Kojey Radical Reason to Smile Review - The UK’s Golden Child
An abduent offering of genre melding tracks and features on this 15 song long debut album, filled with triumphant horns and brass instruments takes you into a journey of Kojey’s mind and artistry.
Underrated and overlooked, are both words people have used to describe Kojey Radical. Quite rarely in the U.K. is an artist so universally praised and respected yet considered underrated as Kojey Radical. Kojey Radical within 52 minutes showcases the pinnacle of what U.K. rap can be. Delivering an offering of genre-melding tracks and features on his 15 songs long debut album; filled with triumphant horns and brass instruments Kojey Radical takes you into a journey through his mind and artistry.
Reason to Smile is the artist's debut project, following his well-received EP Cashmere tears (2019). After which fans were left yearning for more and wondering if this is the quality of an EP, what would the studio album look like? Well, Kojey not only answered, but he delivered, in spades. Reason to Smile offers features from U.K. legends like Wretch 32 to rising stars like Tiana Major9, Knucks and Shae Universe that each brings an injection of energy or soulfulness to the album. Reason to smile leaves you spiritually and emotionally full in this remarkable debut album.
I initially listened to this album on shuffle, thanks to Spotify *big eye roll* but on the second listen (in the correct order), I didn’t feel that much of a difference in cohesion. This says a lot about the depth and thought put into each track on this project, each song no matter the order flows effortlessly into the next and no matter where you start or finish this project, you’ll take away exactly what Kojey wants you to. (For the love of god though, please listen in chronological order)
Heavy is the head
That wears the crown. The adversity, double-life, and pressure of the preverbal crown that is as crippling as it is joyful. Time and time again Kojey’s reason to smile was challenged by dark days, loss of friendships and loved ones. The requirement to wear the crown also means to wear a permanent smile. With success comes adoring fans but so come fake friends and tribulations; from debt and soul searching to balling out in the worst ways with “p*ssy and patron” but also comes the bounties such as showering his family in the gifts and luxuries of his success. In tracks like ‘Pressure’, Kojey opens up to how the Buck and money stop with him. He is no longer in a position where he has the luxury of hiding away and breaking down, he can’t buckle under the pressure of the crown he so long aspired to wear. This poetic introspection can rival any U.K. artist accompanied with the soulful riffs and hook by Shae Universe becomes a standout piece of the album.
Flex on em.
Is this Anderson .Paak? Was the first thing I thought when I heard the trumpets and drums on ‘Payback’ until the smooth verse from Knucks, one of the scene's finest underground artists. While the album keeps introspection at its core it isn’t afraid to get equally as braggadocious and I ain’t complaining. Flex on us Kojey! When listening to certain tracks all I was thinking was “is he going to breathe?!” The energy and hard-hitting vocals that support many of the more high tempo tracks on the album, will keep your eyes open as Kojey hammers the message of empowerment and self-love straight into your skull. Tracks like ‘Fubu’ and ‘Nappy’ toe the line perfectly of preaching, bragging and flatulence that not many can do as well as Kojey demonstrates.
More than Kojey
Don’t get distracted by the clever wordplay and soulful hooks or boisterous brass instruments. This album is about more than just Kojey. Reasons to smile is about his mother, her journey and the parallels faced by 1st generation migrants and their children in a new continent. Each song on the album is bookmarked by a few words by his mother regarding both her journey and Kojey’s childhood. The voice of his Ghanaian mother acts almost as a pseudo narrator whose own experiences in a roundabout way seems to mirror Kojey’s while the types of adversity and pressures differ; the goal of providing and achieving better stays the same, which many from similar communities can relate to.
Kwame or Kuti
From Brass to Gold - You can’t talk about a Kojey Radical project without having a discussion about blackness in Britain as well as identity. In comparison to any of his previous projects, Kojey gives us the most intimate understanding of the adversity and the journey of self-love he has gone through. From having to be a role model to embedding pro blackness into everything he does such as “should I drop on black pound day” or that his material showboating is a result of the pain and inherent trauma of “whips and chains”. Kojey doesn’t just offer throwaway bars about blackness, he keeps the conversation going throughout the album relating his own experience of feeling like he had to ball out with those ancestral traumas.
Gangasta
Kojey finishes the album off with a catchy single summarizing the album and discussing the wildness of the music world and the successes he has experienced; and how his mum's words and voice kept him going and pushed him to be “the golden child.” If one thing can be taken from this album it’s that there's “rice at home.” A term meant to mean you don’t need to spend frivolously to satisfy your urges as there is a simple filling meal at home. If this album left me with one thing it would be that no matter the adversities and tribulations Kojey has gone through successes or otherwise, home is always where it’s at and that comfort and simplicity will always keep you full, grounded and at your best.