The Scene

Hailing from the West Coast, Cozz has slowly and rather quietly been building towards breaking out. After dropping 'Cozz And Effect' in 2014, Cozz jumped on to my radar as a youngin' to watch, especially as he's a young rapper from California who has taken a slightly different route in signing with J.Cole's Dreamville Records. This differs from what we are seeing out of California as artists like Kendrick Lamar, Earl Sweatshirt and YG have all come up through West Coast driven labels/crews.

Dreamville ended 2015 with their 'Revenge Of The Dreamers II' tape which set the wheels in motion for 2016, a smart marketing move by Dreamville as they go about introducing the hip hop loving world to their roster of artists. 'Nothin Personal' is the first of what I imagine will be a few releases in the first half of 2016 and there's a few double-ups with 'Grow' and 'Tabs' featuring on both ROTD2 and Nothin Personal.

The Songs

Wake Up Call - Hard hitting: "I'd rather keep it gutter".
All Eyez On Me - Aggressive reflections.
My Side - Safety first guys, especially when returning home.
Grey Goose - Skippable, good to hear Cozz on the singing though.
City Of God ft. Boogie - "The lord wanted more for me"
Choice Today - Life's hard but we've all got a choice
Grow ft. Correy C - ROTD2 cut, "shoot for the comets".
Who Said - "Conscious but not sober".
Tabs ft. Bas - Banger of the tape.
Tell Me - Skippable.
GWBW (All Good) - Let's toast.
Bonnie And Clyde - Cozz puts a spin on the classic theme.
Guinness - Ominous: "We want the culture, so we're taking over".

The Vibe

Writing about hip hop and the various projects that are served up means that different trends tend to pop up and it's no different here as Cozz spends much of Nothin Personal reflecting on how life has changed recently as he's found success. Whether it's a lady friend who did him wrong, back-tracking homies or the joys of having a few extra dollars in his pocket, Cozz follows the idea provided by the 'Nothin Personal' title, as though to say "nothin personal but..."

This is where the vibe of Nothin Personal gets interesting as what appears to be the confines of a theme results in a limited supply of anything that resembles a single. There's certainly no party vibe, or strict street-tales as Cozz offers a mixtape that I perceived as reflecting the murky waters of the 'come up', where people are either awesome in support or they are sleeping on Cozz, giving Cozz a chip on his shoulder.

Pinpointing a vibe is hard here, I'd settle with the chip on the shoulder vibe.

The Music

Cozz and producer Meez churn out a overall sound that certainly feels dark, even the motivational jams have a dark vibe to them. Dark or gritty and grimy, whatever way you look at it, you won't listen to this tape and feel uplifted, which may also be due to the pace of the production as it creeps, as opposed to flowing freely. I like this though and with Meez getting production credits for the entire mixtape (Mike Almighty, D2 and T. Lew also feature) there's cohesion between all the songs in the context of the theme of the tape.

"Look at me now, I blew up in a jiffy
Yeah, no new niggas, always knew 'em if you with me
Made it out the land where they'll shoot you if it's envy
I'm a 90's baby but I grew up in the 60's
Nah I don't bang, ain't no rag to the left
I just walk around with some swag to my step" All Eyez On Me

"My mama told me it takes a village just to raise a kid
My homie told me it takes a miracle to make it big
People I love don't say shit just to say the shit
So why I never ask for help, I close my hands and pray for it" GWBW

"I ain't crippin' but I'm living where they living at
So niggas gotta get the gat, cause niggas gone start tripping trying to get your scrap
So I'll let you have that trash can nigga, you got your damn hands out
I'm never looking for hand outs, I planned out my whole career
You niggas showing fear, I ain't gone be no fucking cashier
I need that cash here if you owe me my nigga I need that shit like last year" Bonnie And Clyde

Finale

'Nothin Personal' sets Cozz up for the future nicely as it's a mixtape which showcases his skills as well as his overall style nicely. There's a few misses though which don't quite work, Cozz will have his reasons for this so that's all good. This mixtape doesn't quite feel like it would fit in if played at a party or with the homies, I found it to go hard when I needed some music to write to or something to play in the background as I got busy with another task.

I'm eager to hear what's next for Cozz as this mixtape came across as being a necessary artistic release for him, I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a 'filler' though. If you like gritty beats and straight up, brutally honest rhymes that get your mind ticking, then this will do the trick.