If J Cole's next album is the same as his last 2, is he still an elite artist?

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

I personally don't think he's performing on a level of any of his peers right now...I think he may have a writing problem because he wants to be taken seriously as a real spitter..but then none of his bars ever achieve what his intentions are.

And I personally see Cole running into the problem Nas had with production...his stubbornness to use outside production is hurting him. You can't keep giving him props for production for the sake of production anymore.

Cole has a "message"....but he doesn't have the catalog to back any of it up. I just feel like its a student trying really hard and only getting a B/B+.

 

[BlackMamba824]

Coming from someone that thoroughly enjoyed Cole's earlier work "The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights", I believe J. Cole is seen as an "elite artist" at this point for a few reasons: 1) he's obviously a popular mainstream artist currently that 2) instead of fitting the mold of the majority of music serves as a semi-conscious rapper that speaks on his experiences, "addresses issues", etc. coupled with the fact that 3) there aren't many other mainstream artists that deserve that "elite" tag either when looking at the history of hip hop instead of just "what's hot right now"

Your last line comparing him to a student trying really hard and only getting a B/B+ is exactly how I feel. I know lots of fans in real life that believe that 2014 FHD is a classic just because: "it's the album he always wanted to make; it went platinum without any features/singles; he made the album by himself; it's a concept;" and while those things are interesting feats, the music itself has never resonated with me, and none of those points actually speaks to how the MUSIC actually sounds. His flow often sounded uninspired in spite of the overall message being admirable to say the least in addition to the fact that you can only speak on your "come up" and create songs about it for so long.

In addition, as with many other artists that are marketed as "the next Nas, Jay, etc." I think there is a certain amount of credit given to his work because he's "talking about experiences, tackling social issues, etc"; however, if I wanna hear Nas, Jay, Tupac, etc I can listen to those artists instead.

 

[Not The Ruler O9]

Cole shyts on your hero

his catalog > drakes

 

[altruicsense]

just enjoy the music breh.. all this overanalyzing..

 

[Sauce Dab]

Imo Cole has never been an elite artist but he has the best fan base in rap so his sells say otherwise
I see the talent but all his songs are the same
I'm ready to see what his next album will be like tho because he can't do that college/virgin rap anymore so he has to do new material and experiment
This thread will somehow start talking about Drake
Edit: it's already started

 

[H. Selassie]

I don't see the issue some have with Cole's production. I think his beats really create an atmosphere and more vivid listening experience


Prime example these two tracks....







Those beats sound exactly like the two places they're named after in terms of feel/imagery. That takes special creativity and talent.

 

[Ziggiy]

I see where OP is coming from but I think he broke the mold and came into his own with FHD.

I throughly enjoyed that album top to bottom.

The issue with Cole is, that like Wale', he hasn't made that DEFINING piece of work that sets him apart from the rest of the pack. Krit has this issue too. All three are vastly talented artists with CLASSIC Mixtapes under their belt (Cole and Krit have two in my opinion) but when it comes to making albums they haven't quite dropped that project where everybody is like "AHA...THIS is the shyt we've been waiting for"

Drake has Take Care (though it's not a classic, that project really pushed him into the upper echelon and cemented him as a commercial/critical force)
Kendrick has GKMC AND TPAB




J.Cole I feel is RIGHT on the cusp. He really tapped into something special with FHD, if he can bring it all home and nail his next album it'll prove naysayers and doubters wrong. He has a classic album in him, it just takes the right mixtures of lyrics, flow, subject matter, and production. He can do it

 

[BlackMamba824]

I see where OP is coming from but I think he broke the mold and came into his own with FHD.

I throughly enjoyed that album top to bottom.

The issue with Cole is, that like Wale', he hasn't made that DEFINING piece of work that sets him apart from the rest of the pack. Krit has this issue too. All three are vastly talented artists with CLASSIC Mixtapes under their belt (Cole and Krit have two in my opinion) but when it comes to making albums they haven't quite dropped that project where everybody is like "AHA...THIS is the shyt we've been waiting for"

Drake has Take Care (though it's not a classic, that project really pushed him into the upper echelon and cemented him as a commercial/critical force)
Kendrick has GKMC AND TPAB




J.Cole I feel is RIGHT on the cusp. He really tapped into something special with FHD, if he can bring it all home and nail his next album it'll prove naysayers and doubters wrong. He has a classic album in him, it just takes the right mixtures of lyrics, flow, subject matter, and production. He can do it

I agree that he's headed in that direction with each album being better than the last, but I think that a lot of people are anxious to give him that classic label when he hasn't quite made it yet. Depending on one's expectations for Cole that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but as someone heralded as one of the top artists in today's rap game he, unlike, the others that you mentioned has failed to create that OMG moment for himself where everyone in the game stopped and had to pay attention.

 

[Nobodyknows]

I agree that he's headed in that direction with each album being better than the last, but I think that a lot of people are anxious to give him that classic label when he hasn't quite made it yet. Depending on one's expectations for Cole that isn't necessarily a bad thing, but as someone heralded as one of the top artists in today's rap game he, unlike, the others that you mentioned has failed to create that OMG moment for himself where everyone in the game stopped and had to pay attention.

I've said this before and I think that he's just trying to make a classic discography rather than a classic album. FHD was something completely different musically in comparison to his other projects so in a decade or so when people look back at it, they'll see a range of different variety. That's just what I think though

 

[Taadow]

This dude said "still"...