Ray Daniels claims J. Cole is a solid rapper but not an exceptional one, and his prominence largely stems from his effective branding.

[IllmaticDelta]

... generational thing . . . .. his name got built on that suburban "its okay to be me" passive-aggressive routine . . .. De La Soul did it better way back when . . . he was marketed similar to Drake when they needed biracial effigies to burn at the altar . . .. Drake was the pop-star . .. . J was the "real hip-hop" avatar. . .. but you can tell from the family flick . .. his white mom favored the "natural" one . . . .. homie looks like his Mom made him carry all the grocery bags inside while the white brother got to go inside and eat candy and hit up the PS1 with no cares in the world . . .. meanwhile . .. . J been scrubbing the kitchen floor with his tooth-brush on her orders . . . .. but still . . .. i dont care to hear about any of that via rap music . . .. . . save that for the cul-de-sac Covid kids that were raised by screens . . that need that Kurt Cobain fake angst . . . .. bunch of male Courtney Love "artists" . . . . .

 

[BronxFleeZ]

This dude got so many accounts wow who knew you can posts bs so fast

 

[GhettoNintendo]

Yeah you nikkas are stupid as fukk. J Cole is a great rapper and not many rap on his level. /thread

 

[LiveFromLondon]

He a solid rapper that needs someone to A&R his projects, where he just shows up and raps then he'd shine more as a out and out spitter, otherwise his time to make a classic maybe already passed

 

[TELL ME YA CHEESIN FAM?]

Cole don't really market like that, and he raps exceptional

Don't even fukk with Cole like that but nikkas is lying
Cole be dropping out of nowhere and do stupid numbers
What marketing?
He has got a loyal employed fanbase that cops his products and attend his shows

 

[CHICAGO]

Nah man I'm not rolling i used to think Cole was straight up the cure for insomnia. Now I actually listene to his albums when they drop Now.

BUT BACK WHEN YOU THOUGHT THIS
HE WAS STILL PUTTING UP NUMBERS
WHICH IS THE POINT

HES GOTTEN BETTER
AS A RAPPER BUT HE BENEFITTED
FOR MAD YEARS BEFORE HE GOT
BETTER AS A RAPPER


​

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Big Sean not better than Cole tho

Wrong

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

j cole went from realest nikka alive to ducking and dodging a man 8 inches shorter and don't live nowhere near him.

Again. Drake will land better than Cole.

 

[Jaguar93]

Big Sean is not better than Cole lol

 

[Mike the Executioner]

Them ATL niccas saved Cole. Nicca was boring AF before he linked up with them. Their influence had him rhyming in pockets and hitting flows and cadences he never had in his repertoire before.

The OG Dreamville team down bad

Was this when he started going on the feature run and improved his technical skills? What's the timeline?

 

[Theo Penn]

Was this when he started going on the feature run and improved his technical skills? What's the timeline?

Yep. It was before the feature run. The timeline lines up perfectly.

He drops that bum ass album For Your Eyes Only in 2016. Poor reviews and comments. Shyt was trash.

Gets around Spillage Village artists (6lack, Earthgang, JID, Mereba, etc.) later in 2016. Signs Earthgang first, then JID in 2017.

Spillage Village - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Feature run starts in 2017 and KOD drops in 2018. All of a sudden, he has more “flavor.” His rhyming get more interesting and he’s unlocked a bunch of new flows. I knew what it was back then. Listen to Revenge of the Dreamers 3 compared to 1 and 2. Them ATL niccas imprint was all over that and Cole’s flow.

I’m not saying the shyt was wrong or anything, but their influence isn’t credited enough. They helped him become a better MC. Without their sauce, he may still be NyQuil status.

 

[Mike the Executioner]

Yep. It was before the feature run. The timeline lines up perfectly.

He drops that bum ass album For Your Eyes Only in 2016. Poor reviews and comments. Shyt was trash.

Gets around Spillage Village artists (6lack, Earthgang, JID, Mereba, etc.) later in 2016. Signs Earthgang first, then JID in 2017.

Spillage Village - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Feature run starts in 2017 and KOD drops in 2018. All of a sudden, he has more “flavor.” His rhyming get more interesting and he’s unlocked a bunch of new flows. I knew what it was back then. Listen to Revenge of the Dreamers 3 compared to 1 and 2. Them ATL niccas imprint was all over that and Cole’s flow.

I’m not saying the shyt was wrong or anything, but their influence isn’t credited enough. They helped him become a better MC. Without their sauce, he may still be NyQuil status.

That all makes sense. I know Cole mentioned that he was trying to push himself creatively after FHD and avoid getting comfortable. Being around different artists helps create friendly competition and allows you to try new things.

KOD definitely marks the change. On his earlier work, he never rapped fast. His flow was a lot more slowed down and even when he increased the tempo (like the third verse of "Runaway"), it wasn't a major shift.