J. Cole – “The Fall-Off” review

Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper, singer/songwriter & producer J. Cole finishing his career with his 7th & final album. At this point, I’m pretty sure everyone & their mom knows who dude is. Especially given the universal acclaim of projects like The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights, Born Sinner & my personal favorite: 2014 Forest Hills Drive. 4 Your Eyez Only & K.O.D. however were both released to mixed reception. Matter of fact: my review for K.O.D. is amongst my most controversial. I don’t get shit for it anymore but at the time when I gave it a 6/10, Cole stans were on my ass for the next 2-3 weeks. Almost a decade later: my opinions on that & 4YEO haven’t changed at all but that’s not the point. The Off-Season was the most I’ve enjoyed a Cole project since FHD & Might Delete Later was the worst tape he ever made, dropping The Fall-Off after a decade in the making.

After the “29” intro, the first song “2 6” gets the victory lap going with a boisterous trap beat produced by Omen & T-Minus talking about Cumberland County residents usually wylin’ out whereas “Safety” takes the boom bap route instrumentally thanks to Powers Pleasant & Wu10 telling all of his homies what’s changed with him since he left. “Run a Train” keeps the kicks & snares in the fold asking what anyone knows about him although the Future hook sounds like a bad impression of himself leading into the self-produced “Poor Thang” working in a sample & some hi-hats to speak of young pups playing war games.

“Legacy” has to be one of the weaker tracks here because the topic of commitment issues doesn’t do a whole lot for me personally, but “Bunce Road Blues” featuring Future & Tems makes up for it whether it be the nocturnally dusty beat from The Alchemist to Cole’s verse written in the form of a suicide note being countered by both guests’ melodic performances. “Who TF Iz U?” finds Vinylz sampling “Drop a Gem on ‘Em” by Mobb Deep talking about a real one coming through while “Drum n Bass” advises to stay inside because it ain’t safe out around his parts over a piano-inflicted trap instrumental.

We get some cheap guitars in the midst of Cole asking himself whether he’ll survive “The Let Out” or not prior to Boi-1da playing a role in the 2-parter “Bombs in the Ville / Hit the Gas” talking about life being a film that can’t be rewinded & staying violent at all times. “Lonely at the Top” returns to the boom bap admitting that he didn’t understand the meaning of that phrase in his late 20s until FNZ divides “39” in 2 halves providing some insight to his mindset making a similar trip back home except he’s a little closer to finding the peace he’s been seeking.

“The Fall-Off is Inevitable” continues Disc 2 telling the story of his life in reverse over this funky beat while “The Villest” flips “The Realest” by Mobb Deep & Kool G Rap wanting you to know dreams do come true. “Old Dog” talks about learning new tricks over an energetic trap instrumental while the summery “Life Sentence” declares itself to be the realest shit Cole has ever written in his whole entire career dedicating itself to anyone who knows what it’s like to do life with someone in a time where it could be easy to give up.

Pop rap & pop reggae get fused on “Only You” featuring Burna Boy for an ode to Cole’s wife Melissa Heholt while “Man Up Above” samples “Never Would’ve Made It” by Marvin Sapp giving all his praises to God. One of my all-time favorite Common tracks “The Light” gets flipped on “I Love Her Again” courtesy of Jake One talking about the renewed passion he had for hip hop after apologizing for “7 Minute Drill” a lot like “I Used to Love H.E.R.” & addressing Kendrick Lamar’s beef with Drake.

2 of the most iconic hip hop artists of all-time 2Pac & The Notorious B.I.G. fictitiously apologize to each other for the 90s east coast/west coast beef over the course of Beat Butcha & Tae Beast dustily producing “What If” preceding the drumless “Quik Stop” talking about changing our ways based on the differences we make. “& the Whole World is the Ville” samples “Love Put Me in the Corner” by The Isley Brothers with the help of BoogzDaBeast representing Dreamville & the closer “Ocean Way” uses the same Sekou sample Kevin Abstract did for “Text Me” comparing love to a candle wick in the rain.

The Fall-Off has been said for the past decade to be the greatest achievement in J. Cole’s discography & I wouldn’t be mad if anyone puts it above 2014 Forest Hills Drive even if I’d put this behind the latter for right now. The concept of Cole World: The Sideline Story gets bridged full circle regardless of myself leaning more towards Disc 2 than Disc 1 in terms of consistency, depicting himself traveling back to his hometown when he had accomplished the impossible in New York & when he had backed out of the Kendrick/Drake feud once it started escalating.

Score: 4/5

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Wale – “Everything’s a Lot” review

Wale is a 41 year old rapper & songwriter from Washington, D.C. breaking out in 2008 after signing to Interscope Records & releasing his 4th mixtape The Mixtape About Nothing. He would go on to have 9th Wonder produce Back to the Feature as a prelude to his full-length debut Attention Deficit, signing to Maybach Music Group in 2011 & making debut for the label 9 months later with his sophomore effort Ambition to moderate reception. Folarin, The Gifted, The Album About Nothing, SHiNE (Still Here Ignoring Negative Energy), Wow…That’s Crazy & Folarin II all ranged from mediocre at best to some of his most tepid material at worst. Now that he’s signed to Def Jam Recordings, I was more optimistic heading towards his 8th studio album only a month away from the current WWE Intercontinental Champion John Cena’s retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII.

“Conundrum” hops over a chipmunk soul instrumental from STREETRUNNER asking this woman if she really loves him whereas the final single “Belly” samples “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)” by Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler to potently talk about heading deep into a dangerous situation. The 2nd single “Where to Start”flips “I’m So Into You” by SWV so he can reflect over the past to pave way for the future while the lead single “Blanco” talks about him starting to drink again.

After the “Michael Fredo” prelude, the actual “Michael Fredo” song itself works in a triumphantly boastful trap beat so he can count paper as opposed to everyone else counting favors despite the flow sounding reminiscent of Rick Ross’ at times just before “Power & Problems” talks about never being conquered. “Mirroronnabenz” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying was easily my favorite single of the 5 tackling themes of self-affirmation prior to “Watching Us” featuring Leon Thomas III sampling Goapele for a smooth pop rap ballad.

Seyi Vibez & Teni join Wale on “YSF” starting the 2nd half of his Def Jam debut experimenting with Afrobeats & it doing a lot better than he did almost a decade ago with SHiNE (Still Here Ignoring Negative Energy) considering that’s the weakest thing Wale has ever done personally, but “Tomorrow Today” continues by taking a smoother approach for a pop rap track that’s more average not wanting to bother the woman he’s seeing so late in the evening. “Big Head” featuring Odumodubvck finds the 2 talking about egotism while “City on Fire” soulfully advises to not become a casualty.

One of my all-time favorite Maxwell songs “Pretty Wings” decently gets sampled throughout the trap soul/hip hop fusion “Fly Away” talking about wanting to escape with the woman of his life while “Corner Bottles” incorporates some synthesizers confessing to not being able to sleep at night because that’s how the love goes. “Like I” luxuriously asks a female who’s caught his eye if he can be her scripture & her script due to the infinite amount of potential they could have as a couple while “Survive” featuring Nino Paid talks about the difficulty of being faithful can be at times with Pooh Beatz behind the boards.

“Lonely” featuring Shabooezy concludes Wale’s return with them over a rock guitar comfortingly singing of loneliness while “Ghetto Speak” starts the deluxe run with him assuring that his wraith had only begun, warning that it’s these muhfuckas’ last chance to show him the way they be moving out here. “Mission Statement” could be the best of the 3 bonus tracks from the T-Minus instrumental to the hungry 58 second verse that references Def Jam: Vendetta while “What’s the Play?” featuring Chaz French ends the extra 5 & a half minutes of material with both artists trying to figure out the move for when it gets dark outside.

With all due respect to Wale because the guy’s been on my radar ever since he was a part of the All City Chess Club during my adolescence: I always felt that Maybach Music was a weird fit for him & his output post-The Gift pretty much says it all. However, I can say that Everything’s a Lot is easily the most I’ve enjoyed Wale’s music in a while although I’m still on the fence with it a little. It’s easily the most passionate that he sounded in a minute, although some of sample choices within the production don’t do it for me as much as I enjoy all of the original source materials that’re being repurposed.

Score: 3/5

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The Cool Kids – “Hi Top Fade” review

The Cool Kids are a midwestern duo from consisting of Chicago, Illinois rapper & songwriter Sir Michael Rocks and Mount Clemens, Michigan rapper, producer & songwriter Chuck Inglish. Releasing 6 mixtapes between the mid-late 2000s, they made their full length debut in the summer of 2011 with When Fish Ride Bicycles & reunited for the 2017 sophomore effort Special Edition Grand Master Deluxe. Last we heard from them was the Before Shit Got Weird & Baby Oil Staircase / Chillout triple disc trilogy in 2022, returning to Fools Gold Records for their 4th studio LP.

“Cigarello Helmets” is a 61 second Mobb intro produced by Chuck Inglish to flex that they’ve re-up’d whereas “We Got Clips” takes the psychedelic boom bap route instrumentally getting in their battle rap bags lyrically. “Dang!” talks about how other rappers want rain & start complaining soon as they get clout while “Rockbox” throws it back to the mid-school thanks to none other than A-Trak styling on everybody.

As for the single “Foil Bass”, we have Chuck & Sir Michael hopping over a Neptunes-inspired beat to talk about the pair poppin’ like they got jalapeños on ‘em just before “95 South” throws it back to when Atlanta bass was becoming popular 3 decades ago to boast the motion they still got. “Banana in the Tailpipe” featuring Seafood Sam unites the trio to pay their respects to the late Drakeo the Ruler while “Blade Runner” featuring Radamiz asks who’ll be seeing heaven first.

“Crunch Rap Supreme” returns to the boom bap with some of the hungriest performances on the entire album (no pun intended) prior to “Don’t Say My Name” wanting to know why some call them by their governments when out in public. Pink Siifu saves the best feature for “Clean Linen Satin Pillow” tackling the theme of betrayal while the silky “Tryin’ to Get Like You” talks about there being a lot to being fresh that nobody really tells us.

The song “Cinnamon Part 2” kicks off Hi Top Fade’s final act with a sequel to a standout from their Gone Fishing mixtape & once “Live Wire” hooks up some prominent synthesizers for a more romantic vibe talking about keeping each other up all night dancing until dawn, the closer “Back Up Off Me” nostalgically feels reminiscent of 80s R&B with a hip hop spin being put on in.

Special Edition Grand Master Deluxe along with the Before Shit Got Weird & Baby Oil Staircase / Chillout series all had songs that I liked, but Hi Top Fade has gotta be the most consistent full-length that I’ve heard from these guys in almost 15 years right when I had finished middle school & probably outdoing it in terms of quality. Even with When Fish Ride Bicycles having better guests, the main focus of both Chuck Inglish’s production & his chemistry with Sir Michael Rocks are the most exciting it’s been in a while ahead of when or if Mannie Fresh produces their next album.

Score: 4.5/5

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Pharrell – “Piece by Piece” Soundtrack Review

This is a brand new soundtrack EP from Virginia producer, singer/songwriter, rapper, fashion designer, film composer, entrepreneur, Billionaire Boys Club/Icecream founder & Louis Vuitton’s creative director for men’s fashion Pharrell. Cementing his legacy as 1/2 of the greatest production duo of all-time The Neptunes alongside Chad Hugo, they would eventually form the side project N*E*R*D with their debut album In Search Of… going on to become a classic inspiring Tyler, The Creator amongst others. Even his 2006 solo debut In My Mind would become one of the most underrated albums ever made, even though he’s discredited it himself as “being written out of ego”. G I R L during my junior year of high school received mixed reception although I personally still enjoy the pop soul/contemporary R&B vibe of it pay tribute to all the women in his life (Case in point: “Lost Queen / Freq”). He celebrated his 51st birthday in the midst of an ongoing lawsuit with Chad over the Neptunes trademark by releasing his 3rd mixtape Black Yacht Rock: City of Limitless Access on an exclusive website possibly in response to James Blake’s recent comments in regards to streaming & coincided the release of his new LEGO biopic Piece by Piece that I saw earlier tonight by putting together 5 new tracks.

After the colorful “It’s Happening” intro, the title track is a synth funk/pop soul crossover with additional instrumentation from Brent Paschke of the former Star Trak Entertainment power pop act Spymob on electric guitar & even the Princess Anne High School Fabulous Marching Cavaliers where Pharrell himself graduated in 1992 singing about how good it felt for his hard work to pay off whereas “Virginia Boy” featuring Tyler, The Creator finds the 2 taking the jazzy boom bap route instrumentally repping Virginia & California respectively.

“L’EGO Odyssey” gives off a heavy triumphant vibe from the horns to the choir vocals in the background thanks to the Budapest Scoring Orchestra & the Voices of Fire respectively, making way for Skateboard to sing about the universe being a university for the soul in addition to being thankful for your dreams & encouraging everyone to build them piece by piece while the 5th & final original song “For Real” ends the soundtrack EP on an upbeat note waiting for some kind of sign like a meteorite or some kind of magic to make him feel real.

Piece by Piece itself was a well-put together biopic with interviews from Pharrell, his former N*E*R*D bandmates Chad & Shae Haley, Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar who Pharrell recently called 2024’s MVP, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, JAY-Z, WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg, Pusha T, N.O.R.E., Missy Elliott, his mentor Teddy Riley & 海水浴猿/ヒューマン・メイド founder ニゴー who’s currently gearing up for his upcoming 3rd album 私もニゴを知っています!. Pharrell’s production varies between synth-funk, pop soul, jazz rap, boom bap & orchestral music as opposed to the prominent psychedelic pop/contemporary sounds of Black Yacht Rock further demonstrating his unique versatility.

Score: 4/5

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Lupe Fiasco – “Samurai” review

Chicago, Illinois emcee Lupe Fiasco is back after nearly 2 years releasing his 9th LP. Blowing up in 2005 after appearing on “Touch the Sky” off of Kanye West’s sophomore album Late Registration, he then went on to release 2 classic albums Food & Liquor and The Cool in 2006 & 2007 respectively. However, his output since then has been very inconsistent. His next album Lasers in 2011 is easily his worst yet, Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album in 2013 was just ok but then Tetsuo & Youth in 2015 was a near perfect return to form for him. Given that, I was excited to see what he was going to do in the future. DROGAS Light wound up being a disappointing mixed bag, but DROGAS Wave eventually made up for it. Drill Music in Zion produced by Soundtrakk on the other hand was a near-perfect sequel to Tetsuo & Youth, so I found him going the way of the Samurai from there to be an interesting move.

The title track sets the tone of the album by hooking up a jazzy, lo-fi boom bap instrumental comparing himself to an actual member of the powerful military caste in feudal Japan whereas “Mumble Rap” groovily talks about a woman drawn to the vibe of his remarks waking up with a song on the heart. “Cake” works in an organ & hi-hats showing his fans gratitude for sticking by him even when times were tough prior to “Palaces” bringing back the kicks & snares to talk about being tormented for so long.

“#1 Headband” jazzily kicks off the 2nd half of the album promising that he’s gonna be the one referencing WWE Hall of Famer, former 2-time WWE Champion & 2-time WWE Tag Team Champion Yokozuna just before “Bigfoot” singing the things that you’d normally keep inside your head out loud maintaining the jazz influences instrumentally.

Meanwhile on “Outside”, we have Lupe mellowly advises to wait for him out in the open nearing the conclusion of the LP leading into the piano-driven “‘Til Eternity” ending Samurai with a reference to former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion or most notable in TKO Group Holdings as WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, TNA Hall of Famer & the UFC Hall of Fame’s inaugural inductee Ken Shamrock.

“High Note” soulfully starts the deluxe run by talking about the type of music he makes grabbing people by the jugular whilst referencing WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson during the final verse while the other bonus track “SOS” finishes the extra flavor with a jazzy, lo-fi boom bap single talking about holding down the bass similarly to Guile from the カプコン-owned Street Fighter set to be played by the current 2-time WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in next spring’s theatrical reboot.

I mentioned at the beginning of the review about Lupe’s discography being inconsistent at times in the past but if we’re continuing to get albums from him on the same quality as Samurai & Drill Music in Zion, then I’m all for it because he went back-to-back here. In contrast to the latter being a sequel to one of his most acclaimed offerings, what he gives us here is a loving & living portrait to one of his all-time favorite artists: Amy Winehouse.

Score: 4.5/5

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Pharrell – “Black Yacht Rock: City of Limitless Access” review

Virginia Beach, Virginia producer, singer/songwriter, rapper, fashion designer, film composer, entrepreneur, Billionaire Boys Club/Icecream founder & Louis Vuitton’s creative director for men’s fashion Pharrell. Cementing his legacy as 1/2 of the greatest production duo of all-time The Neptunes alongside Chad Hugo, they would eventually form the side project N*E*R*D with their debut album In Search Of… going on to become a classic inspiring Tyler, The Creator amongst others. Even his 2006 solo debut In My Mind would become one of the most underrated albums ever made, even though he’s discredited it himself as “being written out of ego”. G I R L during my junior year of high school received mixed reception although I personally still enjoy the pop soul/contemporary R&B vibe of it pay tribute to all the women in his life (Case in point: “Lost Queen / Freq”). But to celebrate his 51st birthday in the midst of an ongoing lawsuit with Chad over the Neptunes trademark, Skateboard P is releasing Black Yacht Rock: City of Limitless Access on an exclusive website possibly in response to James Blake’s recent comments in regards to streaming.

“Richard Millie” is a guitar-driven opener singing about having it all behind him & not making him wait whereas the summery “Dandy Lying” discusses a woman who keeps the night alive. “Come On Donna” warmly sings about how the other type of dude just be the same leading into “Just for Fun” dabbling with funk-rock melodically makes it clear that the work must be done or the rest of this talk is simply for the fun of it. Meanwhile, “Caged Bird Free” brings a tropical atmosphere to the table welcoming you to a silver lining just before the mellow “Ball” sings about hittin’ it off with this romantic interest from the very second that they so happened to meet each other. “11:11” psychedelically admits to hating surprise since he never enjoyed surprise birthdays, but then “Who Needs Rest?” continues the slick pop rock influenced by smoother R&B styles singing about a woman who needs the night. The penultimate track “Cheryl” warmly asks not to break his spirit prior to “Going Back to VA” ending the album by catchily returning to his home state.

Anyone who truly knows me well can tell you how much I’ve always looked up to Pharrell since he’s one of the very few people out there that I can consider an idol because he really is a musical & fashionable visionary in my eyes. It’s also noteworthy that I actually get a handful of people telling me that they love how I acknowledge Chad as much as I do with P & to be quite honest, that’s because I consider him to be just as musically talented as Pharrell. The whole Neptunes trademark lawsuit as someone who has them as his top 5 producers of all-time is a real shitty situation, with Pusha T rightfully pointing out that there isn’t a dollar involved in the stupidity & that it’s really a lawyer looking to drain Chad’s pockets. Now is Black Yacht Rock: City of Limitless Access a way to distract everyone from the lawsuit? Maybe not since the recording for it began almost 3 weeks ago & the suit was filed at the beginning of the week. As far as the quality though: It’s definitely one of the best albums outside of hip hop. P’s production is inspired by psychedelic pop, contemporary R&B, the west coast sound of yacht rock, neo-soul & neo-psychedelia, he has more than enough vocal chops & the songwriting abilities to pull off performances that you’ll find winding up stuck in your head.

Score: 4.5/5

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J. Cole – “Might Delete Later” review

North Carolina rapper, singer/songwriter & producer J. Cole surprise-releasing his 4th mixtape. At this point, I’m pretty sure everyone & their mom knows who dude is. Especially given the universal acclaim of projects like The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights, Born Sinner & my personal favorite: 2014 Forest Hills Drive. However, his last 2 albums 4 Your Eyez Only & K.O.D. were both released to mixed reception. Matter of fact: my review for K.O.D. is amongst my most controversial. I don’t get shit for it anymore but at the time when I gave it a 6/10, Cole stans were on my ass for the next 2-3 weeks. Even to this day: my opinions on that & 4YEO haven’t changed at all but that’s not the point. The Off-Season was the most I’ve enjoyed a Cole project since FHD, so Might Delete Later was an interesting surprise to me.

“Pricey” featuring Gucci Mane & Young Dro is a symphonic boom bap opener produced with T-Minus & Wu10 whereas “Crocodile Tearz” works in some pianos & hi-hats talking about The Fall-Off being like JAY-Z droppin’ Reasonable Doubtlast. “Ready ‘24” featuring Cam’ron flips I’m Ready by The Diplomats fittingly enough to get on their shit again just before the trap-inflicted “Huntin’ Wabbitz” with co-production from Charlie Heat references Elmer Fudd of the longtime Warner Bros. franchise Looney Tunes.

Central C joins Cole on the acoustic trap/pop rap crossover “H.Y.B. (Hide Your Bitch)” with FNZ behind the boards advising to hide your significant others from them leading into “Fever” continuing the pop rap vibes except it’s much more groovier courtesy of ATL Jacob talking about a woman he loves & needs. “Stickz N Stonez” is my favorite on the tape bouncing back from the 2 worst whether it be the dusty Alchemist instrumental or the lyricism declaring that no one wants smoke with him, but then “Pi” featuring Ab-Soul & Daylyt goes drumless to drop straight bars for 6-minutes other than the trans line.

“Stealth Mode” featuring Bas on the bridge talks about got a lot to get off their sternums over a summery drill beat while “3001” finds Mike WiLL Made-It & Pluss of all people dabbling with boom bap dedicated I was listening less than 1000 years from now. “Trae tha Truth in Ibiza” soulfully discusses his work ethic & the now deleted “7 Minute Drill” ends the tape with Conductor Williams sampling “Energy” by Drake so Cole can come through with an admittedly weak response to Kendrick’s verse on Future’s latest album We Don’t Trust You saying he’s “washed like The Simpsons” on the Fox Corporation’s flagship property albeit trademarked by The Walt Disney Company & he has since apologized for it officially backing out of the beef.

I’m just gonna come straight out the gate by saying both J. Cole & Drake don’t have an album better than good kid m.A.A.d. city or To Pimp a Butterfly, but I think Might Delete Later is a pretty solid tape for the most part. The overall sound is more trap oriented with some jazzy undertones and J. Cole actually does sound pretty hungry here as much as he did on the previous album a couple years ago other than a few unfortunate lows. Still very excited for The Fall-Off.

Score: 2/5

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J. Cole – “The Off-Season” review

This is the long-awaited 6th full-length album from North Carolina rapper, singer/songwriter & producer J. Cole. At this point, I’m pretty sure everyone & their mom knows who dude is. Especially given the universal acclaim of projects like The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights, Born Sinner & my personal favorite: 2014 Forest Hills Drive. However, his last 2 albums 4 Your Eyez Only & K.O.D. were both released to mixed reception. Matter of fact: my review for K.O.D. is amongst my most controversial. I don’t get shit for it anymore but at the time when I gave it a 6/10, Cole stans were on my ass for the next 2-3 weeks. Even to this day: my opinions on that & 4YEO haven’t changed at all but that’s not the point. I was given hope for The Off-Season given his feature run (most notably “Family & Loyalty” off the final Gang Starr album One of the Best Yet) along with his L.A. Leakers freestyle just a couple of days ago.

The opener “95 South” pays homage to Cam’ron’s “Killa Season” from J. Cole’s flashy lyricism to even The Heatmakerz-influenced production provided by Boi-1da. Cam’ron himself makes an appearance during the intro & outro. Even the “Put Yo Hood Up” sample during the last 40 seconds is pretty cool. The next song “amari” has a more mystical feel to it instrumentally with T-Minus & Timbaland as Cole while the track “My Life” serves as a sequel to “a lot” off i am > i was from it’s soulful trap production co-produced by Jake One & Wu10 down to the surprise 21 Savage & even the subject matter.

“Applying Pressure” jumps into boom bap territory going on about how you just gotta flex sometimes whereas “Punchin’ the Clock” details teetering between enlightened & insanity over a Tae Beast instrumental that has a bit of a ghostly yet jazzy feel to it. He later incorporates a fucking Willie Hutch sample on “100 Mil” talk about how he’s been getting better over time & even though the instrumental on “Pride is the Devil” is somewhat similar to “Can’t Decide” off Aminé’s last album Limbo, I do enjoy Cole & Lil Baby’s takes on egoism quite a bit.

Meanwhile on “Let Go My Hand”, we get an instrumental from DJ Dahi & Ging that almost takes me back to 1999-era Joey Bada$$ with lyrics about making sure his son is equipped when he gets older before “interlude” incorporates a Tommy Parker sample to talk about coming a long way. “The Climb Back” has a well-flipped[Brief Encounter sample throughout with Cole rapping about being assessed as one of the all-time greats while the penultimate track “Close” surprisingly samples MF DOOM’s “Valerian Root” as the lyrics talk advise being patient with God. Then the album finishes off emotionally with “Hunger on the Hillside”, which is Cole jumping on some strings to say he’s gonna be the same man when he retires.

Although I’d have to say my current Album of the Year so far is a toss-up between Death & the Magician or Haram, I’m not gonna deny that this is hands down the most consistent J. Cole album I’ve heard since Forest Hills Drive. He sounds like he has a fire under his ass performance-wise & it’s refreshing to hear him bringing outside collaborators into the fold. If he keeps it up, It’s a Boy & The Fall Off could both shape up to be epic finales in his career.

Score: 3.5/5

J. Cole – “K.O.D.” review

j-cole-kod-cover

With his last album 4 Your Eyez Only being delivered at the end of 2016 & then doing a few features since then, North Carolina rapper/producer J. Cole unexpectedly announced a free show in New York this past Monday. It was there that he performed his 5th full-length album in it’s entirety & went on Twitter shortly after the show to announce that it was coming out for everyone else this weekend. After an intro, we go into the title track. Here, Cole gets in your face about people cramping his style as well as responding to the people saying he should have more features over a murky instrumental. The track “Photograph” has a lame topic about trying to hook up with a random girl he found on social media over a guitar/trap beat while the song “The Cut Off” talks about a disloyal woman over a somber beat.

The track “ATM” energetically talks about his fame & wealth over a laidback beat while the song “Motiv8” talks about moving on despite having all these demons over some funky bass. The track “Kevin’s Heart” goes into the point of view of a drug addict over a smooth trap beat, but it’s really corny to me. The song “Brackets” talks about his success over a smooth beat & the track “Once an Addict” talks about his mother’s alcoholism over a settle beat. The song “Friends” is basically him pouring his heart out to a drug-addicted friend of his over a gloomy beat while the penultimate track “Window Pain” talks about everything he wants over an atmospheric instrumental. The album closes with “1985” sees Cole is reflecting on his whole life up until this point over a vibraphone-boom bap beat.

While this is definitely better than Cole’s last album, that’s not really saying much. The production & the concept aren’t too bad, but his singing voice & the hooks ruin it for me. I really had hope that J. Cole would bounce back given his features on the new Jeezy album Pressure & the upcoming Royce da 5’9” album Book of Ryan but at the end of the day, this is just another mixed bag for me

Score: 3/5