Coolzey – The Honey
(Public School Records)
Words: James Passarelli
Listen to/Download the Album for Free Here
Ever since Eminem shook up the pop rap world (hell, ever since Robert Matthew Van Winkle a.k.a. Vanilla Ice dropped his iconic “Ice Ice Baby” in 1990) white rappers have been trying to bring something new to the table. Zach Lint is perfectly happy to bring something old. If you haven’t heard of Coolzey before now, it’s not because he hasn’t been making music. On the contrary, the Iowegian is a seasoned vet with ten releases under his belt, but The Honey has the boyish rap charm that could have come from an 18 year-old recording tracks with friends in a college dorm room. “You could have been valiant, mounted on a stallion, Advancing on the palace at the top of that mountain – Battling battalions, A paladin assassin, Mighty like a falcon dressed in medals and medallions,” raps Shaffer the Darklord in the playful title track. His lyrics are subtly smart, though unassuming.
And like many good rap albums, it shows off Coolzey’s deep appreciation for jazz, hip-hop, and the occasional film of the past. His neo-old school beats and jazz samples shine through, especially on “Tour Song Too”, which features Sadat X and the unusual suspect bluesman William Elliott Whitmore. “Retina Scan” features Coolzey and Copywrite’s self-deprecating references to their relative obscurity in front of a “Noah’s Arkestra”-ish organ sample, interrupted here and there by Tommy Lee Jones-Will Smith dialogue from Men in Black.
Coolzey’s honest – okay, sometimes he’s painfully honest. Opening track “Little by Little” is a self-introduction, complete with a catalogue of his tastes and preferences, pet peeves, personal hygiene details. But his honesty eventually pays off, and the rest of the album is well worth a listen. If you only have time for two tracks, make it the last two. “We’re All Gonna Die” is brutal honesty at its finest; “You can’t escape it, Might as well face it, You can’t erase it even if you try,” he jazz-raps to ragtime piano and strings. Eager to show his prowess as a rocker, as well as an MC, Coolzey ends The Honey with “Old Machine”, a country rock ballad complete with steel drums and harmonica. “I tried to give you what you stole from me – You were more comfortable with theft,” he solemnly sings, a completely different man than the one we hear on the first nine tracks. “And here we are you’re still approaching me, Why can’t you see there’s nothing left, You are a liar, friend, So I’ve lost all hope, Today.” And it’s somewhat a comforting discovery. That he’s not all fun and games. Neither is his music.
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