Rami Matan Even-Esh, (known professionally as Kosha Dillz), is a Jewish-American rapper, and one of the recurring cast members from Season 18 of the improv comedy show, Wild 'N Out, on VH1.
Biography[]
Known for such hip hop albums as Beverly Dillz and Awkward in a Good Way, this Jewish-American rapper wrote and performed songs in Hebrew, Spanish, and English. He collaborated with a number of famous hip hop artists, including Snoop Dogg and Ghostface Killah. He began rapping during his late teens and went on to study creative writing at Rutgers University. He released his debut album, Freestyle vs. Written, in 2008.
Even-Esh started rapping at the age of 17. For several years beginning in 1999, he was heavily involved with the freestyle battle rap scene at Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City. Other prominent participants were Mos Def, Immortal Technique and C-Rayz Walz.
That same year, he attended an MF Doom concert at The Wetlands, and recalls, "That’s when I knew I loved the underground hip hop scene. That show and Braggin' Rights at Nuyorican Poets Café changed my life for sure."
Kosha Dillz put out his first 12-inch, "Chainsaw Music," in 2005. In 2006, he appeared alongside Matisyahu on the song "Childhood" off the C-Rayz Walz album The Dropping. Two years later, C-Rayz contacted Kosha about collaborating. They released Freestyle vs. Written, an album on which Kosha rapped written verses, and Walz freestyled. Okayplayer stated that the album contains “witty, irreverent lyrics and candor".
2009 saw the release of his debut solo LP, Beverly Dillz, recorded in Beverly Hills with local producer Belief. A lot of the LP was written while "in socks on a couch." Okayplayer called the album “an interesting mix of danceable tracks and powerful rhyming” and "at times wildly original and entertaining."
Since 2011, he has been at work on a documentary, Kosha Dillz Is Everywhere, about his life as an Israeli-American Jewish hip hop artist. Along with Snoop Dogg and Drake, Kosha has a playable character in the basketball video game NBA 2K11. His song "Cellular Phone" was featured in a Bud Light commercial that debuted in 2012 during Super Bowl XLVI.
In 2013, Kosha's second solo album, Awkward In a Good Way, was released on Murs' label, Murs 316. Murs and producer Jesse Shatkin under the alias Belief, assisted in shaping the feel of the album.[19] The album also featured Gangsta Boo of Three 6 Mafia.
What I Do All Day And Pickle was released on July 15, 2016 on Oy Vey!, led by the single "Dodging Bullets" featuring reggae artist Matisyahu. The video for "Dodging Bullets" premiered on Billboard on June 28, 2016. What I Do All Day And Pickle peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, number 42 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and number 50 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.
In March 2020, Kosha collaborated and was featured on a song with EDM artist Kaskade called "Sexy". On October 16, 2020, Dillz released his 14-track album "Nobody Cares Except you" that was Crowd Funded by Kickstarter.
On October 26, 2021, Dillz was freestyle rapping outside the New York Knicks Game during a Nor'easter in New York City and caught the attention of rapper Fat Joe who walked by. Fat Joe started rapping with Kosha and the performance was caught on video which caused the performance to go viral.
On October 30, 2021, Fat Joe was performing with DJ Nasty (Johnny David Mollings) of Nasty Beatmakers at the Maxim Masquerade party in Denver, Co and invited Kosha Dillz up on stage to perform after seeing him in the crowd. UNILAD made a short documentary on Kosha after they saw the performance.
Trivia[]
- He appeared in 9 episodes in Season 18, 6 episodes in Season 19, 5 episodes in Season 20, and 4 episodes in Season 21.
- He was entirely on the Old School team in Season 19.
- He was entirely on the New School team in Season 21.
- His "Cellular Phone" track was featured in a 2012 Super Bowl commercial for Bud Light beer.
- His zodiac sign is Virgo.