DJ Speedsta’s 120 Ocean View Drive: Almost Doesn’t Count

I find myself a bit puzzled at the relationship between Speedsta and Zooci Coke Dope on the album that largely has Zooloo’s Production. DJ Speedsta lets us know in the intro that the title of the album is the address at which the album was put together, and I assume Zooci was present, but I'm not sure if that necessitates Zooloo's voracious features on almost every song on the album.

The album is the only album of 2025 that has the strongest pulse compared to its counterparts, which seem to perpetuate the notion that “hip hop is dead”.

The opening song features Priddy Ugly and KashCPT and misleads one into thinking the project is conscious, but it’s the only song on the album with the drums and (boom bap) lyrical content of its nature.

The transition into Die Mondez’s “Unidentified” is basic and almost sudden. The song is fast-paced and trappy even after the beat switch, and one's goosebumps are raised after hearing Maglera’s iconic fluit, but the track listing of this song feels dry and tasteless 

Track 3 is not a smooth transition either, as Maglera is the last thing before you hear a Spanish guitar sample ridden by 25K, whose verse feels a bit lazy. Not bad, but could be better. The song is picked up by everyone’s favourite Mfana Ohlaza in the hook that leads you to NeyTheBae’s interesting but lyrically empty verse. Ney is one of many popular female rappers who must acknowledge how desirable her body is, but the vain lyrics can be excused by the decent flow she brings to the song.

Flow Jones Jr raps through his teeth in “SLiDE” while King Jillz ironically has the better flow in the song. The track is underwhelming; it’s nothing you haven't heard before, and it does nothing to elevate the quality of the album.

On to one of the hottest hip hop songs to drop in South Africa in 2025; “ViOLATE”

The song has everyone’s favourite tag team, Usimamane and Tony Dayimane, with Zooci’s verse existing solely to make Usimamane sound like J.Cole by comparison, and this brings me to Zooci’s penmanship on this album. I read a comment on YouTube that said “this is a Zooci Coke Dope album that Speedsta bought for himself”, and though there’s probably little truth in that, I can’t help but ask why Zooloo had such prominent airtime. I mean Zooci is one of the most important producers we’ve had in the last 10 years, and he has the rare ability to conceptualise sonic landscapes that most producers can’t, but his songwriting is rudimentary. There are very few quotable Zooci Coke Dope lyrics, and I have never heard any of them, so what obliged Speedsta to let Zooci practice his Grade 10 raps on his album? Perhaps this was truly a Zooci album after all. Overall, “ViOLATE” is a hard-hitting, bar-filled track that I wish more rappers would aspire to emulate.

Flvme makes a comeback from a lengthy hiatus on the R&B-inspired “TAKE iT EASY” and I was impressed to learn how well his melodies blend with K.Keed’s, but I don’t believe Frank Casino was a good fit for this song, as we all know Frank Casino does not necessarily possess the kind of voice that serenades.

It’s always good to hear from Rowlene and her hook on “COME RiGHT BACK” is among the catchiest on the album, but Tyson Sabateli’s verse, while decent, doesn’t feel like it belongs. Imagine a V-Class with steelies, just doesn’t feel right, does it?

On to the single song that convinced me to write this review in the first place, “A2” with Zooci and Aubrey Qwana. Once more, I am critical of Zooloo’s songwriting, but his vocal performance fits perfectly with the beat, though I’m not sure why he bothered singing (at the end of his verse, so much so that he drowned it in Autotune) when Aubrey Qwana is literally in the next verse, as in he could have left the singing to the professionals. With that said, Qwana’s intro will have you wishing you could hear it for the first time. The same goes for the dubstep-inspired beat, which reminds me of Nasty C’s “Asleep” off of his debut album “Bad Hair”.

“My Way” is a 3-step dance track featuring Blxckie & Vsinare. which in my opinion is Speedsta’s YFM Quota song (as in this is the song that solely exists to “shake up the waves” on YFM) for it wastes Blxckie’s unique vocal range and versatility on a familiar beat and ill-fitting feature from Vsinare. The two have little chemistry, and the beat struggles to decide what it wants to be as it has both a saxophone and a log drum. The Blxckie feature could have been better utilised.

“Pardon My French” once more tests my endurance of Zooci Coke Dope’s attempt at being a lyricist, and Lucasraps adds salt to injury with a clunky flow and underwhelming bars. The only redeeming factor is the production of the track, but it is sadly the last song on the album, and I am left feeling like this album had the right ingredients but jumbled the steps in the recipe. What then follows is a cake that is almost nice but almost doesn’t count.