Dec 26, 2014

Cole is not a great writer, me and @ODB been saying that for nearly 2 years now. Like ODB says, his flow often masks his penmanship. On this album, the only real lapse that stood out to me was the second verse of Apparently though. And then the moments that I didn't like Hello and the credits on Note to Self. Love Yourz is a song that I don't like as much as most either.

But the strengths of this album outweigh most of the deficiencies. January 28th is great, especially this part:

Like the great Rakim, when I make my notes
You n----s might be L or you might be Kane
Or you might be Slick Rick with 19 chains
Or you might be Drizzy Drake or Kendrick Lamar
But check your birth date n-----, you ain't the God

Him and Rakim share a birthday (January 28th).

03 Adolescence is probably my favourite J. Cole song ever. That second verse was great. My favourite moment was this:

I hit the boulevard pull up to my n----- front do'
His mama at home, she still let em' hit the blunt though
I told her hello, and sat with my n----- and laughed
And talked about how we gon' smash all the b------s in class
I complimented how I see him out here getting his cash
And just asked, "What a n----- gotta do to get that?
Put me on," he just laughed when he seen I was sure
17 years breathing his demeanor said more
He told me, "n-----, you know how you sound right now?
If you wasn’t my mans, I would think that you a clown right now
Listen, you everything I wanna be that's why I f---s with you
So how you looking up to me when I look up to you?
You bout to go get a degree, I'ma be stuck with two choices:
Either graduate to weight or selling number two
For what? A hundred bucks or two a week?
Do you think that you would know what to do if you was me?
I got, four brothers, one mother that don't love us
If they ain't want us why the f--- they never wore rubbers?

And the way that A Tale of 2 Citiez follows this up is a moment too. The juxtaposition between the first and second half shows the character described in the first verse of '03 Adolescence versus what the city and culture makes him.

I could go on, but its a great project. When it falls off imo is the last 4 tracks. Not to say they're bad, they're good for the most part (outside of Hello). It's just, like you said, 'he could've come more correct.'

It's an 8/10 from me. It's Cole's best project since Friday Night Lights, not that he set the bar very high with his first two albums.

 

Dec 26, 2014

Notable Songs: