ezcodylee played his first show just over four years ago; he booked it himself. He played last, when a 100-strong crowd had dwindled to under a dozen. “I still had one of the best times I’ve ever had,” the 21-year-old enthused in a recent interview . “To turn up with those 10 people… it felt like this was what music was all about.” Perhaps ezcodylee is reminiscing on that December 2021 concert when he crows, “I told my brother, ‘Just look at the crowd, my nigga, we made it,’” on “FAMILY FIRST !,” an early highlight from his latest album, STUNT 4 LIFE . The SoCal rager has seen plenty of bigger crowds since, but his hybridized rap-rock has retained its intimacy even as his monthly listeners have ballooned. That’s partly due to substance; ez’s lyrics are peppered with human vulnerability and political anger. But mainly it comes down to style: ezcodylee pushes his rock-rap synthesis further than some SoundCloud peers keen to label themselves rockstars. No score yet, be the first to add.…