Today, I am reviewing Harlem MC Smoke DZA's new album, Dream.Zone.Achieve. I have always liked Smoke DZA. I think he has a distinctive voice and represents New York City's rapping style well. He is traditional and sounds like someone straight out of the 90s. Luckily, Smoke DZA's music doesn't sound stuck in nostalgia, thanks to the beats he raps over. DZA has always had a great ear for beats, and all his projects have had good production. His best work in my opinion is his 2012 album Rugby Thompson, which was completely produced by Harry Fraud. I am excited for this album because it really seems like DZA's most ambitious project yet. Will Smoke DZA keep up his consistency with this new album?
As an MC, I still really enjoy Smoke DZA after multiple listens to this new album of his. He has a super-unique voice that immediately sets him apart from a lot of rappers. When he starts spitting, you know its DZA. He has a pretty strong New York accent, and I like the way he pronounces words. DZA's other best asset is his flow. He just knows how to flow over a beat and is really talented at this. There are never any rough moments in his flow and he always sounds smooth. In terms of lyrics, DZA is inconsistent. One song will have a distinct topic and vivid storytelling, while the next will just be a boring song with lame punchlines. On the song City of Dreams, DZA paints a picture of the tough streets that he came from. His imagery was on point and the lyricism was great. Then, there will be a song like 9Eleven, which was just a boring string of punchlines, in my opinion. That song really didn't connect with me. Luckily, a lot of the songs on this album are strong from a technical rapping standpoint, and DZA is able to carry them that way. Count Me In, Jigga Flow, I Don't Know, Errthang Valid, and Puzzle of Life are all worthwhile tracks. My favorites on this album, though, are the ones with features. Whether its because of the guest or not, these songs were just better than the others. They sounded more focused and polished. The songs Ghost of Dipset, Hearses, Zone, Phat Bastard, and Legends in the Making were all feature tracks that stood out from all the others. I specifically loved Ghost of Dipset, where DZA lays verses over a beautiful, luxurious beat. Cam'Ron even makes an appearance and spits a humorous and well-written verse. On Hearses, Ab-Soul delivers a catchy, emotional hook and DZA is solid on the verses. The song Phat Bastard even featured the best Joey Bada$$ verse I've heard in while. One major flaw with Dream.Zone.Achieve is its length. This album is way too long. There are 20 songs, which is far too many for any album. My personal limit is 16, so this passes that easily. Plus, the lengths are ridiculous sometimes. The last song on the album, Achieve, is nine minutes long. While it was a decent track in the beginning, it quickly became too much and I got bored. I know DZA was trying to follow a concept with this album, but he could have done it with less content. Nevertheless, Smoke DZA kept up the solid rapping I have always heard from him.
The beats on this album were pretty good, for the most part. They lay down a nice backdrop for DZA to do his thing. There weren't many beats, though, that really stood out to me. By the end, they end up sounding pretty similar. While this is mainly attributed to the album's long length, I still wish the beats had some more variety. These beats, by themselves are good boom-bap instrumentals that I feel any New York rapper could spit over. There were a few great beats mixed in, though. The beat for Ghost of Dipset was awesome. The vocal sample was stretched out to fit with the beat, and it just sounded beautiful. the drums were a nice touch, as well. Phat Bastard had a pretty interesting beat too, and it was done by Kirk Knight, a producer I like a lot. The atmospheric flute sounds were a cool addition to a monster boom-bap beat. Some other standout production on this project came from the songs City of Dreams, Zone, Robin Givens, and Errthang Valid. Overall, I liked a number of these beats by themselves, but the length of the album caused them to really drag on and sound samey by the end.
DREAM.ZONE.ACHIEVE WRAP UP
+Smoke DZA is a really solid MC, has nice verses all over the album
+Some pretty good lyrical tracks
+Feature tracks were stellar
+A few really good boom-bap instrumentals
-Way too long, album seriously gets boring in the second half
-Repetitive beats
-DZA doesn't change it up from a rapping standpoint
Best: Ghost of Dipset, Phat Bastard, Hearses
Worst: 9Eleven
Smoke DZA- Dream.Zone.Achieve
6.4/10
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