2016 has been one heck of a year for rap and hip-hop, and A$AP Mob’s Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends bookends the catalog perfectly. Cozy Tapes marks the fruition of everything the Mob failed to capture on their first release, Lords Never 
Worry, a shoddy mixtape and even worse intro for the Harlem-based rap group. If it hadn’t been for the successes of the A$AP name, primarily contributed to Rocky and Ferg, Cozy Tapes may never have been imagined, nevertheless, it found itself exploding onto the scene, pulsing with an energy fueled by typical themes of fame, money, and bravado. However, what makes this album unique is that it salutes itself to one of A$AP Mob’s founders, A$AP Yams, who tragically passed away at the young age of 26 in early 2015.
“Yamborghini High” kicks off Cozy Tapes with an homage to Yams, capturing the euphoric nature of being incredibly loaded and comparing it to the Mob’s flamboyant lifestyles. Yams is mentioned several times throughout the album, but by no means does Cozy Tapes serve as a sentimental reverence. In “Crazy Brazy” A$AP Rocky shares the spotlight with Key!, challenging adversaries in typical rap fashion with a mess-with-us-and-die attitude. “Don’t be talking to me crazy,” Rocky warns, but regardless the message, “Crazy Brazy” gets down and hard. The whole album does. And with featured artists like Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J, and Tyler, The Creator appearing here and there, A$AP Mob gains a new respect as recognized talents not just riding the coat-tails of Rocky, despite his prominent presence on the album. In fact, Cozy Tapes represents A$AP Mob exactly as it should. The group has entered the rap game towing several MC’s, similar to Wu-Tang Clan, another group of New York OG’s. However, the Mob is definitely less socio-analytical than Wu-Tang, focusing more on fashion and fame, but any basic fan of the genre should be able to pick up and listen easily. Cozy Tapes deserves to be played, and I would recommend it to anybody trying to turn up a party.
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