Mixtape Review: Zoey Dollaz – ‘Last Year Being Humble’
By Yuriy Andriyashchuk
Hip-HopVibe.com Staff Writer
Miami and Free Bandz rapper Zoey Dollaz is back with his first project of 2019 with “Last Year Being Humble.” Zoey was very consistent in 2018 as well with his “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Who Don’t Like Dollaz 2” mixtapes. He originally stormed onto the scene at the end of 2015 with the release of his smash hit “Blow A Check” which soon earned a remix with Diddy and French Montana.
On Last Year Being Humble, Zoey shows the most growth he’s experienced as an artist over the last three years. The project contains nine tracks with huge features from Future, Gunna, Gashi, and Ink. Production was handled by Stonii, Project X, KeepItZ3N, Smash David, ATL Jacob, Foreign, Teck, Wallis Lane, 30 Rock, Zomie On The Track, Jetson, and Khendrix.
Zoey begins the project with “My Time” feat. Gashi. He details his beginnings such as growing up with his mom immigrating to America to have a better life along with himself describing his journey in the music industry so far. These include his success and adversities. He also reminisces on the times that he had to wait hours for his songs to get played by DJs in the clubs and how he questioned if they’d ever be heard. Regardless, he continued to perfect his craft and grind.
Zoey comes through on “Work 2 Hard” harmonizing and is all grind mode. He doesn’t let anyone downplay his success while at the same time, being ready for whoever’s hating on him. He’s also vents about having trust issues whether it’s with friends or relationships, something a lot of us can relate to.
Zoey and Future have collaborated plenty of times such as on ‘Taxi‘ and ‘Hold Down The Set‘ on Zoey’s 2016 ‘Port Au Prince‘ mixtape along with “One Of One” and on the “Bad Tings” remix off of Zoey’s 2017’s ‘Map Boule‘ mixtape. The two didn’t disappoint either on Last Year Being Humble’s ‘Devil In The Bed.’ Zoey and Future both shake their feelings and demons off when it comes to trusting their circle and also the women they mess with. This record should definitely be viewed as top three off of this project.
On ‘Highway Full of Pain,’ Zoey got very personal about his life lately. He goes in depth about the depression and pain he’s been going through which results in him resorting to drug use but at the same time, grinding for the ones he loves such as his new children. A lot of us feel pain emotionally on a daily basis and Zoey shows that no matter what success you see, none of us are invincible to these emotions as we have to keep fighting. This was the leading single off of Last Year Being Humble and it should be regarded as one of Zoey’s best records to date.
Zoey created a solid summer vibe in 2015 with ‘Pool Party’ featuring Jim Jones and he delivered another one on this mixtape with ‘Miami’ featuring Ink. Zoey pays tribute to his hometown as Ink also celebrates on the hook all that Miami has to offer such as the city’s famous clubs, beaches, stores, and views from the city.
Zombie On The Track provided one of the hardest-hitting beats on this project on ‘Big Plays.’ It just flat out puts you in the mood to make some money and rack up wins. Big Plays will be viewed as one of the most underrated records on Last Year Being Humble.
Betrayal is far too common in life and Zoey spoke for the people accurately on ‘My Dawg.’ He sees how flawed people that you allow into your life can be while ignoring the signs along the way. He spoke facts on this song and provided another relatable track.
Zoey closes out Last Year Being Humble with ‘My Weakness‘ and continues to vent on keeping his guard up all while reminiscing on the ones who didn’t show him love when he didn’t have much but that all changing once he got on. He continues to show his versatility as an artist on My Weakness and provides a good vibe to close out what should be viewed as his best project since he took off in 2016.
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