The story of Bill K. Kapri, aka Kodak Black, is an interesting one. Having gone through several name changes, both personally and professionally, Bill K. Kapri’s life from an early age has been fraught with poverty, chronic imprisonment, and anger management issues that, perhaps, reflect the reasons why it seems so hard for him to decide what to call himself. His fans know who he is – they stand up. Big money record executives know who he is as well – they stand up for him, even in court. I could write a book about this very young man, but I’m not here to talk about Bill. I’m here to examine the album “Dying To Live” from the artist known as Kodak Black. This is a No Cap! Album Review. Let’s chop it up.
First off, these are the 3 hottest tracks on this album…
“Zeze” – Kodak Black feat. The Offset & Travis Scott
“Identity Theft” – Kodak Black
“Gnarly” Kodak Black feat. Lil Pump
The top pick of the album is the song “Zeze”. It starts with an island styled steel drum solo that impressively floats into the track once the beat drops. The song features Travis Scott and The Offset, whom both truly deliver first rate performances, Travis in particular. Kodak’s performance is right on point with lyrics like “Sleepin’ on the palette turned me to a savage. I’m a project baby, now I stay in Calabasas”. Almost perfect, this song gets high marks.
Keeping the fun going, the song “Identity Theft” is a real Kodak Black moment for the album. It seems to recall and recount his, now infamous, criminal history with fraud and Identity theft. The hottest lyrics can be found on the intro. Check them out…
Fresh out of jail, but don’t think I’m scared to go back, motherfucker
I still’ll hit a nigga with that glizzy
If rap don’t pop, I’m back to stealin’ identity, I’m back to credit card theft
Back to credit card fraud
Fresh out of jail and Atlantic Records dropped that bag on me
Yeah, them crackers just dropped that bag on me again
Kodak Black was in his zone here, and his unique vocal skills made the song pop off right.
“Gnarly” is another achievement for the work. It features Lil Pump spouting off about all the ladies he commands, and an in-sync delivery from Kodak Black that puts this jam right where it should be. With a hot hook that rocks “One, two, three, let’s get gnarly”, this is a great beach fun song and both artists were really able to rip great performances.
These three songs are big hit material and could very well be all the album “Dying To Live” needs to achieve great success. Unfortunately, after these three standouts, there’s not much more hotness left to discover.
The track “Moshpit” with Juice WRLD is cool, but when it’s over, you realize that it just didn’t deliver. “Transgression” runs kind of hot, but it too, does indeed fizzle. Just to be real, tracks like “Needing Something” and “Malcolm X.X.X.” are a complete waste of time, No Cap! Kodak Black does not have the lyrical depth to spit message hip hop or grievance rap successfully – just stop.
Out of 18 songs, only 3 or 4 are worth listening to. That means basically 80% of this record is money down the drain.
Kodak Black should take the listener to the club, give ’em some laughs and have some fun – that’s where his voice really works. Delivering a great record requires message and theme discipline. One rapper cannot be all things – pick a path. Bill K. Kapri’s indecision over what he wants to call himself is quite emblematic of a man on discovery and a personality in flux, and his issues do follow him into the booth. Except in there…there’s only room for Kodak Black.
This Album review is just a blueprint – you decide what you feel. There are some hot tracks here, but the work, as a whole, is disappointing. I give the album “Dying To Live” 2 out of 5 Daggers. We’re waiting for the next project.
