On his latest drop ‘C.O.R.Y.’, Khing Ceaze shows off a freer, more up-tempo style comprised of tight lyrics with punchlines and metaphors a plenty, providing a soundtrack to the vibes of freedom and opportunity ushered in by the warmth of spring
Khing Ceaze has been working non-stop through the long winter nights, locked in a hazy studio with producer DRUMZ&ROSEZ to put the finishing touches on his second release in the past six months. The project finds Khing Ceaze continuing to work through the demons that haunt the mental corridors connecting the backchannels of his mind over a more diverse soundscape than usual. Ceaze has an innate ability to step into a 3rd person omniscient point of view, allowing his ethereal form to slip its corporeal bonds to hover above the scenes surrounding him and relay it to listeners in-depth. Unlike the album Enigma, which dropped on December 23rd, 2020 which found Ceaze using his story-telling ability to dive deep into the ongoing battlefield in his mind, C.O.R.Y. finds Ceaze bursting with optimistic, live life the fuck up energy tailor-made for the boundless potentials offered up by his current hometown Atlanta as it fully re-opens this spring. Consistency is critical if an artist wants to remain relevant, even if that consistency isn’t in a constant like lyrical webs wove but instead in the consistency of forward evolution in vibe and tone of the piece of work. Khing Ceaze stands VVS against those scales, as the vibes of Enigma and C.O.R.Y. are entirely different but his ability to put together a tape stacked with heavy-head tales such as Enigma, and then hit a steezy slo-mo 180 to flow into the fresh vibes on C.O.R.Y. is proven to be top-notch. Enigma has a darker, more introspective feel to it that lends itself to those long, fucked up grinding ass days with damn near no sun poking through in the Mil, whereas C.O.R.Y. has a freer, more up-tempo airy vibe that feels perfect for the optimism bursting through the seams with spring being sprung and the possibilities of a COVID-free (or at least COVID managed) world sit on a table surrounded by people of every shape and size with their mouths wide open watering, fingers twitching over the utensils, ready to leave nothing of the offerings but empty cookout dishes scattered everywhere. The stark contrast between the two albums could also be viewed in a geographic-mentality light, with Enigma representing those exact days that Ceaze spent riding around the 414, stressed out, going hard and eventually finding himself locked up whereas C.O.R.Y. could be seen as springing out of the renewed vigor Khing Ceaze has approached life with after moving away from the snow for good, planting himself in Atlanta’s much more temperate climate.
One of the most fluorescent highlights on C.O.R.Y. is on the second song, “B.R.A.T.” which showcases a feature from Milwaukee’s own Sharrod Sloans. The track finds Khing Ceaze in a zone, creating a ready-made summer speaker bumper, one that you can turn up too or just ride around the city fucking around with the homies. It is a quick start to the project, setting the scene well for the rest of the tracklist to unfold. The bars are equaled by the beat, a solid effort by DRUMZ&ROSEZ in creating the type of beat that can bounce through those tubes in a variety of situations. Another track worth taking a for a couple spins comes on the 4th listed song, “First Glance”. Ceaze is back in his bag telling stories packed with meaning and metaphor over a beat that gives him plenty of space to work. With the exception of “Freak Sh!t” (SVGAR Beats) “Vibe” & “Practice” (Both produced by Default Beats) the album was produced by DRUMZ&ROSEZ. What is obviously evident after this combined second effort, and even better than the beats, is that Ceaze and DRUMZ have found an incredibly productive zone in which they are always evolving and pushing each other to the next level, allowing them to create the complete soundscape on C.O.R.Y. Overall, the album is a smooth, easy listen for just about any situation, and is sure to have a couple of tracks pop off and stay ringing loud throughout what is sure to be a reckless summer 2021.
The Come-Up 