A Review of Kodak Black's "Dying To Live"

Florida rapper Kodak Black looks to build on his already impressive young career with the release of his second 2018 project titled “Dying to Live.” Following his August release from detainment, Lil Kodak had been staying busy on the music scene, highlighted by his hit song “ZEZE” featuring Travis Scott and Offset. “ZEZE” had been the number two song on the Billboard Hot 100 which had been in the forefront of the other five singles that had been released in the rollout of this project. Of those other five singles, three others titled, “Calling My Spirit,” “If I’m Lyin, I’m Flyin” and “Take One” had reached the billboard charts while, his last two singles “Testimony” and “MoshPit” featuring Juice WRLD had not. Judging based off the singles, this project looks to be one full of good music, so let’s take a look at the track list! ”Dying To Live” has sixteen songs amassing a total of 47 minutes of music. Lil Pump, Offset, Travis Scott, and Juice WRLD are the only features on this project as they are on a total of three out of the sixteen songs. Interesting to see what Kodak has to say, so without further ado, let’s get to the review!

Categories

The songs on this album divided into three lanes that are prevalent throughout the project

Something to Say

“Testimony,” “This Forever,” “Take One,” “Transgression,” “Malcolm X.X.X.,” “Calling My Spirit,” “If I’m Lyin, I’m Flyin,” “Could Have Been Different.”

These songs are focused more on the lyricism in what Kodak is trying to communicate to his listener versus the beats and melodies Kodak is known for.

Fun

“Identity Theft,” “Gnarly” featuring Lil Pump, “ZEZE” featuring Travis Scott and Offset, “MoshPit” featuring Juice WRLD, “In The Flesh”

These songs are described as fun because they have a party like vibe to them. The bass and flows needed for a party like atmosphere is prevalent in each song and the turn up factor to them superb.

Slow

“Close To The Grave,” “From The Cradle,” “Needing Something”

These songs are slow down the album, as Kodak talks about slow jam topics like love and lust. These songs are more for the melody than the lyrics or beat.

Must Listen Songs

The concept of Must Listen songs are the songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that standout for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.

“Testimony”

One of the two singles off this project that I consider a necessity. On this song we have a lyrical Kodak who is rapping about feeling like he is “God-sent” in the first verse. In the second verse we have a cadence change as Kodak starts to sing about past experiences down the wrong path that eventually got him locked up. All this over a bleak piano driven beat made by producers Major Nine and ManickBeats. The song serves as the intro song on “Dying To Live” and works to set the tone for the rest of the project.

“Gnarly” (ft. Lil Pump)

The fourth song on this project which serves as a party pop song. This is maintained as the beat overshadows the lyrics that are melodically delivered by Lil Kodak and Lil Pump. The beat sounds a bit like a pop song that you would find around 2010 and Kodak’s delivery towards the end of the hook where he exclaims, “One, two, three, let’s get gnarly,” contributes to the carefree vibe of the song. The beat, made by Kaixen, Diablo and Dyryk, sounds like a typical computer driven pop beat with the hip-hop high hats and bass. Overall, the song sets a chill but, party vibe that can be found on certain songs throughout the project.

“ZEZE” (ft. Travis Scott and Offset)

The fifth song and second of the two singles considered an Oldmlk Necessity serves as a great hip-hop turn up song. The beat, most notably the bass is reminiscent of hit songs such as “Taste” by Tyga featuring Offset, “Ric Flair Drip” by Offset and Metro Boomin which also go hard in a party atmosphere. All three of these beats give a feeling that places you at a beach party with the ocean waves crashing against the beautiful white sand. Aside from “Taste” and “Ric Flair Drip” the beat on “ZEZE,” produced by D.A. Doman, is driven by a steal pan which works to further the “beach effect.” The Travis Scott hook, Offset verse, and Kodak verse all go hard, however my favorite part is the Kodak post hook which has him seemingly in the distance rapping “Pull up in a Demon, on God, Lookin’ like I still do fraud, Flyin” private jet with the rod, This that Z shit, This that Z shit.” What makes this the best part to me is the way Kodak stretches the syllable on the “odd” sound in the words God, fraud and rod. This is the best turn up song on the project, hands down.

“Malcolm X.X.X.”

This is the ninth song on the project, where Kodak focuses on his lyrics to tribute his fellow Floridian rapper XXXTENTACION, who was tragically murdered on June 18th, 2018. This beat produced by Major Nine, sets a reflective tone to the song with the high-pitched keys. On this song Kodak seems to make a connection between XXX and Malcolm X which is a stretch. The line that works the best to make Kodak’s point is when Kodak raps, “X was tryna change his life, but he got burned down.” Here Kodak compares Malcolm X. and XXX by making the point that both had to undergo changes in their life in an effort to be better people. Clearly, Kodak has something to say on this song as he also makes some comparisons between XXX and himself throughout the song.

“From The Cradle”

One of the slow songs on this project, which also serves as the thirteenth song. On this song Kodak raps about the girls he’s been involved with, saying he loves all of them and they all mean a lot to him. All this over a beat driven by an acoustic guitar, a banjo and a violin.

“Could Have Been Different”

The final song on this sixteen-song project. The flow on this song is the fastest flow Kodak uses on the whole project which works well with the fast paced, windchime driven beat made by Kaixen and Dyryk. Kodak seems to be throwing direct subs at some people he grew up with because he feels they were fake. He also shows some love to the people that he feels have stuck with him through the tough times. The best way to summarize this song is Kodak separates the real from the fake and addresses how he feels about each side. The pace of the song is can leave the listener wanting more, however Kodak slows the song down at the end to have the listener satisfied with the body of work he put forth.

Final Review

Overall, this I like this project from Kodak Black a lot. There’s a nice mix of songs with something to say, turn up songs and slow songs that successfully fills every demographic Kodak is known for and may break Kodak into more musical demographics. The flow of the album worked out really well as Kodak alternated between the songs with something to say and fun songs before hitting us in the last five tracks with three slow tracks amongst the five. This album has a lot of quality tracks, with an average playback value in total. When going back to listen my personal preference may skip the slow songs at the end. At the end of the day I’m impressed by this project.

Scoring

Raw Score: The amount of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a +1 or above to be counted.

Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.

Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.

Raw Score:14/16

Quality Score:17/16

Playback Value:4/5

Go out and listen to Kodak Black’s “Dying To Live” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) for updates on Oldmlk Necessities:The Most Necessary Review in Hip-Hop, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar and more!