Cash Kidd Keeps Up Detroit's Banner Year On 'No Socks 3'

Anyone who is a fan of Michigan Hip Hop has heard of Cash Kidd.

Some were introduced to the Detroit Rap mainstay on Big Sean’s “Friday Night Cypher” which featured Eminem, Royce Da 5’ 9,” Tee Grizzley, Kash Doll, and others, where he rapped quotables like “Put a body on a ratchet, I feel like Dr. Miami.” Others probably know the BeBe Kidd for his deep cuts like “On My Mama” and “Who Shot You,?” getting into him for his punchlines with an offbeat style. Since being highlighted on “Friday Night Cypher.”

In 2023, he followed up March’s BeBe Kidd 3 with No Socks 3, an album that keeps the spotlight on him in a rotating cast of Detroit rappers who are vying for the top spot. Cash Kidd isn’t as famous as his peers yet, but he’s unmistakably instrumental in shaping the sound of the Motor City new wave, approaching charming samples and rattling beats with his natural charisma that welcomes any newcomer to his madcap world.

Cash Kidd has stated he’s influenced by Da Drought 3-era Lil Wayne, the peak of Young Money when Drake and Nicki Minaj were running things, Cassidy, and even Soulja Boy. Although this family tree begins with Wayne, Cash Kidd is not a carbon copy of the rappers he’s inspired by, developing his own style that combines punchlines, clever metaphors, and melodic inflection in some of his lyrics. His originality gets embraced by cross-regional artists from Atlanta, Bay Area, and Los Angeles, creating songs that don’t feel forced. On No Socks 3, he’s having a good time living out his best life.

On the 22 songs, Cash Kidd doesn’t take himself too seriously and his sense of humor is the star. He sounds comfortable with just rapping for as long as he can and throwing verses together with a quick hook usually named after a word he said. It’s this kind of effortless that allows him to approach his go-to themes of hooking up, getting money, and moving in the streets with quick-witted rhymes. Tracks like opener “Yea Freestyle” with NoCap, “Irreplaceable” with Dej Loaf, “JINX!,” 25 Hour Wait,” and “Piece of Cake Freestyle” have replay value because Cash Kidd has bars that stick. When listening to him, you’re more curious about how he comes up with these punchlines on the fly than get upset over him not using rigid song structures.

No Socks 3 further affirms the idea that Cash Kidd is “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper” by how the chemistry between collaborators shines through. On songs with Dej Loaf (“Irreplaceable”), Kash Doll (“Sit & Play”), Bfb Da Packman (“Man Up”), and Ralfy The Plug (“Unbothered”), he’s never trying to best his guests, allowing them to play off his flow with dazzling results. Producers like Machu on “Man Up” and Pdot on “Hit a Head” match Cash Kidd’s zaniness with familiar samples to rap over such as Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” and Bill Withers’ “Just the Two of Us.”

People who are more inclined to listen to rappers who champion lyricism in the vein of Nas or Boldy James will think Cash Kidd is incapable of making a good song. If there’s anything he takes from Weezy, it’s his confidence and carefree attitude in delivering lines and attacking topics with verses that only he could come up with. Whether it is comical (“Make him crying over hoes, put the onions down / No socks, I’m on the beach with my bunions out”), flexing (disturbingly) about getting head (“Your bitch is just like Jeffrey Dahmer, she gon’ eat me to death”), winning off sports betting (“I be rapping, trapping, scamming, boy, my whole life free”) or (“Harry Potter, I just put a dick on a broom”), Cash Kidd has figured out a blueprint for him that works.

He can give fans music in abundance and move on to the next project, flooding the market like Wayne used to do in his heyday. A hit can pop off on any social media platform these days, and Cash Kidd is the epitome of a rapper who is making the game work for him.

In a recent No Jumper interview, he outlined his approach to music, saying he doesn’t care so much about his streaming numbers. “I’m making money off music. I don’t give a fuck about being the most famous rapper alive, the greatest rapper alive,” he said. “As long as I can feed me and my family and we can have fun doing it, that’s all.” It’s the kind of “Detroit vs. Everybody” underdog mentality you love to root for.