Smoke DZA, Cuz I Felt Like It

Fresh off delivering his smoked-out Rolling Stoned album last year, the self-proclaimed "Kushed God" returns with another bud-loving offering fittingly titled Cuz I Felt Like It.  As the title suggests, the tape finds the Harlem native rapping over a mixed selection of instrumentals that includes everything from A$AP Rocky’s “Pretty Flacko” (“Hollywood Smoke Hogan”) to Azealia Banks’ “212” (“Two One Two”) and even Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down” (“Imaginary Members”).

On the projects opener, “2 AM Monday Night” the mellowed out MC grafts a few bars over ScHoolBoy Q’s fan-favorite “Hands On The Wheel,” dropping lines like, “Kushed god get ready for the rapture/Niggas smoking on that Master/About to set this bitch up in flames/Won’t remember anything after…" While he continues to blow his signature greenery talk—“Marijuana toting until I’m flatline,” he boasts on “E.T.  Finger”—the leafy content doesn’t oversaturate the project as many would come to expect. Though those tracks do exist within the free-EP, DZA pretty much balances it out with joints like the flamboyant “Less Smoking More Rapping,” and has time to boast his street cred on poppy tunes like “Two One Two,” as well as send shots towards the fugazi-filled groupies  (“Imaginary Member”).  “You lying ass nigga that aint OG/Asking all types of questions like you’re police/Trying to get the numbers on the joint, dial 1-800 CURVE/That’s toll free.”

Although the tape is short, spanning up to eight tracks, and the predictable content, Cuz I Felt Like It is nonetheless a collection of freestyles that makes for a fun, easy listen.  The title says it all.—Ralph Bristout