My music world has already been infiltrated with new rap superstars that have included Drake, Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa, B.o.B and Wale. So when J.Cole popped up on the scene, he didn't intrigue me or catch my attention so I showed no interest in him, even though I liked his contribution to Jay-Z's A Star Is Born (from his Blueprint 3 album) and Cole's street/buzz track, Who Dat. Over the past two years, the buzz around him seemed to gain rapid momentum so now that I eventually listened to his new album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, its safe to say that though he has not won me over as a fan, I must admit that he has something special.
His debut not only boasts of guest stars that include Jay-Z on the futuristic Mr Nice Watch, Trey Songz on Can't Get Enough and Missy Elliott on Nobody's Perfect, but just like almost all debuts, a lot of the music seems to come from a personal place and describe personal experiences. On Breakdown, he raps "Just seen my father for the first time in a minute/And when I say a minute I mean years man/Damn, a whale could have swam in them tears fam" then on Nothing Lasts Forever he raps about being in a relationship that just couldn't work out, the chrous goes "I tried, I tried, we tried/All of the times that we had together/We should've known nothing lasts forever". In my opinion apart from the aforementioned songs, the songs that caught my listening ear include the religious Rise and Shine, the r&b influenced Work Out and Lost Ones.
Like I mentioned earlier, though I am not a fan, I can honestly say that J. Cole is something sepecial. He may be signed to Roc Nation, but he lacks the commercial appeal that have made Drake and B.o.B successful crossover rappers. In the coming years, depending on how innovative he is and how the team behind him are able to sell him to a wider audience, I see him having a long-lasting career.
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