With NO RAP ON SUNDAY, Kota The Friend has no time for the haters – only for peace, family and damn good hip-hop
Evan Dale | August 1, 2025
Through an always laid-back, yet ever deft and occasionally searing Brookly accent, Kota the Friend expends a lot of effort on his latest album addressing his haters. And for good reason – the project is an indelible rebound that takes a number of successful yet unexpected twists and turns. I’ll be the first to raise my hand an admit that my reaction to his 2024 project, Once in a Blue Moon, was a little harsh. I expected more. And therefore I’ll raise my hand again and admit that NO RAP ON SUNDAY exceeds expectations.
Whether or not it was a more choosy approach to crafting this collection or simply a return to form, NO RAP ON SUNDAY is the lyrically sharp, texturally deep, narratively thoughtful kind of project that has occasionally – over the course of a half-decade – flashed Kota as one of the most uniquely necessary rappers around. 2019’s FOTO shone him in a light as a young up-and-comer that was already poetically ahead of his years and peers. An effortlessness guided the coming-of-age concept – thematically driven by samples of hood comeuppance – towards a balance with its jazz-infused production and emotional depth. 2021’s To Kill a Sunrise – produced by Statik Selektah – emerged as an even deeper exploration of the textural and lyrical depths that Kota was not only willing to explore, but to refine. He sharpened his edges, showing grit and tenacity with his lyricism, expanding his sound in the process, and cementing his signature in the annals of East Coast lore alongside the legendary Boston producer.
But without dissecting the myriad projects that he’s released in the time since, NO RAP ON SUNDAY is of the quality and the lineage of those other two – Kota the Friend’s best two – projects. And for the whole hip-hop landscape – one often mired with trend-driven hype projects that neglect the creation of an artist’s stylistic ubiquity, and one sincerely lacking with lyrical prowess near the top shelf – having Kota back in his bag is impactful.
From the project’s very onset, it’s not only the Brooklyn wordsmith’s poetics that feel more detailed and thought-out than they have in recent years. The leaps forward also come with his production. Layers of hometown, often family derived samples help bridge a narrative throughout, while an expected jazz nuance reinforces a signature sound that has always defined his beatscape – even when the projects at large didn’t quite live up to the standards Kota had set by way of his masterpieces. But here, those nuances run deeper and are more thoughtfully arranged to tell the story alongside his largely unparalleled lyricism. It’s one thing to be a great rapper, but it’s another entirely to tell a cohesive story that spans tracks. NO RAP ON SUNDAY is an encompassing journey of self-assured, at times hard-hitting storytelling requiring of its protagonist a deep focus on the end result.
Really, the album is not lacking in any capacity. Rather, it exceeds not only Kota’s recent catalogue, but most of the rap game’s at times lackluster output over the past couple years. It’s not to say there haven’t been good projects around the scene – even the occasional masterpiece – but one that is lyrically-driven, conceptually airtight, emotionally sharp, produced to the nines, and hard-hitting? Those have always been hard to come by. Kota at his best has delivered that at least three times in his career, and there’s a case to be made that NO RAP ON SUNDAY is his best work to date.
Triumphant brass opens the door for a listener at the album’s titular intro before a head-nodding bassline kicks in. Without wasting any time, Kota the Friend dives into a familiar flow. And yet, it feels elevated. Sharpened and intentional, his every word for the next forty minutes not only helps push his own boundaries and escape the trap of repeating what he knows has worked so well – something that has caught him in monotony with recent releases. His every word also aids in the immersion of a listener in a larger storytelling perpetually in orbit of family, peace, self-sufficiency, and a nonchalant dismissal of just about anything else that isn’t in service of those spaces.
NO RAP ON SUNDAY is a rap project thematically entrenched in the idea that Kota the Friend’s mother doesn’t want the house filled with rap music on the lord’s day. Clever enough. But it’s not the cheekiness of the interplay between that notion and the reality of the album’s stylistic direction that drives the story. Rather, it’s Kota and his family’s Sunday traditions and the meaning of intentional time spent with loved ones that delineates the album’s scope. Through that lens, every track feels cohesive, every rhyme serves its purpose. And yet, there’s still more to it.
From track to track, Kota the Friend is doing something more than a concept album. He’s expanding his own stylistic reaches, often away from the nice-guy persona towards something a little edgier. Many moments refuse to pull their punches. Take HELLO where Kota is taking on the haters head-on. Without feeling overtly cheesy, he – and his daughter – gas up their own tank while shooing off anyone (surely myself included) that is ever in service of letting the air out of their tires. Take 5 Percenters where he lyrically cascades through opps, bots, snakes, and fakes, not only searing at the negative comments, but staking his claim as an omnipresence in rap’s upper echelon. Take MICHIGAN where he and Big Sean’s braggadocio hits hard, and where their gripes feel personal. Take Us vs Everybody– the title of which speaks for itself.
But it’s not all grievance and flexing. PNW gives Kota his slowed, romantic track – a recipe that has found its way onto almost every one of his projects to date. It’s A Good Life is a mellow yet poetically entrenched cut that feels as uplifting as it does inspiring. And Cozy Girls – highlighted by a verse from Liana Banks – is a girl-power anthem. Whichever directional changes he takes – all in service of his larger thematic concept – make NO RAP ON SUNDAY one of his – and one of the modern rapscape’s – most well-rounded, immersive, and yet often unexpected projects.