It sure didn't take long for me to jump aboard the J. Cole bandwagon. Once I heard his 2010 mixtape Friday Night Lights that was it. I was impressed with his lyricism, story telling ability and over all poetic sound. Traits you won't find in many of these new school rappers. Not to mention he's a pretty good producer as well. His 2011 debut Cole World: The Sideline Story was easily one of my favorite albums from that year. Probably one of the best debut's in a long time. It's for that reason why this, his sophomore album Born Sinner, is one of my most anticipated albums of 2013. Now again, coming off of a stellar debut and a series of exceptional mixtapes, many including myself had very high expectations for this album. My only questions prior to listening to this was what route would Cole go as far as sound and content this time. Will it stay the same? Will a bit more mainstream sound be involved? Would he flex his producing skills and experiment with out of the ordinary beats? Turns out he didn't change much since the last album. What he did however was get more creative concept wise. I thought this album was very well done. Especially from a creativity stand point. Now I'm sure many people didn't notice one thing because even I didn't notice it until listening to this twice. Cole tried to make a attempt at a concept album. The album title is Born Sinner and on a lot of the songs he is speaking on many acts of sin. Not only within the industry but in life period. In particular, the seven deadly sins (hence the seven gold lines on the album cover). I know that probably should have been quite obvious from the get go but you never really put it all together until you've listened to the whole album. Well now on to some notable tracks. By far my favorite track on this album without question is "Let Nas Down". I knew this would be my favorite before even listening to it. Anyone that knows me knows that Nas is my favorite rapper of all time. To hear Cole make a song paying homage to a legend that many critics have been comparing him to was extremely dope. On the song he basically talks about growing up on Nas's music, his influence on him, meeting him for the first time etc. What really hit home was when he mentioned how Nas wasn't feeling his first single from his last album ("Work Out"). It made him feel bad and felt like he "let Nas down". This is why I have a huge level of respect for J. Cole because a lot of these other new rappers aren't doing this like this. Saluting the ground breakers. The last one I can remember that's similar to this was Asher Roth's 2009 track "As I Em" where he was paying homage to Eminem. Very dope song. "Trouble" was another dope track. I loved the soulful choir on the hook. Really brought the song to life. The song "Born Sinner" was another soulful choir assisted track that ended the album on a very good note. It also featured a good hook from James Fauntleroy. On "Niggaz Know" he does some fast spitting while borrowing a few of Biggie's lines from "Notorious Thugs". It was a cool track. The last track (for the deluxe edition) "Sparks Will Fly" was cool too and very catchy. I love Jhene Aiko's voice on the hook. 'Rich Niggaz" was an interesting song where he talking about how many with riches let it take over them and forget who they are and where they came from. Also how the less fortunate sometimes envy them but shouldn't because they should be happy with what they do got. There's a lot more but I'll keep it short. "Chaining Day" has this smooth throwback sound that I really liked. He was talking about how chains/jewelry makes or changes people and changes other people perception on them. "New York Times" is a surprising collaboration between him and 50 Cent where he's basically just giving big ups to New York City. Cool song. "Land Of The Snakes" and "Miss America" we're two other notables for as well. My cons with the album are nothing major. "Forbidden Fruit" was a song that I actually did like but I was just disappointed that Kendrick Lamar was only on the hook. I would have loved to hear hip hop's two lyrical leaders of the new school go bar for bar but whatever. It's still a cool song. The single "Power Trip" I try to force myself to like but I don't know I just can't. The beat isn't that bad. It's very jazzy sounding. But just like with the singles from the last album, this may be a glaring weakness for Cole. He's not really that good at singles for the ladies. "Ain't That Some Shit" is an interlude and that's exactly why I have a problem with it. It's a uptempo and more radio friendly song but it's not a full song. It should have been. Almost sounds like something that would have been on Jay-Z and Kanye's Watch The Throne album. The production overall is a bit of a concern. Like I said J. Cole is a good producer and he will get better as the years go on, but I feel like a lot of the beats on here, as well as previous projects, are very soft, mellow and non-energized. Which makes some people call his music "boring". I understand that he does this kind of production to go with his deep and poetic song topics but I'd like to see him use more louder, broader beats with more energy. They don't have to necessarily sound mainstream but just liven them up more. Well in conclusion, I definitely did enjoy this album and the concept applied to it. I give it a final grade of a B. I still believe his last album was better but this one was enjoyable. J. Cole at this rate is on pace to really become another Nas or even another 2Pac from a poetic stand point. Hip hop could certainly use more young minds like J. Cole. It's clear that the messages he delivers in his music, he wants the world to hear it and learn from it. He want to be a teacher and someone positive that the much younger generation can call a role model. Just like the ground breakers before him. Like I said if he keeps it up, he'll become the same thing that the rappers he looked up to all his life are. A legend. End.
Final Grade: B
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