Coolzey

“Life Without You” features his almost Bowie-esque crooning about lost love. Then he samples the slow jams for some hyperactive verbal gymnastics (“It takes all personalities to make humanity, even idiots like Glen Beck and Sean Hannity”) and a smooth hook he sing himself. “Glasses” is based on a raw sawtooth wave bass with a filthy drum loop: “I can’t believe I got this far with these glasses falling off the end of my nose.”

And THEN “Yr Gonna Get Us Killed” sounds a bit like Dinosaur Jr. (after all he name-checked J Mascis in the last song). “Pay Me Slow” is redolent of anthemic urges recalling The Pixies. (He has) an unselfconscious hyperactive fluency, as though having a half-sung, half-chanted conversation with his audience is as natural as breathing. - Little Village

“Life Without You” features his almost Bowie-esque crooning about lost love. Then he samples the slow jams for some hyperactive verbal gymnastics (“It takes all personalities to make humanity, even idiots like Glen Beck and Sean Hannity”) and a smooth hook he sing himself. “Glasses” is based on a raw sawtooth wave bass with a filthy drum loop: “I can’t believe I got this far with these glasses falling off the end of my nose.”

And THEN “Yr Gonna Get Us Killed” sounds a bit like Dinosaur Jr. (after all he name-checked J Mascis in the last song). “Pay Me Slow” is redolent of anthemic urges recalling The Pixies. (He has) an unselfconscious hyperactive fluency, as though having a half-sung, half-chanted conversation with his audience is as natural as breathing. - Little Village

Iowa rock-rapper Coolzey is releasing two albums, Search for the Hip Hop Hearts, a collaboration with 12 different notable hip-hop producers including Crown City Rockers, Copywrite, J.Rawls, and Giant Panda and a second indie rock project Live from the Cave @ Dougman. MC Raashan (of Crown City Rockers) caught up with his old friend and asked some pointed and entertaining questions about his latest albums. - URB

"Live From the Cave @ Dougman is an unvarnished, hyper-eclectic collection of simple tunes. When Coolzey sat down in “the cave,” he set out to prove how much he could do with just a few riffs and scant flourishes. There’s a different sound and style for each one of these lo-fi tunes. The album’s fourth cut, “On the Ground” stands as one of the most successful tracks on Dougman. In fact, for all the simple compositions on this collection, “On the Ground” may be the most basic. A beautiful little number about a dreamer and all the power it takes him to remain grounded is built on an eighth note acoustic strum. Lint’s vocals sound completely unencumbered by any stylistic baggage. The sole flourish comes with the song’s final verse when a light, angelic, synth line floats in and and seems to carry this dreamer away, leaving behind the expectations of those around him. If you want to see every muscle Coolzey can flex, there’s really no better place to start than 'Live' - LITTLE VILLAGE

"Live From the Cave @ Dougman is an unvarnished, hyper-eclectic collection of simple tunes. When Coolzey sat down in “the cave,” he set out to prove how much he could do with just a few riffs and scant flourishes. There’s a different sound and style for each one of these lo-fi tunes. The album’s fourth cut, “On the Ground” stands as one of the most successful tracks on Dougman. In fact, for all the simple compositions on this collection, “On the Ground” may be the most basic. A beautiful little number about a dreamer and all the power it takes him to remain grounded is built on an eighth note acoustic strum. Lint’s vocals sound completely unencumbered by any stylistic baggage. The sole flourish comes with the song’s final verse when a light, angelic, synth line floats in and and seems to carry this dreamer away, leaving behind the expectations of those around him. If you want to see every muscle Coolzey can flex, there’s really no better place to start than 'Live' - LITTLE VILLAGE

When I first saw this CD in my mailbox I had no idea what to expect. The album had no tracklisting and no picture of the artist on the cover, just some artwork and a sticker that said it was the second EP in a series. After listening to it I’m looking forward to the rest of what’s to come. Coolzey has a unique style all his own and although you only get to be engulfed in it for 15 minutes, it’s a fun, albeit short, ride. The final track on the EP, "Artworld," is the real standout, where a mock Wal-Mart like store is created as the last place on earth where people can buy music, but the kids are becoming too smart to fall for the capitalist creation and rather than purchase the watered down, store-approved, version of art they are out creating their own. - 60 SECOND REVIEWS

Hailing from the small town of Dallas Center, Iowa, Coolzey’s life story is an interesting one. How else would you describe a life that has involved a headlock on MC Paul Barman, a tour with Vanilla Ice, and a friendship with Sadat X? Over the past few years Coolzey’s work has been showing up on my desk pretty regularly. This is due, in large part, to his love of the EP format. It’s a love that stems from a dream that he’ll one day be able to release all of his work on vinyl. This week I caught up with Coolzey to find out more about his wild ride, what went into the making of his upcoming EP, The Honey, and where you can find him with Fred "The Hammer" Williamson. - ADAM'S WORLD

Hailing from the small town of Dallas Center, Iowa, Coolzey’s life story is an interesting one. How else would you describe a life that has involved a headlock on MC Paul Barman, a tour with Vanilla Ice, and a friendship with Sadat X? Over the past few years Coolzey’s work has been showing up on my desk pretty regularly. This is due, in large part, to his love of the EP format. It’s a love that stems from a dream that he’ll one day be able to release all of his work on vinyl. This week I caught up with Coolzey to find out more about his wild ride, what went into the making of his upcoming EP, The Honey, and where you can find him with Fred "The Hammer" Williamson. - ADAM'S WORLD

"“The Honey” is, for me, Coolzey’s most fully realized hip hop record. Partly it’s the deep craft that’s gone into his verses, partly it’s the cast of Iowa City local heroes (Ed Gray, Will Whitmore, Luther the Geek and many more) he brings in to deepen the music. But for a guy who can’t rock half a verse with without cracking wise, who makes beats by jacking the goofiest, least soulful sample he can find and making them bump, Coolzey is no joke." - LITTLE VILLAGE

SINGLE OF THE MONTH
"Though aligned with a clutch of backpack rappers and indie rockers, Des Moines farm kid Coolzey grabs the scratches/intelligent sideward lyricism steez by the lapels with a little more straightforwardness. Crucially, he also tolerates nothing below massively fun production. The first sign of potential greatness is the clarity within 'Mentality'; after professing daily disgust for mediocre rappers he drops the gem of advice "Take women fro instance: the minute that you stop sweatin' 'em/Man, you'll be gettin' 'em". For those not built like Fif', this man speaks the truth. Throw in help from cool-as-whisky-slugging bluegrass dude William Elliott Whitmore on the atmospheric epic "Trees and Dirt" and you're suddenly rolling so lovely." - HIP HOP CONNECTION

SINGLE OF THE MONTH
"Though aligned with a clutch of backpack rappers and indie rockers, Des Moines farm kid Coolzey grabs the scratches/intelligent sideward lyricism steez by the lapels with a little more straightforwardness. Crucially, he also tolerates nothing below massively fun production. The first sign of potential greatness is the clarity within 'Mentality'; after professing daily disgust for mediocre rappers he drops the gem of advice "Take women fro instance: the minute that you stop sweatin' 'em/Man, you'll be gettin' 'em". For those not built like Fif', this man speaks the truth. Throw in help from cool-as-whisky-slugging bluegrass dude William Elliott Whitmore on the atmospheric epic "Trees and Dirt" and you're suddenly rolling so lovely." - HIP HOP CONNECTION

“Vocally, he comes off sounding a bit like early Justin Warfield. Coolzey not only produced his own beats but did the turntable work on here, a self-contained artist who is very confident about how he wants to present himself and his music to the world. It would be interesting to see what he would be able to do with other producers, but a full-length album with nothing but Coolzey-beats would certainly make it one of the must-have releases of any year.” - OKAYPLAYER

“Throughout the record, Coolzey’s raps are mostly delivered in a simple old-school style that embraces funny wordplay and battle raps when not reminiscing on days gone by, although he also goes in for a couple of sing-song jams with funky first single “Look” and folksy album closer “Old Machine.” But it’s the minimal, chopped-up beats Coolzey creates with his MPC 1000 and the occasional grouping of musicians that make this release most worthwhile. The bass lines are thick, the drums banging and the sample choices bold, with tracks like the polka-sampling “Ride” and feedback-heavy instrumental “By the Time” readymade for an MF DOOM appearance. The Honey is a fun, experimental throwback to hip-hop’s past.” - EXCLAIM

“Throughout the record, Coolzey’s raps are mostly delivered in a simple old-school style that embraces funny wordplay and battle raps when not reminiscing on days gone by, although he also goes in for a couple of sing-song jams with funky first single “Look” and folksy album closer “Old Machine.” But it’s the minimal, chopped-up beats Coolzey creates with his MPC 1000 and the occasional grouping of musicians that make this release most worthwhile. The bass lines are thick, the drums banging and the sample choices bold, with tracks like the polka-sampling “Ride” and feedback-heavy instrumental “By the Time” readymade for an MF DOOM appearance. The Honey is a fun, experimental throwback to hip-hop’s past.” - EXCLAIM

“Mash Biz Markee, Weird Al, and Slug’s personalities together; you might end up with something along Coolzey’s lines. Listen to “Little By Little” and try not to want to befriend him. Listen to “Retina Scan” and remember why you fell in love with hip hop in the first place.” - ALRIGHT I'M WRONG

“Overall, “The Honey” is an inescapably charming and well-produced album. This WHITE IOWAN is, first and foremost, an extremely gifted producer (which is how I imagine he linked up with established MCs like Copywrite and Sadat X, both featured on the album). Cool’s beats are consistently both head-nodding and inventive. Perhaps more impressive than this producer-MC’s beats, though, is his ability to dabble in various genres. Most of the album is straight hip-hop. But on “Look,” he mixes rap and alternative rock, channeling Beck in his “Devil’s Haircut” days. I’m not sure if Coolzey has a naturally good singing voice, but his vocal production on “Look” is so on-point and he is so at home in his talk-singing over “Look”‘s driving and experimental noise-heavy musical backing that his natural abilities don’t much matter. On “Old Machine,” the best song on the record, and one of the best songs of the year so far, he takes his cues from Midwestern folk, singing like Mason Jennings better than Mason Jennings does over lo-fi, wandering electric guitar and clunky, monotonous snare.” - RAP REVIEWS

“Overall, “The Honey” is an inescapably charming and well-produced album. This WHITE IOWAN is, first and foremost, an extremely gifted producer (which is how I imagine he linked up with established MCs like Copywrite and Sadat X, both featured on the album). Cool’s beats are consistently both head-nodding and inventive. Perhaps more impressive than this producer-MC’s beats, though, is his ability to dabble in various genres. Most of the album is straight hip-hop. But on “Look,” he mixes rap and alternative rock, channeling Beck in his “Devil’s Haircut” days. I’m not sure if Coolzey has a naturally good singing voice, but his vocal production on “Look” is so on-point and he is so at home in his talk-singing over “Look”‘s driving and experimental noise-heavy musical backing that his natural abilities don’t much matter. On “Old Machine,” the best song on the record, and one of the best songs of the year so far, he takes his cues from Midwestern folk, singing like Mason Jennings better than Mason Jennings does over lo-fi, wandering electric guitar and clunky, monotonous snare.” - RAP REVIEWS

“The samples this guy pulls out are incredible, and they make you feel like the first time you heard Big Daddy Kane or KRS-One. The redundant nature of radio hip hop these days makes the genre less than exciting, but Coolzey’s throwbacks to the days before auto-tune was the standard are a welcome break..” - LOUDFARM

“The Honey has the boyish rap charm that could have come from an 18 year-old recording tracks with friends in a college dorm room. His lyrics are subtly smart, though unassuming. And like many good rap albums, it shows off Coolzey’s deep appreciation for jazz, hip-hop, and the occasional film of the past. His neo-old school beats and jazz samples shine through.” - INFLATABLE FERRET

“The Honey has the boyish rap charm that could have come from an 18 year-old recording tracks with friends in a college dorm room. His lyrics are subtly smart, though unassuming. And like many good rap albums, it shows off Coolzey’s deep appreciation for jazz, hip-hop, and the occasional film of the past. His neo-old school beats and jazz samples shine through.” - INFLATABLE FERRET

“The Honey is a delightfully odd EP from Iowan emcee Zachary Lint, otherwise known as Coolzey. It packs more ideas into 10 tunes (nine songs and an interlude) than most artists would attempt over two albums. But it’s Coolzey’s humor and kaleidoscopic vision that’s the main attraction.” - OKAYPLAYER

The Honey at a glance seems like another good’ole fashioned ten song hip-hop album. Upon further inspection, it becomes quite clear that there is a little bit more going on. Coolzey shows that he is funny, quirky and knows his history. The Honey does offer some pleasant surprises to the listener. Coolzey finds himself singing on a few of the tracks and it actually works fantastically. As far as guest spots, Copywrite, Raashan Ahmad (from Crown City Rockers), William Elliot Whitmore, Schaffer the Darklord and even the legendary Sadat X contribute. - URB