Yeah, everybody seemed to be talking about the kid j.cole, who is the new rapper on the block, who is signed to "jay-z's" ROC NATION rap label. It is almost like i have slept on the guy so far.
I remember last christmas, one of my friend comes over and keeps saying j.cole this, j.cole that, trying to make me listen to all the guys mixtapes songs at the same time. But their is something i hate, and that is being forced to like someone, or being forced to listen and feel a rapper. I have to discover a rapper; he has to catch me with a line or two, or a verse, or a couple verses, or a couple songs, before i can say, yes, this dude is fire; this dude is a problem, but i didn't. Maybe it is because there wasn't a lot of his songs being played on radio, and i have not been listening to songs on the internet lately, but i think i would go ahead and start listening to his sings from now on.
Infact, i will go over to youtube right now, and listen to about 5 of his songs; or better still, i will get his two mixtapes, "the come up", and "the warm up" and see what i feel about him after that.
Below is what he had to say about his two mixtapes at a recent interview:
“I don’t think either one of them I like better. I mean certain days, I’m feelin’ a certain way and I’d probably pick one over the other. But I think
The Come Up was way more raw; it’s raw just straight rappin'. I am just trying to prove I can really rap with anybody, I can hang with anybody. I was trying to keep up with the
[Lil] Wayne’s and all that at that time. And then
The Warm Up was more so me trying to show that I can put together an album and a body of work, something with songs, and a concept, and it flows, and a sequence that tells a story. So that’s more like what
The Warm Up was about. I think my style was more represented with
The Warm Up. That’s my style now.”
Cole's style heard on
The Warm Up seems to be effective, as quite a few songs have been huge successes with his fan base. “Lights Please” and “Get Up” are two such songs, and are also favorites of the North Carolina rapper. “Those are some of my favorites too. I think people like when you talk about something these days. It’s more than just the generic flashy ‘I get a lot of girls, I’m fly.' I do those songs and those verses [too], and those are cool, but how many of those can you do? So I think it's refreshing for people to hear somebody actually hitting you with a concept, and talking about issues, and not in a corny way. Some rappers do it, but it’s corny like, ‘Man I don’t want to hear this nigga preaching to me on this song.' But to me, I feel like it doesn’t come off preachy, I feel like it’s almost like we are having a conversation. I am almost like your friend, some days we talk about bullshit, and some days we actually talk about some real shit. I feel like that’s how you feel when you listen to my music. Whatever you want to discuss, I got a song for.”
When asked what artists he would like to produce, J. Cole stated, “I would do a whole
Nas album, I feel like I got one more classic waiting. I believe that somehow if he someone reads this, I got a classic waiting for him. I’d produce a
Wale album. If I could really get my weight up, I would produce a Beyonce album. Not just because she’s Beyonce and she’s the biggest, just because I feel like she’s the best.”
Though J. Cole’s career is just beginning, he has big plans for himself in the next five years. “I hope to have four or five classic albums. And just have more freedom to do what I want. If I want to write a movie, I want to be able to write a movie, if I want to act, I want to be able to act. I want to have my production game on a whole other level. I want to be respected as a producer, really respected as a producer. So hopefully that will take off too.”
With his debut album currently in the works, fans have been anxious for the arrival of the album. We asked J. Cole to tell us in one sentence, what we can expect from his album. With a confident answer, he replied, “Something that lasts forever.”
Hmm!! I don't know what to say still, but i sure will listen to a whole lot more of his songs, cos he keep bringing up NAS's name in every of his interviews, and you guys know that nas is my favorite rapper of all time.
Anyhow it goes down, remember i told you about the kid j.cole.
J. Cole's debut album has been in the making for years, and it doesn't appear he's ready to commit to a release date.
