At first blush, "Cocky" is a fairly typical DJ Paul track: brittle, electric beats sapped of melody and the complete absence of suaveness or subtlety; a hook that barely qualifies as a double entendre for something sexual, violent and/or drug-related; lots of shouting and aggro energy. Then, halfway through, Paul kicks it up a notch and there's a dubstep drop. OK, not particularly novel, but Paul seems to be the only one on the far side of the generation gap who really seems to get how these drops function, embracing the shredded timbre to channel blood-pumping adrenaline into sound. This is some hyper-masculine rapper shit, like stripper silhouettes painted on mudflaps, making the devil horns motion with your hands, and mean-mugging in the bathroom mirror. Prod. by J-Green. (via DGB)
