Kota the Friend, a rapper and songwriter, has released EVERYTHING, his latest full-length album since the release of FOTO in 2019.
The Brooklyn native and independent artist has been consistently gaining popularity over the past few years partly due to his uplifting sound and unique voice and flow. After the release of his impressive project Anything in 2018, Kota progressed his style with FOTO. He was showing great amounts of maturity while still staying true to his sound, which made the project stand out even more.
With a few singles and even a mixtape to hold fans over until the release of his new project, there was a lot of hype around EVERYTHING. While FOTO seems to have more substance and more of an overall theme to it, EVERYTHING did not disappoint.
During these times of worry and sadness, an optimistic album is just what people need, and Kota delivered just that.
This project starts with “Summerhouse,” a sound that people are used to hearing from Kota, a track with a chill wave beat with a very easy-going flow and chorus. The album then continues with other similar-sounding, feel-good tracks paired with two interludes from actress Lupita Nyong’o and Lakeith Stanfield about what everything means to them. These interludes give a great insight into the motives behind this project and what “everything” truly means.
After a run of cheerful yet simple tracks from Kota and his great selection of features, the album ends with the great title track, “Everything,” which features none other than Kota’s son on the outro. This track wraps up the positive-sounding album with perfection, making EVERYTHING a solid project as people start to enjoy their summers.
The features on this album were clearly chosen with much thought, and they did not disappoint. This album sees contributions from fellow New York artists Joey Bada$$ and Bas as well as other artists like KYLE and tobi lou, among others.
Even with great tracks and features that are just as impressive, EVERYTHING is not without its minor flaws. Although comparing it to FOTO may not be entirely justifiable, EVERYTHING doesn’t deliver the same type of memorable tracks and well-thought themes that his previous project did.
EVERYTHING is a perfect album for long car rides or days by the water, but it may be short-lived with the number of other more distinctive projects that have been released so far this year.
Regardless of the comparisons between this album and other projects, EVERYTHING is still a solid album with songs that won’t fail to bring positivity and optimism to the listener.
Rating: 4/5
