J. Cole – Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011) [ROC Nation] // Grade: C-

If you were a J. Cole fan for the last thousand years, or if you had been bumpin’ J. Cole since before Mariah was pregnant, I’ve got to believe that your worst fears have come true. That’s right, J. Cole’s debut LP is a dud. That’s not to say that Cole himself is a dud because dude is definitely an incredibly capable rapper with an appreciable style, his ear for drums might be the best in Top40 Hip Hop, and he understands the difference between making an album, and stringing together the right features. I gotta believe that on some level Cole was impassioned by all the music here. The problem is that the sum of the parts of his soul that he poured out wound up being less than compelling. Now, why it wound up that this record is almost wholly unmemorable is impossible to pin down without sufficient insider info. I don’t have that info, but I’ll do my best to sum up what EYE think MAY have happened here.

Now, Cole put out a debut mixtape in 2007, and in early 2009 got picked up by Jay-Z. Since then he put out another mixtape, and did some features, and got a very healthy buzz, and recorded this album. Meanwhile Jay-Z released 2 records. And, while Cole is still way ahead of many of the other XXL 2010 freshmen, that’s not by virtue of their successes. Big Sean and Wiz Khalifa have risen to notable pop acclaim, but it would seem that only the latter has done so in a lasting fashion. But, even with their accomplishments, what Wiz and Sean accomplish, Cole had the moment that he signed with Jay. Everybody already cares about J. Cole. And so, while we expected an album the invisible machinations of the ROC intervened.

Maybe at this point you’ve picked up on my sentiments towards Kanye West. I think he is involved int eh production of incredible art, but I also think that he is just despicable when it comes to taking credit for so many other people’s work. I don’t like the fact that other people write his raps for him without explicit credit. And so, as my mind is imbued with a proclivity, I can’t help but wonder whether or not Cole was being milked for raps, and had his work taken from him. It wouldn’t be far-fetched in the slightest. Maybe Cole’s album came out in pieces, from other people’s mouths. But, that’s purely theoretical. But, really though, can you think of a logical reason that this record would have taken this long?

“Lights Please” was on dude’s debut mixtape. And, while I can see how material can remain relevant for 4 years, I don’t see how the debut album from an artist under intense scrutiny for his lack of an album, could possibly have room for a 4 year old song. It’s probably about licensing, and publishing and shit, but damn, drop an EP or something. Which brings another massive oversight: J Cole is not Danny Brown. We don’t need 19 tracks of J. Cole. We needed: 12 dino-size heat rocks. We got: 19 iguana-sized heat rocks. And over the course of those 19 tracks there is no arc, and there are not enough moments to keep me engaged. And that would be fine. If J. Cole were doing 1890’s Erik Satie Vexation raps. But he’s not doing Vexation raps, he’s doing 2011 dude raps. Tepidly.

I mean, I gotta give it to dude for hangin’ on. Plenty of XXL freshmen haven’t lasted this long. But dude really needs to reassess his strategy. I mean, he’s playing in the action figure rapper league, and he’s basically like Duke or Lt. Falcon. Cole is kinda straddling two fences with this record. It’s one part old man arm chair raps, and one part young man on the grind contemporary raps. I’m sure there are some folks out there who love this album, but to me it lacks vigor. And that’s not surprising, if you look at it objectively. Things that are delayed and put off too long often fail to be electric or magical. They are often unmemorable. Unfortunately, I think this was the only way this record was gonna turn out with the endless delays which should characterize a disconnected corporate major label, not one run by a rapper. I just hope dude has the sense to take his career into his hands, and start living through his music in the present. I’m honestly very interested to see what he does next, and I’m sure his career is far from over.

- Zachg