Steve 'Flash' JuonCash Cobain is to date known as an artist/producer who does cameo appearances for other people. For example — the last time Cobain crossed my path was on a Don Toliver song called “Attitude.” A lot of the time his work is literally in the background, but when he does pop up on a track, he brings a familiar sing song AutoTune pitch corrected vibe to the proceedings. If I were to name one thing he does vocally that’s distinctive it’s that he tends to spit bars quickly, but even that is a stretch since there are plenty of emo, drill and trap rappers who spray rapid fire couplets. Perhaps “Dunk Contest” off his debut studio album “Play Cash Cobain” can provide more perspective on who he is.
“Jayda, you know I would never play ya
Can I put you on my face, love?
I want your pussy now, and want it later like
Kayla, got a body like you Wayda
Can I put you on my face, love?
That pussy creamy call you mash potatoes”
For me this sounds like the 2024 version of Biggie’s “Just Playing (Dreams)” but the names are influencers. He talks about Niyah and Zari and Jayda and I’m thinking “I see what you’re doing there Mr. Cobain” but then again it could all be entirely coincidental. Either way he’s certainly frank about his sexual fantasies, and to give him some credit he’s also talking about pleasing these women instead of being all take and no give. It does get pretty graphic at times. Maybe not “Talk Like Sex” levels of perversion, but he does say he wants one lady to “suck it sloppy (and) make it spitty.” Aight then.
“Baby, I wanna go/Watch out, I put my dick in your throat/I gave you this dick but you thought it was a joke/Ay! I gave her some dick now the ho don’t want no smoke.” So “Dunk Contest” was not a one off then. “Act Like” is the second straight single/video where all Cash Cobain is thinking about is sex. On the one hand he offers to “eat on that pussy with ice” but when he follows with a promise to “beat on that pussy like Ike“ I’d rather he didn’t. Why is somebody under 30 talking about Ike Turner anyway, and why do rappers continue to glorify his abuse by using it as a punchline? Yeah I know Biggie said “beating motherfuckers like Ike beat Tina” in a song, so that’s twice Christopher Wallace came up in this review, but not everybody was cool with him saying that shit back then either.
“Pussy taste like rum punch/All it took was one touch, knockout, one punch/Eat it up for lunch, lunch, might give her a son, son/I just made her cum twice, you ain’t make her cum once.” Once was a one off, twice was a coincidence, but three times now is an established pattern. “Rump Punch” tells me that for Cash Cobain he dreams about sex all day. I looked long and hard (no pun intended) on “Play Cash Cobain” for one song that wasn’t about his sexual desires and fantasies and failed. On “All I Wanna Hear” he says “I’m hitting it raw, I’m hitting it rare/I’m not pulling it out, I’m leaving it there.” On “Luv It” Cobain says “I got something for ya/Nah, do you want it now?/Tell me when to stop.” On “Wassup Wya” he says “All these bitches salty, but I know your pussy sweet/and I’m tryin to be in your mouth just like some Listerine.” Are you getting the idea here?
This leaves me a little ambivalent about Mr. Cobain. I’m glad he found a lane, stuck to it, and rode the hell out of it until he had to go to the clinic for a shot. On the other hand “Play Cash Cobain” is nearly one straight hour of listening to another dude read me the letters he wrote to Playboy. I prefer that to a rapper bragging about how many people they’ve killed, but an hour straight of either one with no variance is monotonous. He’s a solid producer, and while pitch corrected rap singing isn’t my favorite thing, he’s better than average at that too. My problem is that I enjoy hearing about his escapades in isolation, but this is a whole-ass movie and I was ready to walk out halfway through.