This rapper's music genuinely hits home for me in every single way. The talented and bar heavy rapper Cruz Ocho heralds out of my hometown Aurora, IL. Previously only known as one half of the rap duo Highest Low, featuring fellow Chicagoland rapper Just Wise. Cruz Ocho decided to share a solo work of art and he absolutely blew me away. 94 Tape is the new project from Cruz that features eight slick cuts of Cruz flowing over classic sounding boom bap rap. Listening to this project you'll hear some very conscious bars from Cruz and an immense amount of symbolism. He raps about his own come up, the legacy he wants to leave in rap, learning to love himself and much more. From the first listen I knew I would genuinely love Cruzs' music because of how in tune he is with himself and the times outside of music. My favorite track "Everything Is Fine", which has a music video I'll link below, is basically the short summary of all of our lives the past eighteen months. Cruz Ocho raps about how humanity has lost touch with humanity. Through these hard times we have lost ourselves but still continue to say everything is fine and that we as individuals are doing well. In the video, Cruz Ocho is wearing a mask with a smiley face which was such a simple but genius idea. The intense intro track "Biscuit" is Cruz Ocho approaching the hip-hop throne and delivering a deadly lyrical barrage. He surely is here to stay in this game saying, "Wassup they call me Ocho / Figure eight infinite". Throughout the project and most notably on "Biscuit", Cruz Ocho's flows and cadences are Nas-like. "True Excellence" is Cruz Ocho flexing his intelligence and toying around with clever punchlines over a piano driven instrumental. "Raw 94" is a tough posse cut that features Moecyrus and Just Wise flowing over a grimy beat. The triumphant outro "Life Is Good" is Cruz Ocho displaying how grateful he is for the gift of life despite the negatives that happen along the journey. I won't give away everything about the project, I will just tell y'all to give it a listen because you won't regret it at all. I can tell that Cruz Ocho loves the music that he makes and that only makes me appreciate the tunes much more. I HIGHLY recommend that y'all get in tune with Cruz Ocho and run up 94 Tape!
Connect with Cruz Ocho and stream 94 Tape below!
Cruz Ocho: https://linktr.ee/cruzocho
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