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. [A clean version of the CD was also released.] ~ Jason Birchmeier