J.Cole Born a sinner or born loser

 

 

 

 

Off Top Records

 

 

Second studio album “Born Sinner” of J. Cole, the first rapper signed under Jay-Z’s Roc-Nation label, will be released on June 18. It is a pretty important deal for hip-hop community as J. Cole is one of the rappers considered to be the true flagman of hip-hop – the artist to whom the baton should be passed from the old masters and who should raise the bar of art in new, unprecedented heights. Such status in the case of J. Cole is both a gift and a curse, especially because his mixtapes have proven he has the right to claim to be the best. J. Cole might be one of the artists getting into the ears of listeners of both underground and mainstream music like his boss Jay-Z has done. If he goes another way at the end of the day, I will assume J. Cole did not maximize his potential.

 

J. Cole’s debut album “Cole World: The Sideline Story” was released in September 2011. It was No 1 on Billboard top 100 and more than 200,000 copies were sold during the first week. It showed that J. Cole is able to create music that people will buy. I guess that was the main thing J. Cole had to prove as he wasn’t one of the artists made for radio by request. Therefore J. Cole has to find the golden mean that would allow him to make radio friendly music while at the same time keeping the main elements that define him as an artist. Debut album “Cole World” proved that J. Cole has a loyal fan base, that people are buying his music, but at the same time it wasn’t as big of a bang as, for example, Kendrick’s debut. The album was good, not brilliant, and singles were good, not monumental. In my opinion, this album did enough to put J. Cole in a safe spot where he would not risk losing his contract with Roc-Nation, where he would be allowed to release his next album and where he would be considered to be a successful artist, but not a heavyweight of music industry. He did not exceed the budget, it all paid off and everything was fine, but it wasn’t what everything were expecting from J. Cole.

 

Almost 2 years have passed since release of “Cole World” and where is J. Cole now? To all appearances J. Cole is almost in the same situation as he was before release of his debut – it is still not clear whether he will be able to sell enough copies of his album (especially taking into account the fact that his album will be released on the same day as Kanye West’s “Yeezus”), whether J. Cole will be able to show that he is one of the most important artists in this industry with this album and whether this album is going to be classic as everyone is waiting for it to be. One can already more or less answer the last question, as you can legally listen to “Born Sinner” on webpage bornsinner.com and it is clear that this album is not a classic.

 

After listening to the album it becomes clear that J. Cole is still struggling with the same problems, issues and demons that were overwhelming him before the release of his first album. J. Cole’s status in the industry is still not stable, he still has not got as much money as Jay-Z, Beyonce or old, white billionaires, and women are still gold-diggers that want to fuck as much money out of J. Cole and other successful people as possible. When listening to the album, it seems that nothing has changed in J. Cole’s life during those 2 years. It seems that he still has to prove himself and worry about whether or not he will be able to reach the same status as, for example, Kanye West. The topic on getting your spot in the industry has gotten much deeper as has his thoughts on the pressure to release a radio friendly single that are expressed in his song “Let Nas Down” in which J. Cole describes Nas’s reaction when the rap legend heard “Work Out” for the first time. Actually the song is not just a contribution to Nas, but also to all the fans that were disappointed when they heard the sugary, radio friendly single. From time to time, when mentioning his more experienced colleagues like Kanye West or Jay-Z, it seems like J. Cole wants to let us know that he is not going to remain in their shadows forever – he wants to find the strength to break in a higher category, but like detached observers even J. Cole himself has understood in his second album that he has not earned so much medals.

 

If we compare J. Cole’s music with his first album, it has become more interesting and diverse, but the beats are still minimalistic. I would define them as passive aggressive. Music is more interesting than the one in J. Cole’s debut, but it is still basically the same – there are no differences like the ones seen in Kanye West’s albums “Collage Dropout” and “Late Registration”. There is the same aftertaste after listening this album – well, maybe it tastes better. It is a matter of taste, but if you ask me, I would like to hear more pronounced beats – if you use bass, then use it so one can feel it, if there is a melody, it should be showy. Choruses in this album are hummed, not sung, the drums are not synthetic, but they do not have the boom-bap swing.  That’s the signature of J. Cole’s production. I cannot put my finger on it, but there is something wrong with those beats, for example, in “Mo Money” – there is everything, but at the same time there is a feeling that it is an unfinished demo material.

 

I understood that “Born Sinner” won’t be a classic after I heard J. Cole’s “Forbidden Fruit” with Kendrick Lamar on chorus. The song is very simple, the beat is not complicated, the sample is classic and the song shows nothing new. When I heard “Forbidden Fruit” for the first time, I felt like it was a song from a mixtape, not from J. Cole’s second album in which he has to prove that he is still able to create classic material and surprise the listener. Should J. Cole put such material in his album, it’s clear, that the album would not be a surprise. I am very interested in what made him make such a decision, what is his aim to be reached with this album as it is clear that such songs as “Forbidden Fruit” won’t stay in listener’s mind for long (maybe it would if Kendrick would spit a verse in it). I think that after a while we will hear J. Cole saying “Born Sinner” was not a classic but another album that he could have work on for a bit longer, just like “Cole World”.

 

J. Cole still has not maximized his potential in his second album and it seems that it is similar to the first album at least by the number of copies sold and its effect on the culture. J. Cole is still a skilled lyricist with a sophisticated, witty and enjoyable flow, but it seems that he still has not maximized his potential. During these 2 years J. Cole has not gone further musically and has not reached a status higher than he had before and this release will put him just a tiny bit ahead. It is not bad, as J. Cole has interesting relations with the music industry with its own requirements that are not always met by J. Cole, but at the end of the day he finds a halfway, gets back his invested money and does everything to get further. In my opinion, J. Cole is here for long. The main thing that upsets me is that J. Cole most probably will reach his potential with his third or fourth album only which means that we have to wait for at least two more years. Maybe it is not ordinary in modern industry, but in good old times it was not a surprise when solo artists or groups gained real success only with their third, fourth or even fifth album (for example, Bruce Springsteen or Red Hot Chilli Peppers). I think that in J. Cole’s case waiting will be worth it.

 

 

 

 

Written by Edavardi

Rap artists who have something to say

      Rap artists who have something to say

As a music genre, rap has always stood out with straightforward and often more than clear lyrics informing other members of the society about what’s going on in rapper’s hood, community he has been raised in and, of course, in his bed. Straightforwardness is one of the main elements of hip-hop distinguishing it from other genres — bitches are called bitches, big butts are called big butts and cops are called pigs. Often enough, at the end of the day song is just song and it was a long, long time ago when N.W.A. got warning from FBI for their song “Fuck The Police”. Things that some time ago were shocking and eye-opening mirror of society now are just standard and even a necessity — whether you like it or not, you have to talk about poverty, drug dealing and struggle in your songs. In the same way, songs telling us what is wrong with the world (the first one coming to mind — R.A. The Rugged Man & Talib Kweli’s collaboration “Learn Truth”) have topics we have heard about ~100 times. Of course, such topics will make someone rant, but hardly will motivate the listener to avoid drinking tap water as the government is adding sterilizing chemicals to it.

Of course it’s natural and I wouldn’t like to criticise the curse of the people gradually getting blunt against anything creating strong excitement. However, there have always been artists kicking up a row and creating awkward situations by saying what they have on their minds in their songs and especially in the interviews. Music industry is music industry — it’s the source of income for millions of people. Of course, there are both written and unwritten laws in the business environment. Even though everyone knows Rick Ross is a former prison guard rapping about drug flow into the streets of Miami, industry respects him as his music is commercially successful. Everyone knows that in the best case scenario rap is a breathtaking, interesting movie. In the worst case scenario it’s just a circus. Of course, there are very ignorant and less ignorant rappers. Some are using their music to say that everything is in our own hands and we have to stop being slaves of the system, but, as I already mentioned, at the end of the day it’s just a song. The artist is just doing his job (hopefully he is doing his job well) in order to pay the bills, ensure his kids have a great future and, after all, watch some TV and drink some beer. However, there are rappers that are 100% sure about what they are saying. I am not talking about people who start believing their own drug dealer stories. I am talking about people finding it hard to adapt to show business. I am talking about people who know that it’s forbidden to talk about what’s going on off-stage, but who sometimes cannot hold their tongue. I am talking about people who take the rap motto “Be real” seriously and get in trouble for that.

There are not many people like that and the first ones coming to my mind are 2pac, Lauryn Hill, DMX, Kanye West, Eminem during the „The Marshall Mathers LP” period, Erykah Badu, Brother Ali, Ice Cube after leaving N.W.A., Lupe Fiasco and Immortal Technique. Firstly, most of them at some point in their careers were (or still are) seen as little crazy and weird and were depicted in media as unpredictable, scandalous and incorrect. Each of them survived the shocking part of their careers in their own way. For example, 2pac did not survive, while Eminem successfully used it as a driving force for his further career. Less known rappers like Brother Ali and Immortal Technique are still trying to emphasize it as their popularity allows them to do that without getting attacked by media and various rights protection organisations.

In my opinion, one of the main reasons why 2pac was shot was his big mouth. Even though 2pac was one of the commercially most successful artists in the industry, he often wanted to breach the rules. For example, after the interview where Snoop Dogg told he has nothing against Biggie and has love for everyone (which was a pretty normal and politically correct statement), 2pac stopped communicating with his friend. During the whole Eastcoast vs Westcoast situation Biggie remained calm and did not respond to 2pac’s incitements while 2pac got beef with each and all and tried to change the world. Biggie was a rapper just doing his job and at the end of the day he could pay his bills and ensure his kids have a great future, while 2pac was openly talking about the things he didn’t like about the practice in force and it looked like he was ready to do anything to change it. One can image that 2pac could be a state governor if he was still alive, while Biggie would now have the same status as, for example, Busta Rhymes. I am not trying to say something bad about Biggie — I’m just trying to show the main difference between those two artists.

DMX is also one of the rappers who became hugely successful with his music and was an unpredictable member of the industry who said what has to be said not only in his songs. Probably, crack played important part in the decline of DMX’s career, but even after serving his time in prison DMX refused to sign a contract with MMG and stated he would most probably rob Drake if they were in the same elevator. As I mentioned already, music industry has its own laws therefore we could see Dr. Dre attending Rick Ross’ birthday party. If you do not want to say that has to be said, you can also remain silent, but clear utterance of your opinion is a crime.

Similarly, Lauryn Hill left the industry with the album “MTV Unplugged”. The album consisted of previously unreleased songs with Lauryn playing acoustic guitar, ignoring her biggest hits and talking about the dark side of the music industry and finding oneself in it (Rolling Stone magazine called it a public breakdown). Kanye West is now in a similar situation. Several times he has clearly expressed what most people are thinking, for example, „George Bush doesn’t care about black people”. As a result, Mr. West is no longer giving interviews, he is avoiding the press and is still doing what rappers should not do (performing in masks and straitjackets) and being the centre of attention while releasing high-quality stuff. Interestingly, Eminem had many problems when all eyes and ears were turned towards him and he gained giddy success. It looks like the hardest part of artist’s career is when his words really have some meaning and everything the artist says is like a birthday present for yellow press as the things said by the artist are not the standard ones. No one is expecting for a rapper to behave in a manner represented in his songs, for example, to become a vegetarian and move to Africa. It’s a nice sentiment, but everyone would be shocked if someone would actually do that. Likewise — Lupe Fiasco is know as a rapper with a stand against the practice in force, but surprisingly everyone is shocked when he announces he would not vote for Obama.

Nowadays the most sensational cases of artists shocking others with the things they say are connected with unintentional, indelicate expressions derogating some part of society too clearly. As a result, the rapper can lose his sponsorship from Nike, Nickelodeon or other brands. I think that it’s not a coincidence that the musicians strongly believing their own principles are usually depicted as eccentrics. Sooner or later their careers suffer because of that. However, the history tells us that there have always been such musicians (no, Tyler The Creator is not one of them). There are not many of them pro rata, but there is always someone with conscience clear enough to take the torch that their forgotten colleagues, whose reputation has been stained by the media, have passed and become the next “crazy people” of this dirty game. I really do not know what works in the music industry, how it works and who knows who, but I assume the diplomacy and compromise are two of the main things in this field that help to find a way through the maze of record companies. Therefore, in my opinion, it’s not a coincidence that the artists really having something to fight for are getting pushed off the big stage. I do not want for this to sound like a conspiracy theory, but I think there is a set limit to which one may shock, influence and inspire people through music. When it gets too serious, the artist, most probably, will get shut out from the industry somehow.

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Written by Edavardi