I know J. Cole has his final album dropping in a week or two and I’ve seen the wave of content hyping things up and I’m just trying to play it cool… Take it a day at a time… Listen to a track or two while I wait to listen to the new album from front to back without any distractions on my side. This is the way you listen to good music. You have to chill out… You have to follow the instrumentation/beat and then see how an emcee falls in the pocket and has substance in his/her rhymes. I think it was probably this track right here when I first stopped and said, yup… Cole World is here. “Too Deep for the Intro” was that track for me. And yes I did like earlier songs but I felt Jermaine hit his lane on this track.
It wasn’t just that though… I heard “The Autograph” and it reminded me of a young Jigga on his ascension… It was such a confident flow with that horn just makes you feel like you can do anything you put your mind to. Go listen to “The Autograph” right now and come back to me… Young Simba ballin til the buzzer blow… This is just his light work… An easy finger roll through the lane… “The Autograph” sealed it for me.
The debut album missed just a bit for me… It is hard to say that about an artist you admire so much but I’m just being real with you… That album just didn’t have that Cole feel to me but…. and this is a big but… “Breakdown” to me saves the album and foreshadows that Cole got a lot to say… and man did Cole have a lot to say… Let’s not sleep on “Sideline Story” either… Not saying the album didn’t have some solid tracks but overall it just lacked something… but you saw that talent… you knew the kid was different.
You had Cole building up a strong fan base out east and Kendrick had his following out west and I think these guys saw synergy in building with each other. They had the project that they were working on once upon a time but then they had those Black Friday releases which I feel have been a bit forgotten after all these years? I know I haven’t listen to this in a minute… Come join me for the listen….
Born Sinner showed the world that Cole was back but I don’t think anybody was prepared for 2014 Forest Hills Drive. That album was amazing… That album is amazing… I legit have core memories from a very suppressed time become unlocked when listening to some tracks on this album. “Love Yourz” is such a beautiful track. It should be up there with Meth and Mary J. real talk.
“Wet Dreams” took on a life of its own and Cole had his first classic album. And it’s not just a classic album, it’s an album that I strongly feel should be in the best of lists. “January 28th” is such a vibe… Whoa… Go listen to that right now… Actually nah… let’s go “St. Tropez” for a few minutes… I didn’t even know what I was listening to but that track put me out on a boat on mellow waters out in the ocean… No worries… Just me and the track on our own… That track really hits me.
“Apparently” was like grunge rock to me… It was Cole singing and just having this conversational flow that had crazy mass appeal if the right ears heard it. This track makes me want to move… Makes me happy… Does it do anything to you? The real artists can move you for sure… Cole is one of the greats at making the audience feel something. That double up flow at the end of the track? Cmon…. Cole… Legit.
and then on 4 Your Eyez Only Cole is out here showing us all up and telling his girl he wants to fold clothes for her? You do realize that every time you fold clothes you have to listen to this track right? Nah really… starting now, you have to listen to “Foldin’ Clothes” every time you fold clothes… Got it? aight good…
wait… then KOD? Wow… Cole has a legit catalog… You know “The Cut Off” right???? Man… That track? Whoa… That album?? Whoa… I think of a couple friends specifically when I listen to Cole… I can vividly remember how nuts they were going when this album dropped… and yes, they were spot on. This album? The artwork? The beats… All produced by Cole btw… We haven’t mentioned that yet… This album is crazy.
I can really go on and on… That Dreamville compilation? This track??? Mind blown over and over again… Tracks that you can play on repeat, not listen to for years, and then come back and you’re right where you last were… that is dope… “Under the Sun” is a classic vibe to me… it truly is…
J. Cole’s new and final album, The Fall-Off is set to come out soon… One thing is for sure… there has never been a fall off for Jermaine… So what does The Fall Off mean to you? And why does it have the hyphen? hmmm… to me, The Fall-Off means J. Cole is going to fall off the face of earth on the artist side and move into a new career path for himself. But what do I know? I’m just a fan who thinks way too much about all of this shit!
There are a million other songs I could have included in this little write up… J. Cole probably goes on my Mt. Rushmore… I don’t know how he couldn’t. But let’s see how this final album hits… final tour maybe too? i really hope… i’ve never seen him… you?