Over the past few years, J. Cole’s Dreamville Records have put together an impressive roster of up and coming Hip Hop talent. Cozz, being the labels youngest act, showed great potential with his debut album Cozz and Effect back in 2014, but his 2016 mixtape Nothin Personal was released to lukewarm responses from critics and fans alike. After a relatively quiet 2017 campaign, the Los Angeles representative makes a triumphant return with his sophomore effort, Effected.
Cozz is tired of being overlooked and feels that his time is now. He makes that very clear out the gate as the LP opens up with the piano-driven “Questions” where he gives an analysis of the current state of the rap game and much more. He boldly proclaims, “It’s an emergency/ rap needs a savior and I think that I can save it/ but look ain’t no one heard of me/ but I’m gonna be what I deserve to be.” Effected showcases Cozz’s skill as a storyteller while highlighting his ambitions to be recognized as a great MC. This intro, with its broad range of topics, successfully lays the groundwork for the rest of the album.
The consistent narrative of introspection throughout Effected helps listeners get a better understanding of who Cozz is through his life experiences of crime, love, and disappointment from those close to him. These ideas are best articulated on the title track and “Bout It” where he raps on “Can’t trust not one of ’em/Not a nigga or a women/Be wary of the ones who act down but really be up to something/I ain’t perfect, I don’t judge nothin’ but fake vibes gotta run from it/Duck from it, no love from it.”
Rap heavyweights J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar add replay value to “Zendaya” and “Hustla’s Story,” respectively, with the latter track piercing insight into a street soldier’s mindset as witty lyrics mesh well with the bassy instrumental. Despite its eyebrow-raising title, “Zendaya” is much more than just Cole assisting his understudy in “shooting his shot” with the star actress and singer, but a powerful record with Cole addressing current societal issues such as the lean and Xanax epidemic and Young Cody Macc detailing how his past experiences have contributed to his future aspirations.
Skits are scattered throughout the album, adding context to songs and improving the project’s cohesion. The improvements that Cozz has made melodically, exemplified on songs like the jazzy “Badu” featuring Curren$y, negate moments where the project’s theme of street memoirs feel repetitive.
Effected also loses points with its *ahem* ineffective bevy of sing-songy choruses that do nothing to elevate songs’ accessibility. The off-key hook on “VanNess” and indistinguishable flatness of the chorus on “Freaky 45” highlight this shortcoming. As an extremely strong lyricist, Cozz should hone in making his raps the focal point of records and not feel the need to lean on R&B ethos just because it’s the 2018 thing to do.
Genre inconsistencies aside, Effected is a clear statement Cozz doesn’t just want to be the conversation with the best rappers. He wants to steer the debates.
Fire. Dreamville got somethin
Shit is Fire. Same old Migos and Gucci songs on the radio. I’d rather listen to this and grow the fuck up.
It was cool, it will be in my rotation for a while. Cozz has really matured since his 2014 effort, even though the hooks were average or below, a good portion of the album had decent production, rhymes and delivery. Overall a nice album but after listening to it twice something’s missing, it lacks that character or something interesting to make it a “great” project and not just a good one.
I give this a strong 4
?
5 stars easily
Straight flames. If you care about substance, this is for you!
Nice beats
This is a good review, I agree with some of the critiques you pointed out. Maybe I had too high expectations for this project but I came away a little disappointed. There aren’t too many featureless songs I REALLY want to go back to. There should be a real hook on Ignorant Confidence the hook on the first part of Demons and Distractions all but killed the momentum of where he was going for me. With all that said he did have a few nice vibes on this album and production was great. Also I am an artist so it’s hard for me to listen without comparing to what I would do but Effected prolly better than his 1st project.
No stand out track that I felt compelled to go back to, been there heard that feeling. Jcole name attached to this brang too high of expectations.
A strong 4. The biggest critique of the album would be that it ain’t got no stand out tracks and the instruments all sounded like they are falling in the same spectrum but nevertheless, the production is really good and heavy & hard and smooth as and when needed. An overall dope project with great lyrics, repetitive but still dope production and a narrow but well composed & delivered subject matter.
Cozz’s voice and delivery are fucking hard.