As far as independent rappers go, Brooklyn’s Kota The Friend has been having a decent year, all things considered. His May album Everything was well-received, thanks to features from Bas, Kyle, Joey Badass, and Tobi Lou, while his “Trade Places With Them Jeans” freestyle with Guapdad 4000 capped off the latter’s Falcon Fridays series and helped raise both raise their respective profiles among fans with way more time for music discovery on their hands due to the economic shutdown caused by COVID0-19. Kota also celebrated an improved credit score; it may seem simple, but for a rapper working without the backing of a major label, it means a lot.
But time marches on and it’s apparently time for Kota to get right back to work. To that end, he’s returned to releasing music shortly after his 27th birthday with the release of “Dragon,” a spirited single in the same vein as his Lyrics To Go projects. Over a mellow beat, Kota imagines giving advice to his younger self, saying, “If I could go back, I would say to him / ‘Just focus on your spirit and you’ll make it, kid / And do right by the women that you make it with.’”
Kota didn’t say whether “Dragon” would be part of a larger release but he rarely does anything without a plan, so it’s probably a safe bet that more new music is on the way.
Listen to “Dragon” above.