Putting the Pieces Together

Life often seems like a jigsaw puzzle. Jon ‘Cosmo’ Kagan put the pieces of his life together to form his first rap EP, Pieces. Comprised of 14 tracks, it is an honest reflection of Cosmo’s life. The lyrics read like Cosmo’s journal but the beats meld divergent sounds together into an upbeat, body-moving album. The result is a piece of art that is original, just like Cosmo.

“I like to make albums that are kind of like movies in your head,” said Cosmo. “There doesn’t have to be a story but it still has to flow like that.” If Pieces were a movie, it would be based on Cosmo’s life. Each song on the EP was written by Cosmo, some when he was only 13 and some recently.

Cosmo began writing when he was 10 years old, while growing up in the suburbs of northern New Jersey. At first he wrote poetry and random thoughts. When he was 12, his older stepbrothers introduced him to the music of socially conscious underground rappers and innovative hip hoppers like Outkast. These new beats and lyrics inspired Cosmo to look at his writings as his own songs. He began rapping in the next few years and decided that he had found his passion.

By his senior year in high school he didn’t want attend college, but his mother convinced him to attend Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY as a backup plan.

“I had all this internal frustration because you know with a class load you are tired at the end of the day,” said Cosmo. “24 hours is just not enough.” Making music was what he wanted to do, and college got in the way. During his second year he discovered that by majoring in audio production, he could learn how to record his craft and use his own audio for coursework.

“I thought that audio would make sense because I would be self-sufficient,” said Cosmo. “It was a skill that I would be able to use in the future, and it made the money I was paying for school seem more worth it.”

Now in his senior year at Ithaca, Cosmo has finally released what he has been working toward since he was 12. Just like his writing, his album Pieces has more than one meaning. The pieces are the people that put together his album, the pieces of experiences that make up life and the pieces that comprise the album itself.

The album flows in and out of the ups and downs of life, and while the tempo changes, Cosmo’s lyrics remain truthful and at times emotionally raw. While he may have learned the beats from hip hop greats, he polishes his innate sense of words by listening to lyrical female artists like Tori Amos and Norah Jones.

“As far as writing lyrics, I think that is what I am most confident with,” said Cosmo. “I think it is something I will always do because it comes naturally to me and helps me get things off my chest.”

Each track on the album has a message or meaning, from following your passions, to the awkward experiences at college parties, to political and social change, to past relationships. Cosmo said the most emotional track on the album is “Missing Piece,” which describes what he would say if he could have a conversation with his father, who left him and his mother when he was seven years old.

“A lot of people may not even know I have stepbrothers, and that my mom and dad are separated,” said Cosmo. “It’s cool how you share some parts of yourself through music.” Cosmo said that he wants to make music that people can connect to, and this is apparent in his lyrics.

After graduating from college, Cosmo is going to continue pursuing music. He dreams of one day being signed with a small independent record label, and performing around the world in a group because he likes the collective feel. All the profits from Pieces will go to the Covenant House, a homeless youth shelter in Washington D.C., and The Ithaca Community Center. By donating all the money from his first album he is bringing people together in multiple ways, and adding pieces in someone else’s puzzle.Jon "Cosmo" Kagan: Illustrated by Mike Grippi