Posted on 02/03/2010
The Honeyis a delightfully odd EP from Iowan emcee Zachary Lint, otherwise known as Coolzey. My expectations were low for this record: I figured that an album crafted this far off the traditional hip-hop grid, in a place as widely unknown as Iowa, would either sound totally insular—loaded with banner waving and regional idiom that’d strain my ears and imagination—or be violently generic. But the mutton-chopped emcee steers clear of both of those hazards, creating an album with a quirkiness that stems more from his goofy personality and wide-ranging influences than from geography.

Although, maybe it’s because Iowa doesn’t have an ascribable hip-hop sound or a culture of “keep it real” predictability that Coolzey feels free to run amok. Mr. Lint’s bag of tricks includes Medieval Times soundscapes and knight errant imagery (“The Honey”), a homage to early ’90s boom bap (“Let’s Flip”), surrealist surf rock (“Look”), a polka sample sitting on a dub-inspired bassline (“Ride”), and an unexpectedly good alt-country offering (“Old Machine”).

The Honey packs more ideas into 10 tunes (nine songs and an interlude) than most artists would attempt over two albums. And while you won’t find odes to capital and gun clapping among them, you will find a gang of pub-friendly “party jam[s]” with life’s-short-but-dope refrains. The record features guest verses from Sadat X and Copywrite, both of whom are a few notches above their host when it comes to straight-up emceeing. But it’s Coolzey’s humor and kaleidoscopic vision that’s the main attraction.

-Purnell T. Cropper