Zoey Dollaz - Port-Au-Prince Review

“Blow a Check” became a breakout moment for Dade County’s own Zoey Dollaz who has found himself a comfortable home over at Future’s FreeBandz imprint under Epic Records. Real name Elvis Millord, he once told Vibe in an interview that he wanted to be the new voice for Miami. The lane is open enough considering the area hasn’t had a rapper with significant buzz since Ace Hood. Last year’s Who Don’t Like Dollaz got lost in the sauce of the current crowded crop of digital releases, but managed to place him in the ears of some tastemakers. For his follow-up Port-Au-Prince, he reveals an impressive amount of versatility despite sounding like a by-the-numbers project full of Southern Hip Hop cliches.

Mixtape opener “For My People” transitions from a standard anthemic opener to something more, surprisingly. Mid-way, Dollaz displays his phenomenal ability to rhyme in Creole. Too bad, those types of moments don’t appear throughout the remainder of Port-Au-Prince. Yes, being a FreeBandz solider means that Future shows up a few times on phoned-in tracks “Taxi” and “Hold Down The Set.” Most of the guest appearances from K-Camp and Lil Durk to Casey Veggies are uninspired.

However, “Ima Zoe” featuring Trump and Bruno Mali is a caribbean-tinged cut with some poignantly introspective rhymes from Dollaz about his Haitian heritage. “We the first black people to get our freedom / and let these muthafuckas know that we don’t really need em,” he rhymes on a track that could have listeners wishing for more of that than attempts at current rap standards. Even Jahlil Beats’ can’t help Dollaz turn the hypnotic piano loops of “Couches” into a powerful club banger. The gunplay is redundant on “Shoot Em Up Shit,” Brianna Perry can’t add anything to the “for the ladies” track “Fuck With U” and braggadocious luxury raps have been done better before on “100.”

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By Port-Au-Prince’s closer “Thank You” rolls around, one is faced with a standard sounding project with some interesting touches that don’t do enough in making the project sound any different than anything populating Top 40 rap radio stations.