What Was J.Cole Successful At That Dave East failed at?

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

These two are LITERALLY the same guy

They’re both average rappers who get the benefit of the doubt for trying to actually...rap?

Yet there is minimal buzz around Dave’s music 3 years after falling into a dream situation (Nas/Def Jam). His interviews don’t do star numbers nor do his videos.

“He’s too street!”

Why is Casanova on his 3rd single making noise then?

“fukk you he’s good!”

How long do you think he can continue to be signed to a major without one single regular rap fans much less casual listeners are familiar with?

This shyt is baffling. How does a guy with all the connections he has not have ONE POPPIN SONG since being signed 3 years ago

Yet in the other we have J.Cole...Another average rapper who has pushed his success to the extreme. Headlines his own tours and does huge numbers a day before announcing an album

To any Dave East fans I am terribly sorry for my curiosity and bewilderment. I’m just seeking answers. I can’t remember there being a rapper loved by women with solid industry connections coming from a huge media market find a way to drop the ball

I really thought this guy had a chance

 

[Ziggiy]

This post was flawed as soon as you said they were the same type of guy

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

These two are LITERALLY the same guy

They’re both average rappers who get the benefit of the doubt for trying to actually...rap?

Yet there is minimal buzz around Dave’s music 3 years after falling into a dream situation (Nas/Def Jam). His interviews don’t do star numbers nor do his videos.

“He’s too street!”

Why is Casanova on his 3rd single making noise then?

“fukk you he’s good!”

How long do you think he can continue to be signed to a major without one single regular rap fans much less casual listeners are familiar with?

This shyt is baffling. How does a guy with all the connections he has not have ONE POPPIN SONG since being signed 3 years ago

Yet in the other we have J.Cole...Another average rapper who has pushed his success to the extreme. Headlines his own tours and does huge numbers a day before announcing an album

To any Dave East fans I am terribly sorry for my curiosity and bewilderment. I’m just seeking answers. I can’t remember there being a rapper loved by women with solid industry connections coming from a huge media market find a way to drop the ball

I really thought this guy had a chance

Dave East been making the same exact song for about his whole career. Any time he tries to go outside the box, it’s not very good.

tell me you got some new Dave east and I’m gonna guess he gonna talk about he used to ball, nikka had to get the crack tho, Gang shyt, one his boys died and he miss him, he gonna ride tho, but now he rap, but he still get bytches though..... every fukking song


You might call Cole boring, but the nikka got a host of topics. Easily relatable, every day man/woman type of shyt. And bars. Not basic street bars. Life bars. People relate to that shyt

 

[Malcolmxxx_23]

In 2019

How ama I gonna relate to the streets of harlem

 

[Ahadi]

Cole came up during a great time. Him, Drake, Cudi, Kendrick, Wale. That was the group all the college kids listened to & now we’re growing up with them.

Dave East just isn’t versatile. Dude had a Chris Brown feature and that song didn’t do anything for him.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Dave East been making the same exact song for about his whole career. Any time he tries to go outside the box, it’s not very good.

tell me you got some new Dave east and I’m gonna guess he gonna talk about he used to ball, nikka had to get the crack tho, Gang shyt, one his boys died and he miss him, he gonna ride tho, but now he rap, but he still get bytches though..... every fukking song


You might call Cole boring, but the nikka got a host of topics. Easily relatable, every day man/woman type of shyt. And bars. Not basic street bars. Life bars. People relate to that shyt

Thanks for that reply...

You know I’ve heard people say that Dave would have been successful in another era

I have a hard time seeing it.

People fail to take into account how many people never made it from early 00s NYC because they didn’t know how to make songs or they just were boring or lacked that special something. Dave will continue to tour and make money but I think it was long ago decided he would never be a factor like some people initially thought possible

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Dave has absolutely no fan base

 

[bigdaddy88]

j.cole makes pseudo deep music .. which impresses this new generation of hip hop fans

 

[BigMan]

Those artists aren’t similar at all except the op, who is likely a Napoleon alias, is sexually attracted to them

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

Thanks for that reply...

You know I’ve heard people say that Dave would have been successful in another era

I have a hard time seeing it.

People fail to take into account how many people never made it from early 00s NYC because they didn’t know how to make songs or they just were boring or lacked that special something. Dave will continue to tour and make money but I think it was long ago decided he would never be a factor like some people initially thought possible

If he rapped about fashion and made some girl songs, he’d be fabolous

He’s got no range. He’d be a mixtape rapper back then. So successful but still not a hit rapper. He don’t have the singles. But I could see him being a d block, dipset, desert storm type of nikka. Spazzing on beats and “remixes” and doing 50-60k (in the 00 era)

But without the hits, he wouldn’t ever have been the star like Cole. Cole go straight to radio with his and come right back to mixtapes when he wants

 

[XannyWarbucks]

Cole came around when people my age went to college. Pretty much spoke to us, and Cole never left that fanbase. I was never a big fan, but I respect the fact that he gives a shyt about his fans. Same thing with that cac, Logic. They both cater to only their fans. East... legit has no fanbase other than thirsty bytches who couldn't name a song of his.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Those artists aren’t similar at all except the op, who is likely a Napoleon alias, is sexually attracted to them

I broke it down for you like patois yet you insist on hurting my feelings

 

[Paper Boi]

getting in at the right time and cole had legit classic mixtapes to grow an organic fan base before he ever put out an album. nobody talks about any dave east projects like that. dude got put on by nas before he was ready or had a really large following.

cole came in when the game wasn't as oversaturated as it is today, put out good projects and then got co-signed by jay-z after he already had the fanbase. same with drake, as much as i dislike him, his first couple mixtapes + his degrassi following or whatever had him a decent little audience, then he got the co-sign by the biggest rapper in the world at the time and he took off.

k.dot was grinding on those TDE mixtapes and all TDE artists had kind of an underground following, then got the dre co-sign and never looked back.

when dave east got signed by nas, sure he had mixtapes but nothing with that much buzz that i can remember. not to mention getting put on by nas just isn't the same as getting put on by jay/wayne/dre as much as i love nas.

 

[Mirin4rmfar]

LOL @ same...

Dave east has never sounded good.

 

[Somebody]

You might call Cole boring, but the nikka got a host of topics. Easily relatable, every day man/woman type of shyt. And bars. Not basic street bars. Life bars. People relate to that shyt

cole is vulnerable without coming across as complaining or contrived (most of the time). i hate that song about folding clothes. very pretentious stuff. cudi dropped an influential punk album where he played guitar throughout it and cole had to answer with some left field soft rock where he played bass guitar the whole time

but that last verse about code switching was a creative way to deal with what it means to be biracial. his dark skin brothers have to rely on how they carry themselves with no guaranteed results while him being lightskin has served him in his opinion.

but he never did no corny shyt and rap about being biracial, because thats not relatable or a deep concern on the wider scale. biracial is not a real thing. you are darker skinned and thats the point of being black in america. having a white parent doesn't give you more insight into whiteness when you're in a white country forcing white culturing on everybody. cole is nuanced and has thoughtful takes on contemporary american culture.

idk about his songwriting as a pop act, but being a successful rapper means u have to have something unique and thoughtful to say about the world around you, and cole def has unique things to say.