Kosha Dillz
(Shemspeed)
On the surface, Kosha Dillz comes off like an artist who will take any gig, any time. Remix YACHT's See Mystery Lights? Why not. Release an album with indie rapper C Rayz Walz? Sure. Win a freestyle MC contest sponsored by New York's Hot 97? Absolutely. Go on tour with reggaeman Matisyahu? Indeed. Put all that hustle aside, though, and you've got Rami Even-Esh, a New Jersey-reared son of Israeli parents who makes his rhymes lively and puts his Jewishness near the forefront. On Beverly Dillz, his first big solo release, he's mostly looking out for the ladies, but he's got an eye on Jerusalem, too: "I got fam and friends there/ And real cheap airfare" ("Cellular Phone").
Producer Jesse "Belief" Shatkin finds a no-frills comfort zone for Dillz, striking a balance between sparse, off-kilter beats ("DooDoo," "Dilly Wonka," "Bubble Gum Pop") and straight-up party grooves ("Tastes Good," "L.A. ish," "Jungle"). The goal here, obviously, is to show off the rapper without making him seem gimmicky. And it generally works, because whatever the sonic situation might be, Dillz sounds like an MC who knows he might look a little goofy next to your average hardass. It helps that most of his boasts are a notch more tongue-in-cheek than, say, Beck's: "I'm surrounded by vixens/ Picture glamour, hotel fiction/ Pollo loco, General Tso's chicken," Dillz says on "L.A. ish," which probably could've been a little meaner in its analysis of Hollywood. But hey, it's not Dillz's job to piss anybody off. There's work to do.
Standout Tracks: "DooDoo," "Cellular Phone" JOE WARMINSKY
