Report Card: Tech N9ne's "COSM"
Nina's ninth "Collabos" album finds strength in uniqueness and unity
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Editor’s note: My buddy Drew. E is a huge Tech N9ne fan. Actually, you know what? I have two friends named Drew E. But the Drew E. I’m talking about was an amazing hockey goalie, as opposed to the Drew E. who’s an excellent basketball coach. So for the sake of Hockey Drew, I’m gonna address this review directly to him. Basketball Drew can wait until I write a dissertation on the career of 50 Cent.
This review will be filled with inside jokes. If you don’t get them, I’m not sorry. In fact, it’s your fault for not being a fly on the wall for our 20-year friendship. Shame on you.
Damn it, Dale.
Tech N9ne is like if King of the Hill had a rap career. You’d watch it on Sunday nights after The Simpsons and think, “This is good, but it’s not The Simpsons.” That is, until you realized all the celebrities like Brad Pitt, Chris Rock and Ben Stiller who guest starred, and you’re like, “Maybe there’s something more to this show.”
In the same way, Tech, who’s been independent his entire career, is your favorite rapper’s favorite collaborator. This man is the chief of a roster full of dope MCs, while at the same time attracting mainstream talent from across the hip-hop map.
COSM, which stands for “Class of Strange Music,” is the ninth album in Nina’s Collabos series. The album is a cornucopia of blistering bars over potent production that highlights the unique strengths of a wide array of artists while holding a unified feel.
Tech’s magnetism is best exemplified on COSM by a skit at the end of “Disgusted.” A young Tech N9ne is laughed at by his classmates as their teacher scolds him: “Mr. Yates, if you knew your schoolwork like you know that music, you’d be an ‘A’ student.”
Most of us know what it’s like to be the kid in the back of the class, penning rap lyrics in secret or being disrespectful, goonish idiots during algebra. The whole concept of Strange Music is that you’re free to be yourself. It’s a call to the outcasts, but normies are welcome as long as they keep it real. This fun, inclusive vibe ties together all the idiosyncrasies that make COSM so eclectic.
Tech revels in his “Underdog” status, rhyming “Sin Miedo” (without fear) about God, love and haters. But even over production as edgy as The Shield, Tech keeps things positive. “Pray for, everybody that’s hateful,” he raps on the punch-packing “Let It Bang.” Even when he’s decrying fake ones on “I Know The Real,” he sounds more compassionate than angry. He’s imploring for people to be true to themselves, because as he knows, that’s the only way this world will heal. Tech and co. emanate love throughout the record, making COSM more than just dope rhymes and raucous beats.
Not that the quotables aren’t abundant. Rappers as diverse as Hopsin and Trae tha Truth pop up on song after song with lines that make you say “Yeeeooooooooooo.” Tech remains in control with stank-faced rhymes like “Keep tryin’ to front with the rugged/Gonna make your spirit fade to the back like a mullet,” on “Boomer Rang.” Killer Mike continues his stunning run, rapping on “Disgusted,” “Aye, off the top a popper, what you did to me was so improper/It can only be compared to how Scar went and did Mufasa.” And Snow Tha Product comes through on “Bigger” with a verse so frosty it’ll make you wanna climb a tree in your boxers.
The musicality on COSM is just as varying. The Strange Music sound of thumping drums and blaring guitars is prevalent, but so are catchy piano loops and sing-along hooks. The kids chorus on “No Popcorn” makes a melody about movie snacks so infectious it’ll ring in your head all day. Mr. Anderson would mostly approve, except for “THE GHOST OF ROSETTA THARPE,” which suffers from an obnoxious beat and grating hook. But that joint is the exception, not the rule.
“I Got Time Today” marries the best of Tech’s bars with the most soulful beat on the album. Andrews (another Drew!) Mujica and Mario Casalini provide jaunty piano keys and swaggerful horns to back Bernz and Wrekonize’s silky-smooth hook. Meanwhile, Tech happily keeps haters in check with rhymes like, “Talk about I got the same old cadence when I flow/When you don’t understand what a pattern is but you stated that I blow.” Indeed, Tech’s flow is as malleable as tin foil, whether he’s staccato on “No Popcorn” or nimble on “TAKE THAT L9VE BACK?”
The latter occurs on the impressive final stretch of the album, which finishes strong with the emotionally resonant “Ain’t Gon Be Another.” But the question is (you knew this was coming, Drew), is the album too long? Is it? IS IT?!
The answer is…no! While Tech has a habit of making albums with exhausting lengths, the 1-hour, 18-minute runtime is well suited for a posse album. For once, I’m down with the long run. That said, a lot of the songs are solid, but not particularly outstanding. And COSM doesn’t have the conceptual excellence of Tech’s 2023 album BLISS.
Nor is it meant to. This album isn’t quite at Yi Jianlian status, but even Hockey Drew couldn’t stop it from reaching its goal as a dope Collabos installment that celebrates uniqueness while promoting unity. Cool as Mr. Barry’s pool.
Final Grade: B+
Grading Scale: A+=Awesome, A=Great, A-=Excellent, B+=Very Good, B=Good, B-=Worthy, C+=Decent, C=Mediocre, C-=Subpar, D+=Bad, D=Very Bad, D-=Awful, F=Atrocious