Mani Coolin

On a dead end street bordering the Hollywood Freeway, Mani Coolin’ sits on a stool in a makeshift home recording studio. His dad is here, as well as his producer, Jay Kurzweil, who owns the studio and lives in the adjoining apartment. A hazy, piano-laced beat emanates from the speakers and a muted kung fu movie plays on one of the computer screens. They’re listening to un-mastered tracks from Mani’s upcoming album, Hope4TheYouth. For the last two months, Mani and J. Kurzweil have spent days on end sitting in the foam-padded studio mixing the album’s songs.

“It’s the worst part,” the 21-year-old rapper says. “It’s just sitting here listening to a song over and over until we get it right.”

For the most part, the mixing process is done. In a few days, the songs will be sent to an engineer for mastering and on March 12, the album will drop.

“The whole time I was plotting for this right here,” Mani says, whose real name is Demani Brown. He glances at his iPhone, which has a promotional “#Hope” sticker plastered on the back, to check the time. In a half-hour, his dad will drive them to a soundstage in North Hollywood so that Mani can practice for his performance at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami on Feb. 28.

For someone who has only been making music for the last five or so years, Mani has a lot going on. He has over 5,000 followers on SoundCloud and has already released three mixtapes (Something Perfect, For the Moments, and Bad Decisions, Good Intentions) and one EP (Merry Christmas). He’s performed in cities all over the country and in venues all over L.A., including the Roxy, the Whisky A Go Go, the Key Club, and Los Globos. He’s not famous — yet — but he’s making waves, especially in the underground L.A. rap scene.

His biggest project to date is Hope4TheYouth. The 12-track project took over a year to make and introduces a new sound from the L.A. rapper, one that he describes as “vibe rap.”

“It’s different,” he says of his new album. “I feel like we made something that doesn’t sound like anything right now. We’re bringing a bunch of different sounds together and making it one.”

Whether he’s created a new sound or not is debatable, but one thing’s for sure: This is a definitely a new sound for Coolin’. Since his last mixtape, Bad Decisions, Good Intentions, released in August 2013 when the rapper was 19, he’s reached new heights and matured in sound. The songs in Hope4TheYouth are varied and eclectic, with jazzy undertones and live instrumental.

“It’s different,” he says of his new album. “I feel like we made something that doesn’t sound like anything right now. We’re bringing a bunch of different sounds together and making it one.”

Whether he’s created a new sound or not is debatable, but one thing’s for sure: This is a definitely a new sound for Coolin’. Since his last mixtape, Bad Decisions, Good Intentions, released in August 2013 when the rapper was 19, he’s reached new heights and matured in sound. The songs in Hope4TheYouth are varied and eclectic, with jazzy undertones and live instrumentals. No two songs sound alike and it’s clear that Mani is trying out new beats and new sounds. His scratchy, youthful voice sounds more crisp and polished than on his previous projects, with a newfound mastery over his rhymes.

Hope4TheYouth relies heavily on storytelling and sheds some light on Mani’s origins. As he puts it, his story is not a rapper's story. He didn’t grow up wanting a career in hip-hop.

I’m just kind of telling my story growing up,” he says. “I didn’t have no rough childhood. Like, it got hard at certain points, but basically I got myself into things that I could have avoided. So I tell those stories [and] I talk from a point where I think anyone can relate.”

The first song Mani recalls writing was way back when he was 12 years old, but it wasn’t until his last year in high school that he started to seriously consider making music. Encouraged by the students who heard him freestyle after school at Fairfax High, he visited a recording studio in Gardena to record his first raps. Though he himself admits that they weren’t any good, he was hooked. “I just fell in love with it,” he says. “It stuck with me probably more than anything else I was doing at the time.”

He realized he had a knack for telling stories and a hankering to do so. “I don’t think anyone outside of L.A. would understand where I came from,” he says of the Mid-City neighborhood he grew up in. So he decided to tell those stories in his music.

Fans who know Mani’s music know that he grew up near Washington Boulevard and Crenshaw Avenue and that his dad’s side is from Compton. They know that his family made a conscious decision to bus him to school in Hollywood, rather than send him to nearby Dorsey High School. “If I woulda went to my home school,” he says, “I probably wouldn’t be the same person.”

In the years after high school, Mani tried going to college in New Orleans, but dropped out after the first semester because “it wasn’t my thing.” Unsure of what he wanted to do with his life, he returned to L.A. and worked odd jobs for the next few years. All the while, he continued to make music; eventually, his patience and persistence paid off. He was invited to perform at the AC3 Hip-Hop Festival in Atlanta two years in a row and booked shows in Vegas and San Francisco. “I started to get a little buzz,” he says, “and stuff started popping up for me.”

Fast-forward to today and Mani is still generating buzz, slowly but surely getting his name out there. With Hope4TheYouth, he hopes that his name will become more widely recognized in the L.A. rap game. In fact, he says, maybe people will even start pronouncing it correctly (it’s Mani with a soft “a”). “It's just one of those things,” he says, “where I’ve got to become a superstar and then they'll get it right.” - Jesse Schiewe

Mani Coolin has been preaching Hope4TheYouth for what feels like years. There’s a lot of pressure on a project with that much hype and apparently the bubbling Los Angeles rapper revels in a challenge.

Solid from front to back, the entire release carries a sense of relief, coming from someone who’s seemingly been there and back. To provide those details of how he overcame everyday obstacles, Coolin worked with producers Jay Cruzweil, YOG$ & Ashton McCreight to create a timely, downtrodden representation of the classic West Coast sound, which he tackles with help from the likes of Cozz, Niko 4G and Big Gipp from Goodie Mob.

All songs feel somewhat impressionable, especially “Free My Mind” and “Plottin,” but the highlight of the project might be “Religion/Holy.” The visually-enhanced track is a two part song, where the first section finds Mani telling a tense story of maneuvering away from a jack move in LA, while the second part finds him seemingly in the shoes of someone who might pull a heist himself, providing a genius double POV from the mind of someone with nothing to lose.

Anyone in need of a pick me up will find audible Advil throughout Mani Coolin’s Hope4TheYouth, which can be streamed in full below and purchased by the real ones on iTunes. - Beware

Los Angeles rapper Mani Coolin' is gearing up to release his debut album, Hope4TheYouth, which follows his consistent output of music over the last few years, a highlight being his 2013 mixtape, Bad Decisions, Good Intentions. Today, Complex premieres the first record off the project in "Free My Mind," which finds Mani linking up with fellow West Coast MC and buzzing Dreamville/Interscope signee Cozz.

The two rappers coast over the hazy backdrop, mixing hopes and dreams of fame with a sobering reality that Cozz sums up well: "I been a broke nigga once and I ain't going back." Production comes courtesy of Jay Kurzweil and Meez, two burgeoning acts in their own right who work frequently with Mani and Cozz, respectively.

Mani Coolin's Hope4TheYouth will be released this March. For now, check out "Free My Mind" below, and keep up with the rapper on Twitter and Facebook. - Edwin Ortiz

Like Chicago and Atlanta, Los Angeles is a current hotbed for rising talent in hip-hop. Among the most buzzing in LA is Mani Coolin, who this week released his debut album, Hope4theYouth.

Delayed for more than a year, the 12-track LP includes previously-featured, Booth-approved singles "Hope" and "Free My Mind" featuring Dreamville signee Cozz.

Additional guest features include Goodie Mobb veteran Big Gipp, Niko G4 and Hardaway Smith, while production is handled by Jay Kurzweil, Ashton McCreight, Meez, THC and YOG$.

Hope4theYouth, released Thursday, March 12, is available for digital purchase on iTunes, as well as free stream here at The DJBooth. - Dj Z

With Los Angeles becoming a hot bed for new talent, don’t let this 20-year-old firestarter fall under your radar. After releasing Bad Decisions, Good Intentions, Mani Coolin’ wow’ed industry heads with the 2013 A3C hip-hop festival in Atlanta and CMJ in New York. Keep an eye out for him.

Standout: “Good Vibes” featuring Mibbs (of Pac Div)

With Los Angeles becoming a hot bed for new talent, don’t let this 20-year-old firestarter fall under your radar. After releasing Bad Decisions, Good Intentions, Mani Coolin’ wow’ed industry heads with the 2013 A3C hip-hop festival in Atlanta and CMJ in New York. Keep an eye out for him.

Standout: “Good Vibes” featuring Mibbs (of Pac Div) - Eric Diep

Mani Coolin has released his heavily anticipated Hope 4 The Youth project! This 12 track album was definitely worth the wait. The Los Angeles emcee really shined throughout this cohesive piece of work. You already know you’re going to get Mani’s slick bars and excellent production primarily provided by Jay Kurzweil. But this time they treated us to more bangers like “Next Summer” and “Word on The Street” to ride around the city to or whipper slappers (patent pending) as I like to call them. Cool also shows us his story telling ability with my favorite track “Religion/Holy” I need to see the video to that record as soon as possible, it sounds like a movie!

The tape features a few dope up and coming LA artists you should keep an eye out for as well Niko G4 and Dreamville’s Cozz. This is a must download, no qualifiers, there is something for everyone on here. Stream it below then download it! - Staff

Los Angeles representative Mani Coolin' has been putting in work for years, with his music landing here at the DopeHouse numerous times. Today he's released his latest project, the follow-up to 2013's Bad Decisions, Good Intentions, a twelve-track tape that features the likes of Cozz, Niko G4, Big Gipp, THC, and others.

Stream the project via Spotify below, then cop a copy on iTunes. - Meka

After welcoming the world to Los Angeles in his “Free My Mind” video, Mani Coolin returns with his latest album, Hope 4 The Youth. The likes of Cozz, Big Gipp, Niko G4, League and Hardaway Smith appear on the 12-track follow-up to Bad Decisions, Good Intentions, with production from Jay Kurzweil, Rmur, THC, YOG$, Meez and Ashton McCreight. Mani’s a product of exciting West Coast newcomers and here, he proves just why. - Walker

Mani Coolin’ took a huge step to establishing himself as a name in this game with his March released Hope 4 The Youth project, if you haven’t copped that yet I really suggest you do over here. I for one certainly woke up and squeezed onto the bandwagon after a close friend put me onto that project, there is still room so it isn’t too late.

Anyway, last night the LA native dropped off some new sounds for the weekend and teaming up with Ashton McCreight they deliver ‘New L.A.’. The song was dropped by DJ Booth as part of their series they have going on. Mani is a real down to earth guy, I don’t even know him but on social media he claims he just wants to be heard. Staying humble is key in this game, that and quality music can get you far and Mani is certainly taking huge steps and blending the two perfectly. - Sherman