Is J. Cole's production holding him back???

humble Hermit

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I tried to figure of what about J Cole that I didn't like. To me he's a good lyricist, has good presence and decent lines. I know he produces most of his shyt and has made bangers of beats in the past, but lately, his beats are very bland sounding. Nothing Dynamic and sounds outdated. If you listen to someone like Ye, every year he tried to push the envelope. At one point it was Cole>>> Wale. Now it's the opposite. Wale did a 180 when he joined MMG. Wale can jump on any kind of track, hate him or love him. I also feel he needs to stop singing/Harmonizing on tracks. Not all lightskin nikkas need to sing my nikka.

Curren$y to me is the only semi mainstream nikka that can do justice to soul beats and it's moreso his content. Chill smoking laid back vibe beats talking about getting head from a college chic or Sallie Mae any day in this era. I would like to hear Cole over some Mike Will or Hitboy.
 

producingfire

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I hear where you are coming from, I don't think his production is holding him back. sometimes everything just falls where it falls. A lot of things go on behind the scenes that we don't have access to.
 

x2y

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Holding him back?

I think he is over achieving.

Power trip stays playing his last album did good numbers too. Yea his production isn't the greatest but he isn't exactly Canibus.
 

MrGovan

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You might be on to something.
ponder-o.gif
 

humble Hermit

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Holding him back?

I think he is over achieving.

Power trip stays playing his last album did good numbers too. Yea his production isn't the greatest but he isn't exactly Canibus.

I just feel he could be a lot bigger artist than is is now. They took him off that Miguel track after like 6months of playing in favor of K. Lamar. He was getting that same type of hype Kendrick is getting now few years ago. Now he's fading imo
 

x2y

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I just feel he could be a lot bigger artist than is is now. They took him off that Miguel track after like 6months of playing in favor of K. Lamar. He was getting that same type of hype Kendrick is getting now few years ago. Now he's fading imo

I hear what you saying, but I blame that on putting out an album that's not as good as his mixtapes were they disappearing soon after.
 

jwinfield

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I just feel he could be a lot bigger artist than is is now. They took him off that Miguel track after like 6months of playing in favor of K. Lamar. He was getting that same type of hype Kendrick is getting now few years ago. Now he's fading imo

He was fading because he wasn't putting out music.

He put out a single and it hit 20.
 

AveRocca

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Exactly the way I feel. Not that he never makes quality beats for himself, Power Trip is an example of a quality beat that he made himself and turned into a hit song, but to me, he has so many tracks on his shyt that are cool raps over average ass beats. You made the Wale comparison and I think it's spot on. They're both talented lyrically, Wale's a little more versatile but Cole has a flow that appeals to a lot of people, but Wale's been mining talented producers for vicious beats for a minute now.

[ame=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RPfxHk0RQDM]Wale - Legendary - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ZsU5sntKo]Wale - Heaven In The Afternoon - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XKVLAWUfbjk"]Wale - Barry Sanders (Download) (The Eleven One Eleven Theory) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9r2pCUZ9cAk]Wale - Bait Feat. TCB - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8xcnLDi0a8]Wale - Love Hate Thing Ft. Sam Dew (Official Audio) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p0QNbmoFghk"]Wale Ft Nipsey Hussle - Chun Li ; Folarin (NEW DECEMBER 2012) - YouTube[/ame]

And I could go on and on. I'm a big fan of both, but when I listen to a new Wale track there's just a different, fresh type of energy to each one that's not typically there with a Cole track and I think it's clear that beat selection is a huge reason for it. It's not like Wale is just on a different tier than youngin lyrically, he just does a much better job of marrying assorted, vibrant beats with quality lyricism than Cole does consistently. That's why, IMO, he's made the better music over the last few years.

I still think Cole is dope though, but I feel like he's operating at 85% capacity rather than 100, and it's mostly a product of somewhat repetitive, kinda bland beat choices that restrict him a little bit.
 

CaughtInTWebb

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No.

Like dude said above...Cole is overachieving...he faded because he wasn't putting out music....

Big Fan of Cole....I honestly don't get all the hate(not saying that's what you're doing) that dude gets.....
 

Piff Perkins

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It's true. His drums and base remain weak, and it hurts the music. I don't see how he can listen to the radio and then produce the stuff he does...all that piano shyt doesn't work anymore. I like Power Trip but even that has problems (mainly, the bass).

Whatever, he's clearly too arrogant to change things.
 
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