BLP Kosher – Bars Mitzvah (Album Review)

Gimmick rapper turned underground viral sensation BLP Kosher proves his lyrical prowess on his debut album, with the potential to be more than a one-trick pony.

If you told me before BLP Kosher blew up that a Jewish rapper with two wicks growing out of his head from Florida would be one of the most exciting talents coming out of rap’s underground scene, I’d think you had been drinking Florida’s water.

But no, BLP Kosher is here, and this album proves that, at least for the moment, he’s here to stay. Similarly to Babytron and ShittyBoyz, BLP favours calculated wordplay and grittier, less melodic production and have carved out his own style through doing so.

For fans of rap that are focused on lyricism and flow, Bars Mitzvah is filled with double entendres and metaphors from front to back.

The hooks on the album are especially impressive; whether it be the rhythm-driven earworm of a hook on the album’s opener “The Nac 3, or the 2000s-inspired emo hook on “Another World”, Kosher doesn’t fail to make songs that are replayable and catchy.

Kosher also has a completely different side to his musicality that is equally unexpected and brilliant. As mentioned before, Kosher takes inspiration from 2000s artists like Avril Lavigne and Fallout Boy and creates a mesmerising junction between melodic trap and emo music.

It’s no secret that Kosher is an avid skater, and some of his musical inspirations definitely show that off in this project.

However, something that becomes obvious about the album after a couple of listens is its repetitive tracklisting, which honestly doesn’t do it any favours. From “Cheese Touch” to “Quite Frankly” (7 tracks), the album can become quite tedious to listen to, especially after the thrill of listening out for clever bars wears off.

Kosher, albeit changing his flows, doesn’t really change his style until the back end of the album. Once the veneer of wordplay and lyricism wears off, a lot of the songs just sound really similar to each other, besides a few standout beats like “Fool’s Gold,” produced by BNYX.

Still, Bars Mitsvah knows what it’s supposed to be. It’s one of those albums that is designed to be picked apart and playlisted to your own liking, with the option to listen to it in full if you want to.

Score/Good: I think Kosher might’ve blown a lot of people’s expectations out of the water with this one. He has an amazing sense of wordplay and rhythm and just might be one of the best technical rhymers in rap right now, which feels crazy to say as it feels like he just started out as a gimmick, Kosher proves that label to be wrong.

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