Cole World:
A Sideline Story
ALBUM
REVIEW
Alright
*scratches head, cracks knuckles & neck* let me start off by saying that,
IT IS WRONG TO STEAL MUSIC FROM ARTISTS WHO PUT THEIR HEART AND SOUL INTO WHAT
THEY DO JUST SO WE CAN BE BLESSED WITH THEIR TALENTS…..okay, I got that out of
the way, ON TO COLE WORLD!
I suspected
that this album was going to leak a week before its official release (9/27),
and low and behold, it does. A lot of people have been hyping up J Cole for the
past couple years when he came out with ‘The Come Up’ & ‘The Warm Up.’
Then, mixtape after mixtape, we all waited (believe me, we waited) for a debut
album. The hype surrounding J Cole was that he was the 2nd coming to
Nas. Let’s stop with the reaching please. PLEASE! Let Nas live.
Intro
J Cole starts off the album by telling a story about the day
he got signed to Roc Nation with a bunch of friends. He’s been consistent in
reminding us that 1. He came from the bottom. 2. He worked his ass off to get a
deal and 3. Girls treated him like nothing. Known this for a few years now.
We’ve been force fed his “pain,” but you have to admire his persistence. It’s
still easy to relate to, because we’ve been there.
Dolla & A Dream III
If you’ve been following the life of J Cole from his first
mixtape, you understand what “Dolla & A Dream” represents. The often used
cliché is a staple for people who basically came from nothing, and only had
their positive attitudes and motivation with little to fund them to get them on
their journey. This is just a continuation of the series of tracks. In this
version, he’s actually had a crazy buzz and following (Social networking and
all) and how he’s living with that. He reiterates his passion to succeed: His
mother, his haters, the “bitches” that dissed him. “Look what a nigga made out the
shit that I was livin”
Can’t Get Enough (Featuring Trey Songz)
I ALMOST SKIPPED THIS SONG! For real, I can’t stand Trey
Songz, but at least he didn’t have a verse on it for him to wail, because Lord
have mercy this wannabe R. Kelly/D’Angelo lightbright has been on my last
nerve. This is a song for the ladies (like many of J Cole’s songs. He knows his
target audience clearly). Basically, a girl is getting at J Cole, because he
has groupies, her friends are saying “he’s a bad guy,” and she “can’t get
enough” (It’s the lightskin thing. See: Drake & Breezy). This song is
catchy, I will not lie. The beat is nice. Trey didn’t annoy me on the hook as
much as I anticipated that he would. Good song. It makes the iTunes cut.
Lights Please
Okay, so….this song was on Cole’s 2nd mixtape (and
my favourite one) ‘The Warm Up.’ I saw this on the tracklisting and I was like
- - -> o_O. It’s been out since I was in college (I started in 07, do the
math). If you haven’t heard this song before (The hell you been?) basically
he’s having a conversation with a girl basically venting out his issues, but he
needs to just calm down and turn off the lights (play on words, because sexual
content is displayed in the song, so it could mean turn off the lights to have
sex with the girl, or to sleep. Just a little nugget). I still enjoy this song, but on the debut
album, I had an issue with that. NEW MATERIAL!
*SIDE NOTE* I’M VERY VERY VERY VERY HAPPY THAT ‘WORK OUT’ WAS
NOT ON THIS ALBUM! THAT WAS SOME HEAPING TRASH RIGHT THERE!
Interlude
As the album & story continue, he goes on explaining how
he got pulled over shortly after learning that he got signed to Roc Nation.
Ironically enough, he was in New York for 3 years, never got pulled over for
anything, and the biggest day of his life (at that point), he gets pulled over
by an undercover and goes to jail (not for long though, but the irony killed
me).
Sideline Story
I like this song a lot. In my top 5 songs of the album. He’s
rapping about his coming out. He represents his state a lot, and has let us
know of that (he hails from North Carolina). He does more venting about how
people doubted him for chasing his dreams, leaving his home state to do so, and
in succeeding, this is a shot to the haters essentially, and that he doesn’t
need any co-signs from anyone to prove himself worthy of being in the rap game
as a legitimate emcee.
Mr. Nice Watch
Worst song I’ve heard this year. Absolute garbage. The beat
sounds like I’m playing Tetris on Ecstasy. The song has no clear point to me.
It’s just a cocky song really. Jay-Z didn’t do the song any justice at all. Was
better off staying off it and let J Cole fail on his own. I’ll give some props
to Cole for switching it up a bit, but….no….bad attempt. Bad, bad attempt. I
listened to this song a few days ago. Hated then, hate it now. Now skipping to
next song.
Cole World
Alright, so this beat sounds like the next level of the
Tetris game that I just listened to. Horrible beat. It really sounds like he
used a sample of a level on Super Mario Bros. for SNES. This song, I also
didn’t like. The cocky flow yet again, didn’t appeal to me at all. NEXT PLEASE,
NEXT PLEASE (You see what I did there? Ya, that’s right.)
In The Morning (feat. Drake)
Man, if this isn’t the biggest simp song ever, I don’t know
what is. Okay, maybe I’m boosting a bit, but when this song initially came out
(Originally on ‘The Blow Up’ [Unofficial Mixtape], the remix with Drake debuted
when Friday Night Lights dropped), everyone went crazy because two of the
biggest social media buzzed rappers at that time were on one track. It’s
DEFINITELY a song for the ladies (and the desperate men out there, let’s be
honest) that has been quoted on Facebook statuses & Twitter updates for
almost a year now. The song is dope. There’s no denying that. But, again, it’s
old. Looking for new stuff here, helloooooo Mr. Cole, what’s happening? All of
that free time and nothing? Really? Alright. Drake’s appearance on the song (as
well as every Drake appearance on EVERY song) brought out yet another BILLION
fans and groupies to latch onto Cole’s already growing buzz. Drake tends to do
that (See: The Weeknd). Nonetheless, good song….even though it’s old.
“Baby, you
summa time fine” or "Can I hit it in the Morning?" < - - - LET’S BE HONEST! HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU HEARD
SAY THIS LINE?!
Lost Ones (Best song on the album)
THIS, Ladies & Gentlemen, IS A SONG! ISSUES BROUGHT TO
OUR ATTENTION! I heard this song about a month (or 2) ago, and INSTANTLY, I was
digging it. It speaks on a young couple going through a very common issue in
today’s society: Teen Pregnancy. Cole plays the roles of both male & female
reactions (and also adds in what his homeboys think about the situation). Male
suggests abortion (which is 75% the first choice, sadly), and the mother (which
she SHOULD) gets offended and lashes back, and the way that it was rapped out
and everything right down to the very emotion, was very poetic and Tupacish
(not to be Blasphemous, but let’s be honest). It’s one of the realest songs
I’ve heard in a LONG TIME! Very proud of Cole for this song. EVERYONE NEEDS TO
LISTEN TO THIS!
Nobody’s Perfect (featuring Missy
Elliott)
One of my favourite artists EVER comes back and reminds us
why she was one of the best at her time. Missy’s versatility. People forgot she
could sing you know. J Cole sends yet ANOTHER shout out to the bitches he
dated, the people who hated, and yadda yadda yadda. But it is a good song
because he takes the opportunity to shout out to his past love and her flaws,
but yet again, no one’s perfect and 2nd chances are what life is all
about, so he’s trying to woo her back with all of his lightskin artillery on deck.
Good song. Keep it on the iTunes.
Never Told
This is a deep song (seems like it’s the deep, intricate,
thought provocative half of the album). Cole talks about the “game” when it
comes to Men and Women. Both play it, both live & die by it, and playing
with fire will always get you burnt. I had to listen to this song a couple of
times to really understand what he was getting into, but it does make sense,
and it’s a good song overall.
*Sidenote* Majority of this album was produced by J Cole.
He’s a talented guy, don’t get me wrong, it’s just his promotional struggles
and recent songs that have been his slight downfall. He’s not a terrible rapper
as people claim him to be (Which is really stupid if you ask me). People need
to calm down with all of that talk.
Rise & Shine
Starts off sounding like something inspirational, like
stepping off of a cloud walking towards the pearly gates. Another coming out
type of song (I get that he’s happy about his success, but damn, it’s getting
old. Yes, it’s consistent to who he is, but for….real). He’s preaching about
what he wants when he gets to where he wants to be, shouts out his boys, shouts
out his old bitches (again), and how he was destined to kill the rap game by
God’s will (i…ron…ic). But all he’s saying in this song he sums up in half a
bar: “Sun
gon shine, but the rain won’t stop” MEANING, I’m going to continue to
shine and be great, but the downfall will still happen, and haters will hate
regardless…a paradox, if you will (not a walking one).
God’s Gift
Okay, so from where ‘Rise & Shine’ left off (literally,
it sounds like one continuous song if you listen to both of them, until the
beat drops for God’s Gift). Clearly, Cole has found Jesus between having sex
with women & shouting out his haters. True. Talking about his persistence
in his grind and getting signed by Hov (Jay-Z for the ones following at home).
I didn’t see the point of this song. Should have just made ‘Rise & Shine’
an 8 minute song because he’s essentially talking about the same thing. So…I
mean…what’s really going on here? This is a ‘meh’ kind of song…Production was
decent.
Breakdown
There are 3 stories in this song. 1. Cole meets his father
gets out his feelings about the neglect and void he felt in his life without a
father in his life. A life that many single mother children have to endure
unfortunately. 2. Drugs & the street game are rough to avoid when times are
really rough. He talks about how his boys get caught up in that life, and end
up either dead or in jail. Basically they “breakdown.” 3. A man is in jail, he
has a daughter, and a girl that’s still down for him, and she’s fighting her
mother, who wants her to move on, but she won’t stop holding down her man. More
and more stories that relate to young adults today. Yet another deep song. This
is the Cole I like. He’s not a GREAT punchline rapper per say (his freestyles
are still sick), so he just needs to stick with what he’s good at and he’ll be
fine.
Nothing Lasts Forever
The name speaks for itself, but Cole’s talking about relationships.
When you lose a good thing, and you wish you had it back, you tend to reflect.
You tried, and it didn’t happen. Nothing lasts forever, which is a good motto,
but it’s a positive song because it shows that even though you’re not together
with the person, you can still be friends (In. Some. Cases). Another good song.
Sometimes you need to listen to songs with a storyline to just reflect and
think about things in your life. The 2nd half of J Cole’s album
really did that for the most part.
Daddy’s Little Girl (LAST SONG)
A good girl went bad. How do sweet innocent girls turn into
alcohol abusers? “Mama couldn’t never reach her, Brother tried his best to teach her,
She thinks she’s ready for the world, look at Daddy’s little girl.” A
lot of people tend to act rebellious when they don’t have a parent around that
that they were close too. People try to talk to her. Her ‘Daddy’ in this
instance is a Pimp possibly, or the spirit of her father. Either way, there’s a
void in her life, and she’s acting out in her own way. And that’s how rebels
tend to act and why (some, not all) women who are more likely to have more sex
and experiment with more drugs and alcohol than women who have that “comfort
zone” with two parents in the household (EVEN THOUGH…..IT MAY NOT ALWAYS TURN
OUT THAT WAY….I just need to clear that up before the feminists of the world
gang up). It’s still a song with a message, and it’s a good one. Yet another
song I enjoyed.
OKAY…overall, this album had the feel of a mixtape. Why, I
say that is:
- 1. Had a storyline that was similar to his previous mixtapes
- 2. Old songs FROM said mixtapes
- 3. The hype didn’t help its rating either
J Cole has proven that he is a lyrical artist. Although many
view him as trash because of his wordplay, you have to go back into the
archives and really take him in from the beginning. If you’re a first time
listener of J Cole after hearing this album, you’ll understand that this is a
rapper that is humble from his beginnings, cocky at times yes, because of said
beginnings that humbled him, and that he does have a voice for the young people
of our generation. NOW, he’s no Kendrick Lamar or Blu, let’s just get that
clear, but Cole is definitely a name that you could say that will be one that
you will remember for years to come along. That’s for sure. I gave his album a
3 out of 5 for the 3 reasons that I stated. May bump him up to 3.5/5, but he
sad solid features, production was good for the most part, lyrics were thought
provoking, not much of a shock value or anything that made you scrunch up your
face like GOT DAYUM, but he showed off his talents, and that’s essentially what
we (some of we) expected. MOST of us expected greatness, especially when Cole
said that this was going to be a classic. Not quite, but not terrible. BUT, for
now, that’s my opinion, this is my review
THAT’S MY
WORD & IT STiXX
