Tsu Dot’s ZINNIA

Usually the rapper is living in the fast lane with bravado, fast flows, and quotable punchlines; Tsu Dot slows down in order to show his listeners a new side of himself through his most cohesive project to date.

Photo by Golden Days Yearbook

BY: JOHNNY RUIZ / JULY 16, 2020

HIP-HOP/R&B

If you are unfamiliar with Waldorf/DMV Artist Tsu Dot, now is the time to get acquainted with the rapper, singer and songwriter. Usually known by his listeners as a rapper living in the fast lane chasing a bag with fast flows, bravado, and quotable punchlines; Tsu Dot slows down on ZINNIA to show us a new side of himself and his music.

First and foremost, ZINNIA is a project about vulnerability, infatuation and lastly, about summer love. It takes us into the mind of Tsu Dot, as he begins to come to terms with the infatuation he is feeling for someone. It is significant to note that the project is inspired by the beautiful flower of the same name and its various meanings such as “joyous endurance, happy to bloom in the broiling heat of summer.” The introduction of it places the listener in a state of euphoria as it rolls in a chopped and screwed sample of Tory Lanez’s "D.R.E.A.M." What Tsu Dot aims to do throughout the twenty four minutes of this project is call back to nostalgic Hip-Hop and R&B hits to convey how he feels about this girl. I do appreciate his use of nostalgic records to evoke feelings of young love and youth from his listeners. Following the opener track, "Price of love/Wya", Tsu Dot presents a phone call skit that makes use of the third song’s sample of "Mrs. Officer". It does not detract from the project and feels organic to the story Tsu is telling us. On the third track, "before the bloom", Tsu is confident and spitting game over a softer beat with high hats that feels just right. The Drake influence becomes apparent on "love found", where Tsu raps over a sample of Fancy reminiscent to NWTS era Drake. Tsu Dot continues a similar late-night Drake phone call delivery throughout the remainder of ZINNIA.

Tsu Dot raps and occasionally sings over contemporary R&B hits on ZINNIA similar to the way Tory Lanez uses familiar music to evoke nostalgia on his Chixtapes. Songs like Lil Wayne’s "Mrs. Officer", Plies’ "Shawty", Ella Mai’s "Boo’d Up", and more recent R&B cuts like Mahalia’s "Grateful" can be heard throughout the production of the ten songs on the project. The production on this is not interested in vocoders, autotune, and other vocal embellishments, but instead aims to highlight Tsu Dot’s intimate voice through the minimalism. It is done effectively enough to make his flows, and lyricism accessible to the listener. 

ZINNIA is available to listen to on Soundcloud

FAV TRACKS: Price of love/wya, before the bloom, and I don’t wanna hide

#Indie #Soundcloud #HipHop #Music #Drake