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
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