but I definitely prefer this album to anything I’ve ever heard from anyone in the Dilated Peoples crew. I just am not a huge fan of the beats they generally choose to rap over. I know that’s probably controversial due to Alchemist’s involvement, but he has a ton of beats that haven’t aged well in my opinion. Anyway, like I said, this song is one of my favorites on the album despite its brevity. I guess it’s not really that much shorter than most of the other tracks. The longest song on this album is still under three minutes. None of the songs here feel too short or undercooked though. Anyway, this song is fire.

Track 8 is called Simon Harris Breaks. On my first listen, this was my favorite track on the album. I prefer the second half of this project in general. This one definitely has one of my favorite instrumentals. The bass feels like it hits harder here than it does on some of the other tracks. I also just love the way it switches up after the first minute. It sounds like it samples some sort of Avant-Garde Jazz track. I think this song has one of SOO DO KOO’s smoothest flows on the whole project too.

Life a chess board, we on the Machiavellian rise
I heard the sample, saw the chops with the millennium eye
Test the tyrants, revolutionaries fed 'em the lies
Bad politics leading to impressive demise
Protect your time, risin' heat like thermometers
You either turn a fan to fiend or a vomiter
I can't call it, he a everyday philosopher
Stayin' stronger than the beats breakin' monitors

That opening quatrain has maybe my favorite flow on the whole album. It just sounds so slick. I love it. The song’s boiling hot fire.

The next highlight I wanna write about is track 12, which is called OVERCOMING INERTIA. It has another one of the best beats on the album. The instrumental feels really heavy. For whatever reason, it made me think of Astaroth from Soul Calibur 2. At one point SOO DO KOO rhymes “vertex” with “dirt speck.” That’s fire. The icing on the cake for this song in particular is the audio clip of Master Shake and Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force arguing with each other. That’ll always be one of my favorite shows, and a lot of it is due to the phenomenal voice acting, so I definitely enjoyed hearing Carl scream at Shake. That put a smile on my face. The song’s excellent. Every song from this point forward is a highlight for me.

Track 13 is called ARREST FUNK FLEX FOR WAR CRIMES. This is the longest song on the project, and it feels like one of the most upbeat tracks. It probably deserves a music video to be honest. I can definitely see this one being a successful single. It kinda reminds me of something brainorchestra. would make. The production is pretty dynamic, and SOO DO KOO’s flow and delivery sounds great over it.

At the top all you do is stand lonely
Never stop though my opposition ran slowly
Digital drops, son, a CD can't hold me
Calculated shots, shouts Luigi Mangione
Now they lookin' up to dude, when I do it they watch
She a fox, wakin' up to nudes in my inbox
So what the fuck was I sayin'?
SOO DO KOO in the tuck, know I'm never delayin'

The song ends with a clip from Funkmaster Flex’s infamous premiere of Otis off of Watch the Throne. I feel like this is probably the most accessible song on the whole album just because of the polished instrumental and more traditional song-length. Like I said, I think a music video would be good for this one. It’s fantastic.

The penultimate track is called MLA FORMATTED HATE MAIL, and this is probably my second favorite on the album. I really love the bright, sunny instrumental, and SOO DO KOO killed it.

Face pale, you sendin' hate mail
I need it MLA style prose 12 point, Times New Roman
And if you knowin' he the best kept secret
I make an album everyday for you to frequent
She on the freak shit, and I don't wanna break in the skin
Everything a side hustle, how we rakin' it in
Doin' shows, got a full time, I'm sellin' clothes
Many nights goin' hungry, I remember those
Couple friends had fent' in the nose
My shit is hittin' like a first time user with the veteran dose

This is the shortest song on the album unless you count the intro and interlude, but I don’t really think it feels undercooked at all. I was hooked by the upbeat tone of the track. It’s fire.

The closing song is one final highlight entitled LOLO. The beat kinda feels like it has a traditional, old-school vibe to me. I could definitely hear someone like Nas spitting over this. Again, SOO DO KOO’s steady flow sounds great over it. I will admit that I don’t necessarily think this track wraps the album up in a particularly satisfying way. I feel like this one could’ve landed at any point in the tracklist, but that’s not really a major complaint. I still love the song.

^{As I said in the preamble, I think this is the best album I’ve heard from 2025 so far. The combination of SOO DO KOO’s kind of lofi sample-based production along with his steady flow and slick lyricism makes for a really dope listening experience for me. One thing I will say is that almost all of the songs are structured the same way with just a dope verse over a dope beat and nothing else going on. Some more variation in that regard may have elevated things even further, but I still love the album as it is. I dig it for a lot of the same reasons I dug Saga Asad’s album in 2021, which I revisit all the time. The smooth, laidback flows over these dope beats just sounds awesome to me. The album’s really great. Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments. I love it.}

Favorite Song: SIMON HARRIS BREAKS
Least Favorite Song: SAID ID OFF