My man Reef The Lost Cauze is quite easily one of the best rappers in Philly. Dude is just a pro. His delivery is really flawless; technically and rhythmically, he often does some fairly interesting stuff; conceptually, he’s pretty forward thinking and isn’t afraid to take some chances; and even though dude can freestyle his ass off, he’s one of the few rappers I’ve ever known that can really translate that freestyle ability into solid written work as well. Dude also just knows how to make really good, cohesive songs: an art that is completely lost on the crops of young rappers in Philly that kill the DVD circuit but sound horrible on record. The one thing I love about working with Reef is that he’s never disappointed me on any of my beats. A lot of times when I’ve given beats to rappers, they give me back a finished song that I have to pretend to like and compromise my vision of the song. But that doesn’t happen with Reef. I give him a beat, and he rips it. It’s unfortunate that we don’t work more together (and hopefully we will in the future), but these 5 songs below are some classic ish that I’m proud to say I’ve done with him.

I still fairly frequently play “Look at the Sun” in the club and Reef’s interplay with the hook is really well done. His verses are hilarious and clever as eff, and I like that he toned down the aggression of his flow to just ride this beat. “This Is My Life” is a great introspective song where Reef tells the engaging story of his life and burgeoning rap career. I’m really happy with the beat and Reef plays with the many changes in the beat really well. You can tell that he wrote really closely with the beat and didn’t just throw some old lyrics on top of a track. I love the beat on “Intro” and Reef murders it. He sounds so good on the piano. I wish “The Puzzle” was mixed better because I think the song would bang in the clubs. “Main Event” is just a good ol’ fashion “I WILL KILL YOU WITH RAPPINGS” song. Anyway, he recently put out a really solid mixtape and we’re currently in talks about doing some more stuff in the future. Here’s to hoping we both find the time to make it happen!

Also, dude is like my favorite drinking partner ever.

Reef “Look at the Sun” (Produced by Emynd):
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