"It Came From The Clouds"
Harlem's current most prolific son, Smoke DZA emerges from the cloud with another solid project that closes out 2022 and sets the pace for 2023. Money For Dummies is the first music project from The Smokers Club, his newly formed record label collaboration with Johnny Shipes and Bubz. Johnny Shipes laid out the inspiration behind The Smokers Club on an Instagram post.
He wrote, “Earlier this year Me, DZA & Bubz sat down & mapped out the next phases & goals of The Smokers Club. When we took a step back & looked at how we started the Club & what influenced us since the beginning, it always came back to Great Music & Smoking Great Weed."
The Smokers Club Producers have laid out a stellar soundscape for Smoke DZA to apply his hazy rhyming abilities. Money For Dummies starts with "Box OTW," a cinematic instrumental, complete with soulful wailing. Smoke DZA goes in with one of the most effortless sounding flows in rap, conjuring images of underworld exploits, and cautionary advice to any would be competition.
"Put a tracker on your truck, hit your teepee / really hit you where it hurt, do you greasy dog / old Giant running through the pack like Tiki / I'm just trying to stay alive like the Bee Gees y'all"
A lot of rappers let the track dictate how they sound on it but DZA maintains his essence no matter the track's style or tempo. It's pretty fun to listen to, he's never hurried, never sounds robotic, and never fails at sounding as smooth as possible on any song. Smoke DZA teams up with another legend of Hip Hop haziness, Curren$y, on "Park Bench Blues." It's not the first time these two have worked together. Over a sparsely paced, melodic beat, they verbally pass the blunt back and forth. Smoke DZA lays more of his personal philosophy out.
"I got a license for these dope sales, yeah, catchin' packages like Odell / yeah, you know I gotta treat my folks well / when it's all over they gon' speak of me in folk tales".
I love the sound that we get on "Only Care In The World." The mellow, slow drum loop is determined to starve us with drum elements, but a blissful soul sample from The Montclairs holds it all together. Smoke DZA glides over this kind of production and does his thing.
"Take it back, when the teacher told you niggas keep your eyes on your own paper / multi-millionaire I'm on pace to / being straight for the rest of my life, family no chaser / the bullshit, I'm World Peace, you got the wrong Pacer"
Coming 10 tracks deep, Money For Dummies is another in a long line of solid project's from one of Harlem's finest. I have not doubt that we'll get at least 3 more projects in 2023 from the self proclaimed "studio rat."
Released: December 30, 2022
Words by: Monk