Let me start by saying, I was one of those people who never really gravitated towards J.Cole’s music.  I thought that he was a great rapper, and even with the Jay-Z cosign, he was never able to make an overall great song– there always seemed to be something missing.   There’s obviously tracks from his discography: The Come Up, The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights, and all the Any Given Sundays, that definitely are the exception–however, none of these tracks have been singles.   Which leads to another reason why J.Cole’s music and I were never connected… I have never really cared for any of his singles aside from “Work Out” that is kind of growing on me.   I definitely loved “Too Deep For The Intro” “2Face” “See World” and “Looking for Trouble,” all of which I feel had single quality but were not selected.  (I realize that this re not radio friendly songs, but such dope)

I also felt that they were waiting too long to finally release his project and that they were going to somewhat kill his buzz– four years after he first entered the scene, two years after he got known more and we finally get a project.  With all that being said, my expectations for his debut album were not that high until I listened to “Breakdown” from the album.

The first two verses of this track made me feel some kind of way, kind of like Lupe Fiasco’s “He Say She Say” from his debut album, Food and Liquor.  You can see exactly why I like the lyrics below courtesy, Rap Genius.

“Look, I just shed tears homie and now I ain’t too proud to admit it/ 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/ cause as I left em’ I reflected on my younger days/ When it was just me and my brother and my mother played father cause no other man bothered/ not even my biological, it never seemed logical/ but I accepted it cause I ain’t know no better/ Thought I was brighter than a Polo sweater/  No pops was like Martin with no Coretta/  So many things you could have told me/ And saved me the trouble of letting my mistakes show me/ I feel like you barely know me/ And that’s a shame cause our last name is the same/ That blood type flowing through our veins is the same/ My mama left you and it may be that anger’s to blame/ But that’s no excuse, only you and God know the truth/ And why you only call monthly, barely ever saw me/ Spend some summers with you and played with my cousin Maury/ Maybe I should be tellin’ you fuck you cause you selfish/ But I want a father so bad, I can’t help but…
Break down, I break down
Can’t help but break down

I never thought I’d see my mama on that shit, man/ It’s fucking with her body, now she sick, damn/ I wanted a big house with a white picket fence and a pool/ Who would have ever thought that it would come to this, man? Quicksand is what this life feel like/ That shit these rappers kick is nothing like real life/ You made a milli off of servin’ hard white? yeah right/ My mama tell you what addicted to that pipe feel like/ Stupid niggas, I heard the cops be shooting niggas/ I swear to god, wish I could bullet proof my niggas/ Can’t get no jobs, but they still recruiting niggas/ We tryna stand tall when it get too crucial niggas”

Aside from “Breakdown” I also liked the intro, “Dollar and A Dream III” “Sideline Story” “Lost Ones” “Nobody’s Perfect” (Missy! I could use a whole Missy R&B album– a full album) “Never Told” ‘Work Out” and “Nothing Lasts Forever,” which is a pretty good chunk of the album.  I think this album is worth a purchase especially if you’re one of the people quoting “Cole World on Twitter.”  Also, make sure you check out this dope write up about J.Cole on behalf of his friends here.