Anxiety is an open masterpiece of rap; laced with priceless instrumentals, candied rhythms, and throbbing rhymes – an inimitable storytelling of Zoocci Coke Dope’s experience with Anxiety.
It is true that anxiety is a real thing, and it is so common and widespread these days. So, Anxiety, the lead single to the “audio film” project and a gift from Zoocci Coke Dope welcome everyone suffering from anxiety to a therapy session. The ideal way to begin as Zoocci prepares the listener’s anxiety emotion for healing and starts telling his story. With niceties in the creation, commanding collaborators and a relatable concept, Zoocci Coke Dope carefully cooked up a sweet remedy.
Being a masterful record producer is Zoocci Coke Dope’s popular strength – however, we reckon closer to that the creative validates his storytelling skill as the mission of his raps. He intelligently aids to this with scripting in extra dimensions of rap, making use of seemingly scripted skits. On Anxiety, it is evident that he’s gotten better. The raps on his new project, from the protagonist’s to the starring’s, are peerless and glow of maturity in their own nature. Even when Zoocci enlists guest appearances i.e. songs like Afterlife with Priddy Ugly and Oath with Nasty C, and it slightly feels like he is giving in to their cadences, his distinctiveness can still be clearly felt in each song. His recitation is so effortless, paced with precision and gulping breaks relaying from song to song.
On Narcissism featuring Youngsta CPT, Zoocci untangles the contradictions in his mind as he feels trapped in a maze. In that situation, he realizes it worthy to stand with his pride and soul when it all ends. Now he looks at almost everything about himself, and with the same voice and intention to treat his boasts as weakness; he states his inflated sense of own importance, needs for admiration, and a lack of empathy – in short narcissism. However, prior to Narcissism, in Falling in My Sleep featuring Kwesi Arthur, Zoocci finds a panacea in keeping certain things out of his mind, trusting his own and realizing the love he continually receives from his fans. Still sharing his experiences, throughout the project Zoocci mainly issue optimistic lyrics, sticking to the theme of healing.
Zoocci Coke Dope is yet to reach the pinnacle he intends to reach. His last project, MorningStar did well to put him on platforms, and Anxiety will likely go down as a defining reflection of the new wave of Hip Hop/Rap that surfaced from South Africa ending the second decade of the 21st century. Seemingly exhausted with the burden of constantly fighting critics unimpressed by the originality of hip hop in South Africa, Anxiety takes a classical stance as though to solidify the authenticity of the new wave. Take a moment to explore the seriousness, lyricism and overall musicality in songs like; Silence featuring Flame, Oath, Falling in My Sleep, Narcissism to name a few.
Self-produced Anxiety enlists guest appearances from;25K, who brings a rare texture to the project, Benny Chill, Die Mondez, Eli Sostre from Brooklyn, New York, Yukio and those mentioned above. Much like the recent Candyman album by Flame, Anxiety is an excellent display of the timeless new school and the next. One can’t help to agree that the South African generation of creatives who the future will be inspired by, but probably refuse to be boxed in with, is being born and it feels like perfect timing. They are real and relatable, experiencing the same inflictions that we experience.
