You’re Never As Low As You Think

Bas featuring Cozz “Dopamine”

“Dopamine” belongs to a long line of rap songs about willing yourself into a better life, and reasons to accumulate wealth that have nothing to do with cheap glory. Bas’ verses are mostly focused on a sense of responsibility to family and friends, and his eagerness to be generous is inspiring, but also weighed down with expectations. You can hear that weight in the song, and the way how even that gorgeous swell of spacey strings feels like this enormous thing relative to Bas and Cozz’s voices, which seem to rest at the bottom of the music along with the beat. It sounds like triumph just out of reach, and every time the sample comes in it’s like – is he gonna reach out and grab it this time? Or is he gonna wreck himself trying to do it?

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