HB Cozy aka Cj is a 24 year old rapper from Rochester NY. A big fan of anime, he is inspired by artists such as Drake, A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi and Playboy and Benny the Butcher. His latest project is entitled “Cozy Lane Tape”. The synergy at play between the rapper’s bars and the production is great. The samples and kits on each track is perfectly placed and timed while the flow between beats and the lyrics is seamless. For a project with a run time of under 10 minutes, it’s filled with an obscene amount of eclectic and original moments.
The project starts off quite strongly with the opening track “Do You Feel Me”. Right from the get-go, HB Cozy sets his tone into hypnotic mode. Compared to how mean and cold-blooded his contemporaries sounds, HB Cozy is much more refined. Now it’s not to say his hunger and energy is missing, rest assured, some of the one-liners and metaphors he drops throughout the project are as blunt and hard-hitting as they come.
The difference is that HB Cozy sounds less like a 24-year-old, independent up-and-coming rapper that is rapping like his life is on the line, and more like a mature, hardened veteran who has already cemented himself as a significant voice in the rap game.
His flow is confident and assured as he settles into a conversational mood. Even when he lifts the intensity and the pace of his bars on “Coupe”, he never gets angst-filled or falls over his words.
The “Cozy Lane Tape”, offers a refreshing change of pace from the kind of material usually being released across the mainstream markets. And HB Cozy keeps the vibe going throughout, with his blunt storytelling and distinctive voice.
The guitar-laden “In Due Time” keeps letting listeners know this isn’t going to be the usual modern Hip-hop fare. Underneath, the 808s boom and resonate, while HB Cozy’s voice reels out the rhymes.
“Ain’t got no time for hoes, I’m in love with my grind. And I got a shorty, so you know she getting all the shine,” exclaims HB Cozy. That may sound like a far-fetched thing to say in our current climate of full on hedonism, but not for HB Cozy, who has a focused aim.
The best part of the project comes when HB Cozy gets introspective on “Pain”, and hands out advice: “Keep your goal in your mind, remember what you’re chasin’. You always got to be greater than your situation.”
“The Way It Goes” puts a fitting cap to the project by having HB Cozy end “Cozy Lane Tape” on a high note. HB Cozy’s uncanny ability to frame hard-as-nails personal themes with calmly delivered, tastefully complex wordplay, brings a different kind of aura to this project. And the final track plays testimony to this fact.
HB Cozy offers a new perspective for rap fans, in an era of ever changing hip-hop styles, and the “Cozy Lane Tape” is an easy starting point for new fans looking to find out what the Rochester, NY rapper is all about.
OFFICIAL LINKS:
@C0zyhndrxx on Instagram
HB cozy on Facebook
@HBprimo96 on Twitter
