Kutthroat Bill: Vol. 1

If in 2022 one were to create a scouting report assessing the talents of South Florida hero Kodak Black, it needn’t be more than a single, incredulous line: This guy does not miss. Young Kodak’s *Kutthroat Bill: Vol. 1* comes to fans in the midst of a seemingly endless run of wins, including multiple appearances on Kendrick Lamar’s *Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers*, scene-stealing guest spots on tracks from DJ Khaled (“IT AIN’T SAFE”) and King Combs (“Can’t Stop Won’t Stop”), and the extended shelf life of his own album *Back for Everything* and the chart-topping “Super Gremlin” single that preceded it. And it all seems to come so easy to him. The large majority of the verses on *Kutthroat Bill: Vol. 1* sound freestyled in the purest sense, Kodak bounding line by line from topic to topic, piloting a Magic School Bus of sorts through the dark and sometimes confounding corners of his brain. There are, of course, recurring themes like betrayal (“300 Blackout”), his love life (“Starter Kit,” “Kutthroat Barbie”), and, most frequently, the unimpeachable pedigree of his gangsta (“Slay Like Santa,” “If You Ever,” “Demand My Respect,” “Hop Out Shoot,” “Silencer”), but there’s usually no telling where any particular verse or even line will lead. What you can depend on, though, is a masterful reframing of even the most rote street life themes, like on “Freezing My Pinky”—a song that’s barely about jewelry at all—when he tells us, “My iPhone recognize me with my ski mask, I’m a whole nother goon.”

1, the fifth studio album from Kodak Black, finds the Florida rapper delivering more of the same Auto-Tuned, loose-jawed bars about the typical highs and lows of his lifestyle, while occasionally dipping into serious content related to his prison sentence ("Walk" is a standout).