https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AjD7nKiUQ4
(Ok so maybe I haven't hated EVERYTHING he's done)
Lets get this bad boy started. Right off the bat with “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, clearly we see Cole going with a more laid back sound. After his last project was dominated by some heavier beats, this is actually totally fine with me. Overall as far as the beat goes, this is actually all around different for Cole, even a little experimental. The opening bars of him singing are ok, I really don’t have any problem with him bringing in some more R&B elements, even though some of his notes here are flat. It is a heartfelt performance though, so I’ll let it slide. From these opening bars it’s clear that Cole is going for a little more of a spiritual angle, something he’s no stranger to at all. As the verses start J Cole’s delivery is fiery and continues to be passionate, and I’m really digging the atmosphere as well. My only real issue with “For Whom The Bell Tolls” is that J Cole doesn’t really stretch this far enough. It has the foundation of being a really solid, conscious hip hop tune, but J Cole kinda brings up all these important topics and then ends this track abruptly shortly after the 2 minute mark. Yea, I dig it, but it could have been much deeper. Up next though is “Immortal”, and honestly this may be the best damn J Cole track I’ve ever heard. Instantly we’re greeted to a beat that sounds like it would have fit nicely on Drake’s “If Your Reading This It’s Too Late” mixtape/album/whatthehellever. Honestly, I haven’t heard J Cole on a minimal, icy beat like this and I love what he’s doing with it. It really allows him to show off his wordplay so much better, and it really makes me want to hear more from him. I can’t even remember the last time I said that! Cole’s delivery here is absolutely nasty, and certainly far from his usually sort of whiny self. As far as lyrics go, J Cole certainly isn’t going to go down in the history books for this one, honestly he’s rehashing a lot of stuff he’s rapped about for years. However, it comes off pretty well against this murky beat, especially that last verse. “Deja Vu” continues with these really small, minimal beats that I seriously enjoy hearing J Cole on. Honestly, he needs to stick to these over other beats, it could seriously do wonders for him. His flow here is solid, it always has been on the sharper side of things, but on “Deja Vu” its especially special. Cole’s wordplay continues to seriously be on point, lyrically I’ve always had respect for him. However, this is where Cole’s past problems begin to slowly start coming back to haunt him. I’ve always felt like J Cole looks at himself as a prophet, someone delivering these urgent messages to his fans that he feels like people need to hear. A lot of these themes are brought up correctly, but defended almost not at all. Not to mention that vocal sample is one of the cringiest samples I’ve heard all year. That all being said, I still like “Deja Vu”, J Cole totally sounds at home here on this beat and more aggressive as well. Up until now, I’ve been digging this project a lot. Then the beat to “Ville Mentality” drops, and instantly I could have told you I wasn’t going to dig this track. The beat here is trying to sound all cozy and warm, but it's just skipping all over the place and it just comes off as ugly. While Cole's earlier sung passages came off well for the most part, Cole's singing on "Ville Mentality" is absolutely atrocious. Earlier it at least sounded heartfelt and that he was actually putting in some effort into singing, but this literally sounds like his first go at it. That's only part of the problem, J Cole overall on this track sounds honestly like a completely different person altogether. On earlier tracks Cole sounded focused, confident, and ready to cut loose. Here, Cole sounds like a whiny little boy. The problems he's complaining about here certainly aren't life threatening, as he goes on about his friends only calling him when they need something from him, newsflash buddy, a ton of rappers have spit much more interesting verses about that topic (Kanye's "Real Friends" comes to mind). Overall, J Cole here just comes off so immature. And on top of all of that, this whole new attitude comes amidst Cole going for this Conscious Hip Hop sound, which he's been aiming for for years. The problem is, you actually have to put in effort and bring up some actual issues if you're going to pull that off.
Rating: 6.8/10
Give A Listen To: "Immortal", "Deja Vu", "Change", "4 Your Eyez Only"
(Ok so maybe I haven't hated EVERYTHING he's done)
Lets get this bad boy started. Right off the bat with “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, clearly we see Cole going with a more laid back sound. After his last project was dominated by some heavier beats, this is actually totally fine with me. Overall as far as the beat goes, this is actually all around different for Cole, even a little experimental. The opening bars of him singing are ok, I really don’t have any problem with him bringing in some more R&B elements, even though some of his notes here are flat. It is a heartfelt performance though, so I’ll let it slide. From these opening bars it’s clear that Cole is going for a little more of a spiritual angle, something he’s no stranger to at all. As the verses start J Cole’s delivery is fiery and continues to be passionate, and I’m really digging the atmosphere as well. My only real issue with “For Whom The Bell Tolls” is that J Cole doesn’t really stretch this far enough. It has the foundation of being a really solid, conscious hip hop tune, but J Cole kinda brings up all these important topics and then ends this track abruptly shortly after the 2 minute mark. Yea, I dig it, but it could have been much deeper. Up next though is “Immortal”, and honestly this may be the best damn J Cole track I’ve ever heard. Instantly we’re greeted to a beat that sounds like it would have fit nicely on Drake’s “If Your Reading This It’s Too Late” mixtape/album/whatthehellever. Honestly, I haven’t heard J Cole on a minimal, icy beat like this and I love what he’s doing with it. It really allows him to show off his wordplay so much better, and it really makes me want to hear more from him. I can’t even remember the last time I said that! Cole’s delivery here is absolutely nasty, and certainly far from his usually sort of whiny self. As far as lyrics go, J Cole certainly isn’t going to go down in the history books for this one, honestly he’s rehashing a lot of stuff he’s rapped about for years. However, it comes off pretty well against this murky beat, especially that last verse. “Deja Vu” continues with these really small, minimal beats that I seriously enjoy hearing J Cole on. Honestly, he needs to stick to these over other beats, it could seriously do wonders for him. His flow here is solid, it always has been on the sharper side of things, but on “Deja Vu” its especially special. Cole’s wordplay continues to seriously be on point, lyrically I’ve always had respect for him. However, this is where Cole’s past problems begin to slowly start coming back to haunt him. I’ve always felt like J Cole looks at himself as a prophet, someone delivering these urgent messages to his fans that he feels like people need to hear. A lot of these themes are brought up correctly, but defended almost not at all. Not to mention that vocal sample is one of the cringiest samples I’ve heard all year. That all being said, I still like “Deja Vu”, J Cole totally sounds at home here on this beat and more aggressive as well. Up until now, I’ve been digging this project a lot. Then the beat to “Ville Mentality” drops, and instantly I could have told you I wasn’t going to dig this track. The beat here is trying to sound all cozy and warm, but it's just skipping all over the place and it just comes off as ugly. While Cole's earlier sung passages came off well for the most part, Cole's singing on "Ville Mentality" is absolutely atrocious. Earlier it at least sounded heartfelt and that he was actually putting in some effort into singing, but this literally sounds like his first go at it. That's only part of the problem, J Cole overall on this track sounds honestly like a completely different person altogether. On earlier tracks Cole sounded focused, confident, and ready to cut loose. Here, Cole sounds like a whiny little boy. The problems he's complaining about here certainly aren't life threatening, as he goes on about his friends only calling him when they need something from him, newsflash buddy, a ton of rappers have spit much more interesting verses about that topic (Kanye's "Real Friends" comes to mind). Overall, J Cole here just comes off so immature. And on top of all of that, this whole new attitude comes amidst Cole going for this Conscious Hip Hop sound, which he's been aiming for for years. The problem is, you actually have to put in effort and bring up some actual issues if you're going to pull that off.
"She's Mine Pt. 1" is up next, and as the album goes on I'd swear these beats get less and less interesting. At the very least I have to give it to J Cole for delivering a semi heartfelt performance. Outside of that though, "She's Mine Pt. 1" starts to paint everything I've never understood about J Cole. Here, we see sweet moment after sweet moment, but then have him all throw it away for these "punchlines" that honestly just come off awkward and make him look bad. We see lines here that really show Cole as a total sweetheart telling his significant other how he feels about her, only to come back moments later with that excruciating "Excedrin" line that I'm still trying to forget. J Cole instantly goes from a emotionally stable MC with feelings we can all understand, to literally just another douchebag rapper with no respect being forced down our throats. Even his flow here doesn't come of classy or even smooth, he just sounds half asleep. This guy is all over the place. I have almost the all of the same problems with "Neighbors". This track actually doesn't start off too bad, the beat here is much classier and funk as well. But some of those opening bars from Cole are just so lazy. They improve quickly thankfully, but what was even the point of some of those opening bars. Cole here brings up racial stereotyping here, which is absolutely a subject that needs to be talked about. But Cole's arguments are once again just so damn lazy. Once again we see him bringing up these hot button issues and topics that need to be referenced, but really not bringing any context to it. Here we see J Cole spitting all of these lines about stereotyping that are pretty solid, only to come back with statements like "The neighbors think I'm selling dope. Well Motherfucker I Am". He brings up great points, that's for sure. But he doesn't back anything up to save his life. He's not the second coming of Tupac ladies and gentleman, he's not a Rapper's Rapper" either. "Change" on the other hand comes off really well for Cole. After being let down by a few tracks here, this beat isntantly wakes me up, and this is seriously one I can sink my teeth into. This is on a completely different side of the J Cole spectrum, it's super positive sounding, and to be honest I love that. There's nothing really cheesy about this, his flow is confident, his wordplay is on point, hell for a few minutes everything seems to be alright in J Cole's world. Other tracks here have dealt with death heavily and trust me this is no different. But this is a lot more hopeful sounding overall. Spirituality also continues to be a huge theme here as well, but once again, it's not too suffocating, it actually comes off really refreshing. As far as the "Conscious Hip Hop" sound, J Cole gets closer here than any other moment on "4 Your Eyez Only". Also, "I know you desperate for a change let the pen glide, But the only real change come from inside" may be the most conscious moment here. "Change" is one classy tune.
"Foldin' Clothes" starts off the last few tracks on here. The beat here is a little abstract sounding, but that doesn't necessarily make it really that good. J Cole earlier on this album was on a roll, but he's very quickly dropping the ball. His lyrics here are seriously getting so painfully cheesy that I almost can't stomach them. Cole goes, "Baby I Wanna do the right things, feels so much better than the wrong things", no shit Sherlock. Then we have the entire theme of this track, which more or less Cole telling his wife how much he respects her and wants to pay her back for birthing his child and he wants to do all of these things for her, making her feel like a princess. I'm totally fine with all of that, honestly I think its absolutely adorable. But that all being said, couldn't J Cole think of a better gesture than folding the laundry? Yet again, I think it's a sweet gesture, but he keeps harping on it like he's husband of the year for simply offering to fold the laundry. I just think this track needed more substance to say anything really memorable. Then we have "She's Mine Pt. 2", because apparently it deserves a second part. The first thing you're going to realize is that a ton of this is rehashed directly from the 1st part, except now we have Cole talking to his child rather than his wife. I do like this version a little better though, it has a lot more genuinely heartfelt moments. But Cole yet again chooses the worst time to bring up these bizarre rants. Here he is going into these sweet scenarios between him and his daughter, only for him to stop midway through to rant about consumerism and Black Friday shopping. Instantly everything is thrown out the window for Cole. Not to mention, I just can't stand him on these super artificial piano beats, it's just not a good look for him. Then we have the album's finale, the 8 minute long title track. Here, we see a jazzier sort of beat again, but this time it actually sounds a little more up Cole's alley. As far J Cole's performance goes, it's actually one of the best on the album. He certainly sounds confident and his flow is right where it should be. Here, in a shocking turn of events, Cole brings up real world problems and finishes his thoughts well, and he sounds pretty great doing it. Honestly, this is a great sound for Cole, and wouldn't mind hearing him go down this path in the future. This track is basically the culmination of every sound J Cole has been desperately trying to nail here, but it comes off so well. Once again we see J Cole bringing up death, but man is he ever bringing to the table some seriously intense bars about it. Overall, this track sounds like a completely different J Cole. A much more mature J Cole all around, I need more of THIS J Cole. This album has a lot of garbage, but also shows J Cole leaning in a more mature direction. I would still consider myself very much so on the fence when it comes to J Cole's music, but this is absolutely an improvement.
Rating: 6.8/10
Give A Listen To: "Immortal", "Deja Vu", "Change", "4 Your Eyez Only"
Overall Thoughts: You know, I would really love to rave about this album, and J Cole in general. People hype him up constantly as this huge lyrical mastermind in hip hop. He's got technical skills for days, that's for sure, and plenty of that is on display here. There's also a lot of seriously disillusioned arguments and whiny bars about nothing as well. J Cole is trying so hard to be a Conscious Rap artist, but only really nailing it about half the time. That all being said, this album has some of the best J Cole tracks I've heard, and I'm actually curious about where he's going to go from here.
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