Make Kota the Friend Your Friend: Everything Album Review
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If Kota the Friend is someone you did not have in your rotation heading into this summer, you need to get on this dude immediately. The independent Brooklyn rapper made one of the best albums of last summer, FOTO, that I continue to intersperse with his new one, Everything that will be the focus of this particular post.
But real quick, his 2019 sophomore album, FOTO was one of the vibier ones we got to see all of 2019 when it was all said and done. His laid-back but versatile cadence over satisfying Lo-fi beat after Lo-fi beat gave fans crazy catchy songs like Sedona, Chicago Diner, and Alkaline as they drifted through the 19-track piece. Unfortunately, drifting is exactly what FOTO felt like a tad too often, especially on such a lengthy project with oft somber themes throughout it wasn’t exactly what I needed for summer. Still, undoubtedly something to check out, but a big reason I am so excited to talk more about this summer’s Everything.
The thing to understand with Kota is that his verses are well-written, funny, clever and everything else you look for but with his voice and his demeanor, Kota the Friend is not the dude who is going bar-for-bar with the best in the game. That’s how he operates and frankly, it’s refreshing in the hyper-competitive rap world to have a guy just making something to feel good too. Those kind of tracks off of FOTO (like the ones listed earlier) are where Kota shines, tracks that aren’t too slow, tracks where his flow is punctual, and hooks that are catchy enough to make most people dance.
This summer Kota has followed FOTO up with the shorter, punchier, Everything that is, in my opinion, the perfect summer vibe that FOTO just missed the mark on. It is also incredibly intrinsic and happy music that might hit home for many as we all move forward in these unprecedented times.
With Everything, it’s clear KOTA has grown since last summer in both his various flows and in his production. On the album, Kota leads off with high-energy songs like Mi Casa, B.Q.E. and Long Beach that help to make it clear from the jump that Kota has added a layer to his game, and listeners won’t be left drifting through any of this project.
Mi Casa is a fun, inviting track to listeners and one where I personally think Kota’s flow shines the best (especially the second verse), and Long Beach is undoubtedly the most pop-centric song I’ve heard by Kota thus far and I think it would be a legit force on the charts if Kota wasn’t independent and maybe still could be.
But no song quite exemplifies his musical evolution like B.Q.E. where he welcomes on fellow Brooklynites Bas and Joey Bada$$ to combine for three unique flows on one of the catchier beats you’ll find this summer. Coming off the humorous Mi Casa outro, an intoxicating horn sample plays in as the anchoring sound on B.Q.E. eventually combining with a bassline reminiscent of the reggaeton forward tracks listeners heard (and I adored) from last summer’s Escape from New York that featured Bada$$ within his Beast Coast collaboration.
As the track outros, listeners get the first sense of the artistic view behind this album as the female voice blissfully answers “what means everything to her?” with activities that immediately takes listeners into the reflective, and nostalgic feeling of the simple things in life that make it worth living. This idea of what truly matters spans the length of the album lyrically and deals with exactly the title of this album, everything. Not necessarily a light or simple topic, but one that Kota approaches differently and joyfully on each track.
As Kota puts it, “As an artist, when you’re really speaking your truth, your words are powerful and you bring a lot of stuff that you talk about in the music, it actually comes true and it comes to life. So, this album, I’m pretty much talking about all the things that I want, what means everything to me, what’s important to me, and what I put before everything else.”
In the clout chasing and materialistic music and hip-hop world Kota the Friend exists in this sentiment is powerful, refreshing and pretty damn cool if you ask me. His honest bars/spoken word about his son and fame on Seven (Interlude), the nostalgia that fills Away Park and Everything (s/o to his son, Lil Kota for the feature), and even the other two interludes (I hate interludes, but not on this one) add depth to this piece far beyond just being a perfect summer vibe on the water and in the sun but also something I’ll revisit whenever I could simply use a smile on my face.
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