By Thomas Cottingham
Features Assignment Editor
New York rap entourage A$AP Mob dropped a brand new, heavy-collective mixtape this Halloween.
This tape, featuring nearly 20 rap artists, including A$AP Rocky & Ferg, Wiz Khalifa, Tyler, the Creator, Lil Uzi Vert and the rest of the A$AP crew unite to make some atmospheric bangers. This is the first installment in what seems to be a series of Cozy Tapes by the Mob.
In A$AP fashion, the usual elements are present in this collection that are present in the Mob’s members’ solo projects. This included cloudy and drugged-out instrumentals, deep-voice modifiers and of course the different flow switch-ups. The majority of the tape sounds more like an A$AP Rocky showcase because he is featured in almost every song. From Rocky’s flows to the sound, it sounds like a Rocky project, but the guest appearances polish the project quite a bit to make Cozy Tapes its own thing.
The abstract and unorthodox, but calming and spacious, production is the stand-out element of the mixtape. The high-pitched digital rings, the deep-bass presence and alerting drum clatter sculpts this tape to a chilled-out, easy-going sound that is easy to rap to.
In New York hip-hop fashion, the verses are well thought out and preached in a loud, fast and sharp way. This is shown in Skepta’s verse on “Put That On My Set,” featuring Rocky. Skepta, an English grime artist, raps “Show respect / I’ma aim for the neck / I’ma make some ghosts, when it comes to the raps / Man I must be possessed.”
The theme of the album is pretty straightforward: wealth, fashion, women, power and just having a good time.
Although this may be the typical theme of a rap mixtape, this one brings the heat. On one standout track, A$AP Nast teams up with Queens hardcore hip-hop group Onyx to create “Nasty’s World.” Nast, being not well known on the A$AP roster, is definitely a force on the mic. He spits lines such as, “I style wild plus my rhymes the dopest / My squad the best, a bunch of lyrical soldiers / Just Roc-A-Fella, Hov-a-sclupture.”
Although the tape is very strong, the shelf life for this piece will not be as long as other albums that came out this year. Some tracks can also be bland. “Way Hii,” which is a song dedicated to drugs and features marijuana superstar Wiz Khalifa, is a boring track on this mixtape. The track is slow and sluggish and forms a similar following instrumental and vibe. It reminisces the type of sound that was in Rocky’s latest, and lukewarm, album, At.Long.Last.A$AP. Even though the song might be bland, the back-and-forth rhyming by Rocky and Khalifa is pleasing.
Tyler, the Creator, ringmaster of Odd Future, also brings a powerful presence to this tape with the closing song “Telephone Call.” This fun, digital-sounding track brings out Tyler’s obnoxious but brash hardcore rhymes to a cloud rap beat. Another great feature is Juicy J in the mixtape’s opener and lead single, “Yamborgini High.” Juicy J’s charismatic voice and melodic voice sharpens the song’s theme of luxury and high end fashion living.
Cozy Tapes, which is a tribute to the late A$AP Yams, captures the essence of the group. The relaxing, atmospheric beats to the hardcore, grimy verses give the listener a prospective of what the group’s lifestyle is like in the form of music. The mixtape is definitely a fun listen if the listener is interested in the popular New York group.
