I know, I know: this is the guy you've been wanting for me to write about this month. I planned on getting to this a while ago, but, you know, shit happens.
(Today's Reader Review comes from longtime contributer @jbizzle_03, who elected to buy me a few more days and write about J. Cole's third full length album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Leave some comments for him below.)
As one of the more anticipated albums of 2014, 2014 (coincidence, right?) Forest Hills Drive aimed to finally kill off Jermaine Cole's doubters once and for all. Born Sinner, his sophomore effort, brought juxtaposed reviews, many loved it and many hated it. In my own opinion, it had a few songs in which Cole showed flashes of real talent. For example, the whole "faggot" spiel in Villuminati--I still see that as one of his best displays of lyricism. On to Forest Hills. Being Cole's third album, it drew quite a bit of attention from everyone from bloggers to radio listeners.
Will this be the project in which he finally establishes himself as one of hip hop's premier emcees? Let's get to it.
In today's era, theres always someone given the label of hip hops saviors or proclaimed as the next great rapper. In most cases one thing leads to another and these rappers fall into obscurity or are known disappointments. One that comes to mind is Lupe Fiasco. First two albums were great, but who even knows what the fuck he is rapping about nowadays. Most recently we have Kendrick Lamar, who appears to actually be fulfilling those expectation as good kid, M.A.A.D. City was one of the best albums is 2012. In between those two artists was North Carolina native J Cole.
Jermaine Cole had been generating a bit of buzz on the internet but jumped onto the national stage seemingly over night. J Cole trio of mixtapes were highly praised by both fans and critics, hence giving him the infamous Nas comparisons. Those comparisons were proclaimed so loudly that Cole got himself a deal with Rocafella Records. When it was time to release his major label he dropped Cole World, which fucking sucked. Not even "this was a disappointment bad", but more of "this is the worst album released this millennium, I'm finished listening to hip hop. Where's a refrigerator I can throw."
Fast forward to the current day and we've got Jermaine moving his album release date up to compete with Kanye. I'm sure he, along with everyone else, knew he was going to lose this sales battle, but the publicity he gained from the move proved that it was the right choice. I ended up buying both (sorry Mac) because for some reason I thought I had money to blow at the time. A decision I'm currently regretting as I'm sitting here with exactly zero dollars.
I'd like to note that this album is largely produced by J Cole. I'm not all that familiar with his work on the boards but I know that he produced HiiPower by Kendrick Lamar, which makes anything he does up to his point tolerable. Seriously, that's one of the best instrumental I've heard in a long time. There's a few others that produce a couple songs but none of them matter enough for me to learn their names. Since I don't know much J Cole production, Born Sinner worries me as a whole. I'm trying to be optimistic, though. There's no way he could go any farther downhill after his debut.
At least there's no worry of a sophomore slump...
1. Villuminati According to our host, this shits gonna be way darker this time, which seems to be the case based on this song. Cole proceeds to slay faggots with his verbal AK. He sounds like he's back in the early nineties comparing his lyrics to guns and shit. Next, he uses the word "faggot" to show how sensitive we are. He seems to realize how politically incorrect that is so he kind of goes back on his wordplay only to say "faggot" two more times in the next sentence while giving his explanation. Best of all, he tries to turn the tables and say we're the ones that are homophobic. There was also some lines about getting fucked in the ass or some shit but I was too busy laughing at the absurdity of this situation. The song doesn't spin too far out of control and I actually enjoy it.
My verbal AK slay f**gots../ I dont mean no disrespect when I say f**got…ok f**got? /Dont be so sensitive..if you wanna get fucked in the ass / Thats between you n whoever dick it is / Pause…maybe that line was too far / Jus a little joke to show you how homophobic you are
2. Kearney Sermon (Skit) This shits just terrible. It has no place on my IPod nor does it further develop the idea that J Cole is a born sinner or whatever the hell the theme of this album is. Could've just added it to the end of the last song if he thought it was that necessary.
3. Land Of The Snakes First off, you have to know the expectations I had for this shit. A large portion of the sampling comes from Outkast's Da Art Of Storytellin' Pt. 1. I don't know if Cole noticed or not but that's my favorite Outkast song ever and Aquemini, the album this song appears on, is on my list if top ten favorite rap albums ever. So Jermaine, I really can't have you shitting all over this song and disrespecting it. End result: it was good enough for me not to get pissed over. He actually added some nice additions to the instrumental and I loved the vocals. Most of the rapping was pretty boring but like I said, its just good enough.
4. Power Trip (Feat. Miguel) Hated the shit when it came out, not a damn things changed since. In a song featured later in the album we hear about J Coles disappointment over the fact that Nas hated "Work Out", because he didn't sound like himself. If you've heard the song you know that Jermaine is fucking demoralized over the situation and makes it seem like he's going to make it up to Nas. He sound genuine but goes and does this bullshit. This is "Work Out" on steroids, in the worst way possible. The flute on the beat is fantastic but the rest is cheesy as hell. You can call it a spoiler if you want but this is the worst shit in the album.
5. Mo' Money (Interlude) Would have served better as a full length song, but I really enjoyed this one. Instrumental isn't anything special but J Coles rapping is as good as its been since his earlier mixtapes. The lyrics in this thing are pretty nice too, but his flow is what's making this one. High quality song.
6. Trouble This instrumental is actually disgustingly good. That heavy baseline behind the choir makes this song almost feel epic. Its really a shame that Cole rapping is fucking terrible, especially in the hook. Whoever the hell told Jermaine he could sing should be shot for letting this happen. The thing about his lyrics is that he'll say something really clever then lay a rhyme that's twice corny in the very next line. The previous mentioned instrumental makes this completely tolerable though.
7. Runaway I appreciate the attempt to make more of a jazzier instrumental, but this beat is just alright. It not bad at all but it left me with more of a meh feeling. Heavier drums would have helped this track immensely. If you're wondering my opinion about the lyrics please refer to the second sentence. Also, I also find it amusing that he named his song after a Kanye track on top of dropping his album the same day. Probably not much to it but get your own titles my man. Just watch him release a song called "Gold Digger" next.
8. She Knows (Feat. Amber Coffman) Come on Cole, I though this shit was supposed to be darker this time. I'm not gonna like it but I'm cool with a few love songs on your album. I wouldn't classify this as a love song but this shit is soft as hell. All these Nas comparison just need to stop if this type of song is going to be a reoccurring theme. You think Nas was disappointed in "Work Out" he going to strait up hate you for a few songs on this album. Don't remember anything he even said in his verses aside from a Black Star reference. This shit is like sonic chloroform. Pick it up Jermaine.
9. Rich N****z Instead of a generic song about his proficiency in getting money this is actually an ode to Coles hatred for people who have money. The idea isn't bad at all but this song was boring as shit. The lyrics aren't bad by any means and are actually some of his best on the album but that instrumental is just terrible. The monotonous tone is just killing any type of momentum he could have built. Overall, this song had a lot of potential but was poorly executed.
10. Where's Jermaine (Skit) Like the last skit, Cole should have just added this to the end of the last song if he thought it was necessary. This is unnecessary as fuck.
11. Forbidden Fruit (Feat. Kendrick Lamar) Before you jump to any conclusion, this is one of my favorite song on the album but let me voice my grievances. This song uses a sample from "Electric Relaxation", one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Cole fully acknowledges this and everything but he knows damn fucking well that most of the bitches that listen to this have no idea what the hell A Tribe Called Quest is and they'll think he he thought up this nifty instrumental. End of the day though, this song is dope is hell and I love it. Really wish Kendrick could have dropped a verse, though.
12. Chaining Day Training Day, but with a Chain, get it. Sorry Cole, you're not as clever as you would like to think. Song title is kind of lazy, but I'm really liking this song right now. The concept of chains not making you cool if good enough but I'm really impressed with Coles rapping for the most part. The piano on the instrumental is fantastic as well. Unfortunately, Cole sings the same damn line for like five minutes after his rapping ends. If we could've just let the beat fade out I'm sure a few minutes could have been saved.
13. Ain't That Some Shit (Interlude) Jermaine, what are you doing man. This instrumental is great and he is dropping some straight fire, but he reduces this to an interlude. The beat sounds like it came straight out of the early 2000s, in a good way. Another verse would have topped this shit off and would've made this a great song. Still enjoyed it regardless.
14. Crooked Smile (Feat. TLC) The fuck am I doing right now. Imma go listen to some wu tang and finish this shit tomorrow.
15. Let Nas Down At first it seems like this is Coles rendition of Kanye West's "Big Brother", a fantastic song as well, but takes a turn after Nas hears "Work Out" and hated that shit. I feel bad for the guy honestly, he made a whole song dedicated to this situation. I really wish he'd do something about this, though. At this age, Nas was recording "New York State Of Mind" while you got J Cole over here making "Power Trip". Like I said earlier, he's gonna hate you for that shit. The beat is good enough, but this song is still awesome.
16. Born Sinner (Feat.@Fauntleroy) First, I've got to address how horrible the name of the feature is. Gotta do better than that @Fauntleroy. Other than that, I liked this song a lot. Not sure exactly why either, because it kind of gave me a Sideline Story flashback. The instrumental is fittingly corny but I enjoyed it along with the vocals in the hook. Also, I feel like it addresses the Born Sinner thing for the first time since the intro.
Rating: 3/5 I'm feeling a very light 3 although I'm not sure it really deserves it. I just don't feel right giving it the same rating as Yeezus. That being said, Born Sinner is approximately ten times better than Cole World, which means he's going in the right direction. The first like five tracks start off really up tempo and for the most part, the shits banging. Somewhere in the middle the tempo slows down and never manages to pick back up. J Cole just stays too calm the entire time and I wouldn't mind seeing him with a bigger ego. Cole and his producers seem to work so in sync with each other that it becomes a fault. A large portion of the second half feels very similar and Jermaine keeps the same style and tempo of rapping for about ten tracks. A couple guest features that don't fucking blow (Kendrick) would have been a great way to pick this shit up. Now I'm done complaining, this is still a good, sometimes great album. I can listen to this album from front to back and enjoy it, although there's a few songs I could deal without. Most of my problems come after repeated listens or after the albums is over. Even though I gave Born Sinner such a high score I'm going to have to recommend you pass this one up. Its technically proficient but a lot of these song blend in together and J Cole is still discovering how he wants to be perceived as an artist.