Cozz - 50 Percent/God’s Design (Single)

South Central has one of their sharpest pens back in motion. Cozz moves with intent on “50 Percent/God’s Design." He stays focused, with weight and precision tucked into every bar. He’s coming from a place where every verse carries a bit of pressure behind it, and he’s more than ready to carry it.

"50 Percent" starts as though the Dreamville rep just walked up to the mic mid-thought and the engineer just kept the tape rolling. He’s checking temperatures; seeing who’s doing the work and who’s coasting. “Yo shit was pretty...hmm...ass, if you ask me / Yo shit was pretty...ha-ha, laughs, if you ask me” Just a straightforward tone and to-the-bone cutting lines. The beat keeps a tight grip with a finger-picked bass line doing its job while Cozz leans in and calls it how he sees it.

"God’s Design" brings a shift. It's a bit more meditative, but the focus doesn't fade. You get soft electric guitar picking, mellow piano lines, and a few background vocals that barely touch the surface — like someone thinking out loud. Cozz steps into deeper water without making a scene. Lines like “My environment brought me this pain, my pain got me to writin’ / My writin’ brought along Jermaine, he brought a page and I signed it / May have lost faith along the way, but that's how God had designed it...Yes, Lord” don’t sound like punchlines. They sound like undeniable facts being spoken. That’s how Cozz moves through the whole second track: calm like a bomb. And by the time it all comes to an end, there's no doubt that he's proven himself twice over.