DZs Control, running a little over 30 minutes, is an outcome of a yearlong collaboration between Ahmedabad based rapper Dhanji and East Delhi based rapper Zorba featuring a range of other artists around them. Both Dhanji and Zorba have had a low-key but prolific 2020. On the one hand, Dhanji dropped an EP with a fellow Ahmedabad based rapper Siyaahi Lost in AMD, a project with dox titled Boy Cut and an EP titled Drive-In Cinema. On the other hand, Zorba dropped a bunch of singles and a mixtape titled Jamun St. as a part of the PURPLEMAFIA collective.
Among all these projects what makes DZs Control stand out is the peculiar dynamic which surfaces when alternating between Dhanji’s skirting voice with a certain bouncy delivery and accent, and Zorba’s heavy and menacing voice.
Drugs permeate the album like no other album in the Indian scene at the moment. When Zorba speaks of drugs he doesn’t stop or limit himself to the usual marijuana and alcohol references which are anyways sprinkled all across the album. Cocaine, Codeine, Xanax etc., are referred to in the most playful manner. In “FORMERBESTFRNDZ – INTERLUDE”, and do not mistake it for an interlude for it is actually a full-fledged track with bars and a hook, includes one of the most mellow hooks about drinking codeine and popping anti-depressants like it’s no body’s business.