REVIEW – K Koke – Pure Koke 3

Coming back with another banger of a mixtape is K Koke adding to thePure Koke collection with Pure Koke Volume 3 – The Missing Tape. There has been nothing but improvement in Koke’s career sincePure Koke 1 and Pure Koke 2;the London-based rapper dropped the mixtape for his Twitter fans as one half of the #KOKESURPRISE as he called it – the other half of the surprise was one of the tracks on the mixtape, namedWarning.

Listeners are offered a variety of different tracks onPure Koke 3, you have the likes of the songs for the roads like Peak and I’ll Never but on the other hand Koke’s approach changes in other songs such asDestiny and Way To Go (featuring Krayzie Bone). Koke comes in with over seas collaborations such asMusic in my Veins (featuring CID YOUSSEF), and Toronto to UK (featuring Gangis Khan and King Dappz). Koke has dropped a few freestyles on the mixtape, one of which,Melody Freestyle, features his fellow rap team USG. Koke’s recognition originally came about from his mixtapes with USG such asBest of USG and Unfortunate Souls Grieve – both are must listens!

Koke has recently been released from jail and it is clear that whilst locked up he spent his time on music. One of the songs featured onPure Koke 3 is I’m Back which he released shortly after he got out of jail. In this track he gives a mention to his labelRoc Nation when he drops the line ‘And I’m stable cos the labels got your dawgs back’, inferring that he is strongly backed by Roc Nation, and he obviously believes in himself as an artist by saying ‘I came so far’ and ‘I’m the man of the year and I’ve been gone for months’. With Koke’s determination and the backing of his team and Roc Nation he is set to make big waves in the music industry.

One of the best features of the mixtape is the variety of messages on certain tracks.Music in my veins allows us to delve into Koke’s thoughts about music: ‘music to my ears, through to my brain, mixes with my blood then travels through my veins, down through my arm onto the page, you know its from the heart when I say, I got music in my veins’. In these few lines Koke is saying that music is in his blood and without music he would be nothing. Koke tells us inI’ll Never how he would never turn on his friends and snitch; in this track he also expresses his hate for former friend Spyder who turned supergrass a few years ago.Cold Roads, the deepest track on the mixtape, allows listeners to hear about times when Koke had no one to help him: ‘Look around and nobody’s there, times I really needed help, nobody’s here, nowIi rely on nobody I swear’. This track is reminiscent of Snippet of my Life found on Pure Koke 2; the kind of deepness that when you listen to it, it draws you in and makes you feel like your there with him.

In his own words Pure Koke 3 is the ‘calm before the storm’, the storm being his albumI Ain’t Perfect which is due to be released in January, which I’m sure will be as good as – possibly even better than –Pure Koke 3.

Download Pure Koke Volume 3 here

Author: @ConnerDocherty