Kota The Friend, a hip hop artist and musician from Brooklyn, New York, recently released his collaboration album called “To Kill A Sunrise”, on Friday, March 19. The album includes a total of 10 songs, and is just over 30 minutes in total.

In this album, he teamed up with Statik Selektah, who is an American record producer from Lawrence, Massachusetts. I definitely think collabing with Selektah was one of the best decisions Kota The Friend decided to make, because his unique soundtrack work abilities made this album stand out from his others, with a change in the instruments, beat, and tempo in regards to his past albums. Kota The Friend’s voice and background sounds mesh very well and compliment each other perfectly.

Right from the start, the song “Wolves” caught my attention because of the interesting fading background music, which got louder as the seconds progressed. As Kota The Friend began rapping, the beat of the drums meshed perfectly with his voice and added a lot of hype, matching his tone as well. Another thing that makes this song so good and powerful, is the fact that Kota The Friend sings with passion in his voice. The lyrics seem so true to heart, revealing a story behind every sentence if you listen closely. The lyrics are so personal, while also being relatable, and this really helps listeners get to know him as a person and connect with him better.

Another very interesting song in this album was “Go Now”, which featured Haile Supreme. The vibe in this song was upbeat and calm at the same time, which I thought was super unique and comforting. The beat and instruments started off pretty mellow, but progressively got more upbeat and catchy, keeping me entertained throughout the song. Supreme’s voice was very calming, which differed from Kota The Friend’s voice as he began rapping. This clash of different voices in this one song definitely was a smart move and kept me engaged.

I definitely liked this album better than the past ones, because it had more unique beats and background sounds, thanks to the help of Selektah. Kota The Friend also sang with much more passion, which in turn made the lyrics more touching and relatable. I would rate this album a solid 8.5/10. Even just the little changes in this album went a long way in making it better than his others, and I’m excited to listen to the next ones and see if they improve even more.