If you’ve been paying attention to hip hop’s landscape, New Jersey is aiming to reclaim its prominence in the mainstream.
Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature, Rah Digga and Redman are the usual suspects when naming the greatest that come out of the Garden State in the 90s and early 2000s.
Amid the euphoria from the past, NJ hip hop is in good hands with the surge of a new crop of talent.
Think we’re lying? Guess you’re not familiar with Kazzie. The lyricist and word splitter gained his buzz when he jumped in the booth with Wacka Flocka and appeared on his We Don’t F With That.
A Newark, NJ native, Kazzie grew up on Brick City’s 19th street. That street also produced the likes of Redman. As a result, Kaz grew up seeing Red, Meth and Erick Sermon battling on the block and it was there that he realized that he wanted to do the same. He wants to be great and he carries his city with him. “My family and my city inspire me,” he said.
And his content reflects that. “What makes me different is that there is not a lot of people telling their story; their real story and telling what people honestly want to hear,” he said.”There’s not a lot of people being real right now,it’s just a lot of talking about stuff that doesn’t matter at this point. There’s not a lot of people talking about the struggle and the things going on in these cities that people want to hear about.
At 20 years old, Kazzie is genuinely an old soul. Most folks in his age bracket would claim to grow up listening to Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, 50 Cent and more. Not him. He was a huge fan of Big L. “At his age and the things he was going through and the city that he was from, he was one of the most creative,” said Kazzie. “He was able to manipulate his flow.”
Speaking of manipulating flow and grabbing attention, another New Jersey native by the name of Fetty Wap is killing the game with smash hit after smash hit. Both he and Kazzie are actually cousins. Fetty is impressed on what Kazzie is able to do. “Kazzie is Family,” said Fetty Wap. “He’s another hard working artist from New Jersey. We’re from the same state doing the same thing.”
Any advice for the young lad, Kazzie, Mr. Wap? “Just keep grinding and staying true to his music,” he said.
The Two Collaborated On A Track Called Rodeo.
