Review Summary: Tusche Costa – an up-and-coming rapper from the United Kingdom – seamlessly delivers witty, spiritual, and meaningful lyrics over unbelievable productions with unique samples in this gem of a mixtape.
Rap is much like football, it’s an American thing. Rap is almost strictly limited to the United States. But, the non-conformism of international rap – though not widely preferred – is interesting. The United Kingdom has always bore the majority of international rappers. Now there is a rapper with a unique name and a unique style to match to come out of the UK. Birmingham native Tusche Costa presents Crucifix, and it wows.
Tusche Costa proves himself to be socially aware, culturally foreboding, morally upstanding, and religiously inquisitive. He references the crisis in Ethiopia, warns listeners about life on the streets, talks about loving a woman, and frequently ponders God and religion. The rhymes Tusche Costa spits are so witty and they speak on such deep subjects. On top of that, he is very literate and doesn’t speak in an ebonic accent. Sometimes you would think he was an Oxford scholar, not a rapper. A perfect example of this is on Verses, “I was born to spit raw ***, ridiculous/And flames burn like Icarus.” Who says rap can’t be educational? Icarus was the son of Daedalus who tried to escape Crete by flight by using wings made out of feathers and wax. Icarus flew so high, the wax was melted by the sun and he fell to his death. That’s a perfect example of how Tusche Costa transfers his intelligence into a nice, little rhyme.
The productions Tusche Costa uses are rather remarkable. Unheard of producers – Beatbusta, E Dot Spencer, Vakashi Sensei, Danari, and Urban Monk – compose most of the instrumentals on the mixtape. A lot of sampling occurs in the mixtape, and it is quite great throughout. For example, in Crucifix, Hello Goodbye by The Beatles – the “You say yes I say no/You say stop I say go, go, go.” Song - is sampled. The style most resembles east coast beats. From Wu-Tang sounding beats (2009 freestyle) to Nas-sounding beats (Hip-Hop Pilgrim) to Jay-Z sounding beats (Sexy Women) to B.I.G.-sounding beats (All We Have) the production sounds strictly east coast.
Tusche Costa’s style can best be described as two-thirds east coast, one-third alternative. As I previously mentioned, his beats are east coast and he is a remarkable lyricist. But, Tusche Costa constantly ebbs away from typical rap subjects (money, sex, violence, and drugs) And in fact, is somewhat of an anti-rapper. He talks about poverty, love, peace and warns listeners of life on the streets. He glorifies life as a respectable citizen, and denounces thug mannerisms. If Tusche Costa was to garner mainstream attention, he could revolutionize rap in a way that actually appeals to the ear (you hear that Common?)
But, to be honest, Tusche Costa will probably never garner significant attention to make waves. But that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying this excellent mixtape. As Nick Butler once said, “UK hip hop just ARRIVED, son.” Now, UK hip hop just left with a stripper. Let’s see what happens next.
