Going to say my two cents. First of all, to me, and that's the only opinion I rely on is my own, I feel the entire album is brilliant. The core concept, albeit not an original one, we had anti-drug/addiction albums before and the feel of the album is no different from Melle Mel's "White Lines" which feels like a rush or druggy high, I found it all being cohesive and not with filler and it sounded great. The lyricism and flow on every track was sharp. The messages and how they were presented were on point and with variation, some you know were mockingly the styles of other rappers and waves of today. I can dig it, because part of the album suggesting that J. Cole want to prove that he can do whomever style better than themselves while addressing substance at the same time. The only thing I may criticize is some of the hooks in a few songs could of been better, I personally didn't like the KOD hook, myself, but it doesn't ruin the song.
With all that said, this is a key reason why the internet at times is BAD for you, and why I chose to listen to this album first before even trying to waste it on feedback by others. I want to hear and feel it and enjoy it without any distraction, or premeditated opinion from anyone else. Most people cannot form their own opinion, they rush online to read what others may think, half of them being trolls even before listening to it themselves, and with the extremes of both the trolls and the fans, they have a misguided pre-notion of what the album would be like from the start. Either it'll not reach the level of expectation you wanted or it already hate it before you pressed play. Now granted, no song or album, everyone is going to like, and people have the right to genuinely not like something by any artist. With that said, and this comes with J. Cole, especially.... there's a divisive rift of extremes instead of just sitting back and just chill to the music and if it's not your cup of tea, at least appreciate what doing done and not trying to be generic and compromising with his art.
But to each is own. I personally am happy where J. Cole is at. As an artist, similar to where Dave Chappelle is at as a comedian, J. Cole is totally free right now. He some how found a way to escape the Matrix called the recording industry to where he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and however he feels like presenting it. And if you fukk with it then you fukk with it. If you do not, then you do not. But one thing for sure, it's not going to be that commercialized shyt you always hear on the radio, nor is he parlaying for radio spins at all. It is purely about the music and his art and his growth as an artist. People WANT the J. Cole from nearly 10 years back, which is silly in my opinion, because I want every artist to evolve and grow, not be stagnated and be the same person saying the same shyt and not trying to elevate or evolve. A lot of the legendary artists of any genre evolved and weren't the same kind of artist from their humble beginnings. People like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye blossomed over time. The Beatles. Prince. Outkast. Even Kendrick evolved from where he began. I appreciate anyone that tries to grow. A 33 year old J. Cole is not going to be the same as that 24 year old that just got signed to Roc Nation, so don't expect it. He's now a mature married family man. His views, and how he wants his music to go isn't going to be like it was when he just had a beat machine and a sampler and spit witty punchlines all the time. We have no choice but to accept it for what it is. I appreciate it and enjoy his musical exploration because I am a old dude myself that has an open ear. Others may not, but at least respect this is one of the few real artists in the rap game who refuses to sellout to the commercialized industry.
