The Co-Op

Album Review

DJ Envy and up-and-coming Brooklyn rapper Red Café team up for The Co-Op, a mixtape released by Koch that boasts previously unreleased material, high-quality productions, and a few major guest features. The mixtape is largely a showcase for Red Café, who proves himself a relatively talented rapper, albeit one who lacks fresh subject matter. As talented as Red Café may be, the best songs on The Co-Op are those with major guest features, namely "What It Do" (with Remy Martin), "Dolla Bill" (Fabolous), "Things You Do" (Nina Sky), and "Buck Buck" (Sheek Louch). These highlights are all graced with high-quality productions, as is "What It Be Like" and "Ghetto Children," which also stand out. The Co-Op isn't one of DJ Envy's best releases, particularly because he carries so little of the weight here creatively, but it does serve as a good preview of Red Café, whose major-label debut was on the horizon at the time of this mixtape's release.