Casey Veggies dropped his first mixtape in 2007 when he was 14. He was a founding member of Odd Future and then left to work with fellow Los Angeles native YG. He signed a major record deal with Epic Records, released his debut album Live & Grow, and quietly disappeared.

As we recently learned in a telling interview with DJ Booth, Veggies didn’t disappear but rather was at war with his record label, Epic Records. Veggies believed that the label didn’t believe in him as an artist and only wanted hits. “They had me waiting a little too long to drop music, and from them telling me they want this type of records, them telling me “We want hits,” we kind of hit a wall. It’s like, y’all want one thing, but y’all not necessarily helping me get that.”

Fast forward four years and countless piles of paperwork later and Casey Veggies is back with his most personal offering to date, a tape called Organic which was released independently free from the ropes that Record labels had used to tie him down.

Veggies released three singles prior to the release of Organic starting with “Mirage” back in February. The single allows us to dive into Casey’s psyche while reminding us that the veteran spitter has flow. A single called “Awarded” came next and would end up being the albums lead single and the only track to get a music video upon release. “Stop Playing” featuring LA peer Dom Kennedy was the final single coming out a week before the release of Organic.

Organic was released on June 7th as a 10-track effort with a run time of 36 minutes.

The album gets right into things with the intro track “Dream$” being one of my favorite joints on the project. Casey raps about his come up over a dreamy instrumental with a classic Los Angeles drawl and a back and forth flow that we’ve been missing since his last release in 2015. Veggies vocal layering is terrific on the hook and solidify this as one of the best offerings on this tape.

Casey keeps his momentum with the second track and lead single, “Awarded”. The track is insanely catchy and a flex at the root of the term (“When I walk in the building I’m very important/I kept it real and ain’t get awarded). Two tracks into the album and there is already a strong theme of resiliency and independence.

“I Came Up” is the fifth song on the album and is host legendary west coast features YG and E-40. The song is as California as it gets with a G-Funk inspired instrumental that sounds like a perfect home for LA rapper 03 Greedo. YG and E-40 both live up to expectations and deliver solid verses that showcase their signature styles.

The seventh song on the album is “Candy” which features another iconic Los Angeles rapper, The Game. “Candy” is a love song about a true ride-or-die girlfriend who is good for more than hitting the town and popping bottles. I think Game precisely sums up the demeanor of this track on the last two lines of his second verse when he raps, “She from the 30's and I fuck with her/Witness to my first murder, nigga, so I'm stuck with her”.

“No Favors” follows “Candy” and is filled with joy and pride. On this track, Casey is transparent as an independent emcee who signed a record deal and learned that his artistic freedom is priceless. He brags that he is now free from Epic Record’s restrictive collar and able to do exactly as he pleases without needing to ask for favors.

Casey Veggies’ was gone for four years. He slowly floated out of relevance and it seemed like everyone had forgotten about the OG Odd Future emcee. That is until 2019 when the resilient rapper reinvented himself and burst back into the rap game with his independent offering Organic. The album is focused, entertaining, and delivers a clear message of toughness and independence. Casey’s pen game is sharp and while the topics are presented in a way we’ve seen before they are executed well. Casey Veggies has returned from the sunken place and is here to stay.