[:: J. COLE THREAD | DREAMVILLE's ROTD3 ALBUM OUT NOW!! ::]

[nikekidwonder]

listened to it twice already .... I will wait until the 18th to cop the deluxe to give my final review

 

[licensed to ball]

Damn one of my best friends who has been a cole fan with me since 09 is extremely dissapointed.
He actually hates it.
hes been texting me back and forth and i actually understand what hes saying.
Hes kinda making me wanna bring my rating down a little bit :\

I'm starting to lean a little more towards shoeking as i listen to it again. the lack of melodies and good hooks is killing me now...
Its good rapping. But very average song making.

And Cole is too great to be giving us average songs. Especially on his 2nd album. Especially when he has so much freedom and experience now. |I

I wanted to love it so bad...I really did. I think the fact that i have the damn mans album as my avy just had me too prideful to wanna admit most of this is average.

Some of it slaps, really slaps. But as an overal project, its mediocre. And mediocre is not what he promised.

 

[ayotayo]

Damn one of my best friends who has been a cole fan with me since 09 is extremely dissapointed.
He actually hates it.
hes been texting me back and forth and i actually understand what hes saying.
Hes kinda making me wanna bring my rating down a little bit

I'm starting to lean a little more towards shoeking as i listen to it again. the lack of melodies and good hooks is killing me now...
Its good rapping. But very average song making.

And Cole is too great to be giving us average songs. Especially on his 2nd album. Especially when he has so much freedom and experience now.

I wanted to love it so bad...I really did. I think the fact that i have the damn mans album as my avy just had me too prideful to wanna admit most of this is average.

Some of it slaps, really slaps. But as an overal project, its mediocre. And mediocre is not what he promised.

fellow '09er here as well....

and I've been saying it the whole time bro

 

[licensed to ball]

Damn one of my best friends who has been a cole fan with me since 09 is extremely dissapointed.

He actually hates it.

hes been texting me back and forth and i actually understand what hes saying.

Hes kinda making me wanna bring my rating down a little bit :\


I'm starting to lean a little more towards shoeking as i listen to it again. the lack of melodies and good hooks is killing me now...

Its good rapping. But very average song making.


And Cole is too great to be giving us average songs. Especially on his 2nd album. Especially when he has so much freedom and experience now. |I


I wanted to love it so bad...I really did. I think the fact that i have the damn mans album as my avy just had me too prideful to wanna admit most of this is average.


Some of it slaps, really slaps. But as an overal project, its mediocre. And mediocre is not what he promised.

fellow '09er here as well....

and I've been saying it the whole time bro

Sucks bro.
Like I wanna defend the album.
Every part of me wants to say NAH MAN YOU GUYS ARE WRONG, BACK OFF, THIS IS THAT HOT FIRE RIGHT HERE...
But i cant.

I wanna say STOP HATING...
But i cant.

I fully understand why people dont like this now.
What boggles my mind is how so many non-cole fans love it. Like absolutely love it. On twitter, on blogs. This thing is BUZZING RIGHT NOW.
But us cole fans...the ones whove been with him since 09 or even earlier.
Most of us are underwhelmed...majorly.

I think we just know deep down inside, that he could do a lot better.
A LOT better. :\

You cant make catchy *** songs like BLOW UP and HIGHER and LIGHTS PLEASE and BEFORE IM GONE, and then give us the dull songs that are going to be forgotten within a couple weeks that he did here.

If more songs were like LET NAS DOWN, and actually had some passionate, hungry, story telling... it would be a classic cole album.
The story telling is what got a lot of us to be fans.
We fell in love with cole because he was expressing his struggles and we all related.

He's not expressing much of a story outside a couple songs on this album.
Hes trying hard to spit bars that are OKAY, but nothing mind blowing...and they are on subpar beats.

So its underwhelming to us who know his whole catalog. He has made much better songs. Much more catchy, more timeless, more overall good music.

 

[reallive301]

Through about half this album he seriously seems like he's coasting, like he didn't really want to do the album, but somebody forced him in the studio and said "make music".

The other issue is that the songs (front to back) lack the flow Sideline Story had.  Bad or Good all the songs on Sideline Story kinda fell in order if you just sat and played the whole album, not so much on BS.

And what's with the random corny *** lines? "I be up so high tryna get a piece of that apple pie" Really? 

 and then make it the whole bridge to the song. C'mon man..you can do better than that.

 

[julesbeats]

Im real surprised he had some of these samples cleared, he basicly looped up the tribe and outkast joint....lazy/ignorant producers 

 

[Maximus Meridius]

I gave it another listen earlier today and I still think it's ok. Son can rap his *** off but he has no life in this album. Even the most conscious rappers grab your attention in their music (Kweli, Common). This album is just flat out boring.

 

[ayotayo]

Sucks bro.
Like I wanna defend the album.
Every part of me wants to say NAH MAN YOU GUYS ARE WRONG, BACK OFF, THIS IS THAT HOT FIRE RIGHT HERE...
But i cant.

I wanna say STOP HATING...
But i cant.

I fully understand why people dont like this now.
What boggles my mind is how so many non-cole fans love it. Like absolutely love it. On twitter, on blogs. This thing is BUZZING RIGHT NOW.
But us cole fans...the ones whove been with him since 09 or even earlier.
Most of us are underwhelmed...majorly.

I think we just know deep down inside, that he could do a lot better.
A LOT better.

You cant make catchy *** songs like BLOW UP and HIGHER and LIGHTS PLEASE and BEFORE IM GONE, and then give us the dull songs that are going to be forgotten within a couple weeks that he did here.

If more songs were like LET NAS DOWN, and actually had some passionate, hungry, story telling... it would be a classic cole album.
The story telling is what got a lot of us to be fans.
We fell in love with cole because he was expressing his struggles and we all related.

He's not expressing much of a story outside a couple songs on this album.
Hes trying hard to spit bars that are OKAY, but nothing mind blowing...and they are on subpar beats.

So its underwhelming to us who know his whole catalog. He has made much better songs. Much more catchy, more timeless, more overall good music.

QF Muthaf****** T

Cole is capable of a classic and its overdue.

Born Sinner should've been it, period.

I will ride with Cole regardless but we the fans need him to deliver and stop toying around...

Letting lil *** Kendrick out shine him when Kendrick didn't hit my eardrums until 2011 

 

[shoeking2101]

Damn one of my best friends who has been a cole fan with me since 09 is extremely dissapointed.
He actually hates it.
hes been texting me back and forth and i actually understand what hes saying.
Hes kinda making me wanna bring my rating down a little bit :\

I'm starting to lean a little more towards shoeking as i listen to it again. the lack of melodies and good hooks is killing me now...
Its good rapping. But very average song making.

And Cole is too great to be giving us average songs. Especially on his 2nd album. Especially when he has so much freedom and experience now. |I

I wanted to love it so bad...I really did. I think the fact that i have the damn mans album as my avy just had me too prideful to wanna admit most of this is average.

Some of it slaps, really slaps. But as an overal project, its mediocre. And mediocre is not what he promised.

I know where you coming from Bro. I been riding with Cole since "School Daze," "Throw it Up," Come Up days. I really thought this album was going to be it. I thought he was going to combine his melodic song making potential that he's shown in the past with his already pretty stellar rap ability.

Instead, he put out an album with a lot of beats that sound similar, and lackluster which makes it all the more boring. (I hate using the word boring with Cole because for a minute I felt it was such a dumb thing to say. All the way up until now I didn't see anything that suggest he was "Boring") I don't hear anything that suggest his production to a mass jump. His production was far more versatile on Sideline story and he had some really good songs on there. Sideline Story is underrated.

But back to BS, like someone in this thread alluded to, you can be Dark without being Boring and Bland. In his effort to make a really "Dark" album he put out one with lackluster beats and Great raps. TBH if this album came out in the early 90's it would be a classic.Dudes would eat this kind of stuff up. But it's 2013. The people want not only great raps, but great raps with dope beats that have some life to them.

 

[licensed to ball]

like someone in this thread alluded to, you can be Dark without being Boring and Bland. In his effort to make a really "Dark" album he put out one with lackluster beats and Great raps. TBH if this album came out in the early 90's it would be a classic.Dudes would eat this kind of stuff up. But it's 2013. The people want not only great raps, but great raps with dope beats that have some life to them.

I couldn't agree with you more bro.
Its 2013 like you said. I told my friend this sounds like a 90's rap album, and back then this would be fire.
But with the technology, samples, ENDLESS amounts of instruments and options at Cole's disposal...not to mention the budget and backing of JAY-Z behind him...he should be able to make much more stellar beats and music than he did for BS.

Dude can literally use any producer he wants to help him, Jay will get him anything he needs. But he OPTS to do it all on his own.
Thats cool and all...but if youre going to do it on your own, and your going to say you wanna compete with Kanye...

Then BRING IT.
Bring it Cole.
This aint "IT."

it aint horrible for most rappers standards. But for Coles standards, with the affiliation, the money, the time, the freedom, the connections, the technology, the whole damn world available for him to use to make this album...it's looking like more and more of a letdown everytime i listen.

Power Trip is the best beat on the album, the best overall song. The harmonies, the verses, the flow, the chorus, the beat...perfect.
If there were 12 Power Trips with different subjects, it would be a classic. :\

 

[mugen81]

This thread is torture, still holding out and skipped pretty much every page since the leaks dropped. The 18th cannot come soon enough

You not the only one

 

[melo0115]

Cole could of made a better album.. This isn't touching GKMC in any way... And yes I'm comparing them. They are the two top rappers in our mainstream sphere, with actual rapping ability that, I consider valuable to our hip hop culture. J Cole needs to step down on his production. He can produce tracks on his album, but let a veteran help at least. Don't try to put the weight of the world on your shoulder. I feel if he got some other people, and really cared about the project and organized accordingly, he could of had A GKMC classic on his hand.. But nope he just gave us Born Sinner THE mixtape, posing as an album... I respect and admire J Cole, and I agree and confirm the project is solid, but it doesn't have that jenesequa feeling of what an impactful cultural quality sounding album in our modern world needs. Nobody uses samples (now) in their entirety like he did on this album, that's mixtape stuff. He needed to call in help for this project...  I'm sad that Cole being a talented artist didn't take this chance to truly build a solid project this early in his career, something that would solidify him in history for constructing something this great at this moment in time. He hyped us so much and put a veil on our eyes, so would wouldn't see what this album truly was, A Mixtape...

 

[gllahone84]

Far from a mixtape

Gets better every listen

 

[ucm92]

Wow. This album is a let down. And im the biggest J. Cole fan there is. Literally. But this doesn't fulfill my expectations at all. As many have mentioned already, the production is far too bland. The concepts, the hooks, melodies, the album as a whole has more songs that are boring than not. More songs that by this time next month you're gonna press skip. And the raps on the album are a bit overrated as well which is crazy, because people keep talking as if he is just all out flowing on every track and not saying the same thing, the same simple similes and metaphors at that. He does have his moments though on born sinner for sure which is to be expected cause Cole is definitely extremely talented with the pen. His raps are good, but that's it. Not great. His flows since 09 have come down every project. There was a time where dude would rap circles around people. Straight up. He's not that guy anymore imo. Which didn't have to be a bad thing because TBH I could care less how awesome you rap if your songs put me to sleep. And wanting your album to have a much more darker tone to it does not have to equate to a boring product. I think dude was rapping his best on the warm up, but FNL was my favorite due to the balance of great raps and hooks and melodies and attractive production. His first two albums both have far too many lines where you're like "Dude, you supposed to be that guy. That ill rappers rapper." You used to count on that with cole. He's had that wrong rep of being boring which until Born sinner wasn't accurate at all imo, but you could never say dude bars weren't top notch.

With that being said, Sideline Story is better than Born sinner. As someone mentioned for one it's extremely underrated by Cole and others imo. From Mr Nice Watch to Work Out, to Dollar and a Dream III, Can't get enough, Lights Please, in the Morning, Lost Ones, Nobody's Perfect, Breakdown, Nothing last forever, All these songs have more life to them more of a bounce to them than the records on Born Sinner. On sideline story dude discussed real societal issues, Love issues, Catchy songs, rap songs, He had it all tbh. He's got to find that balance on a consistent basis because he shows far too many sings of being able to do so. Especially with songs like power trip. That's one of the greatest singles of all time. That's just me though. Still, Born Sinner is a good album. She Knows, Rich N*ggaz, Let Nas Down, Power Trip, Crooked Smile, and Born Sinner are all really really great songs.

Cole wouldn't be getting the "this wasn't what I was expecting" reactions every time he drops if people would stop looking at cole as if he's the next coming of Pac or Biggie or something & I understand people expect that from him because of the warm up and fnl, time has proving he isn't that. He's more, good to very good rather than great to extraordinary or something we haven't seen before. At cole's best imo, he's more in the Drake lane, like a notch below, rather than the Kendrick Lamar or nas lane and it seems like he knows it and it bothers him a little. That's why he tried so hard on born sinner to do otherwise. He hasn't made a project this, for a lack of a better term, Gritty since the come up tbh. That should let you know that cole is at his best when he's giving you the power trips, the workouts and the lost ones, that versatility all on the same album rather than the villuminati's followed by LAnd of the snakes and trouble.

 

[yallayalla]

anybody know the sample used at Chaining Day ?

 

[mugen81]

I haven't listen to the album
But alot of people are calling it boring , why is that??? Is it just the production that's a let down( which to me seems to be the general consensus)
And comparing to K.Dot is kinda wrong because IMO Section 80>>>>>GKMC
And now when K.Dot drops his next album
I can imagine the slander
Edit: watching his vlogs gave me the impression this album is about his life and struggles he went/is going through so maybe it's not supposed to be up beat
And also didnt he do most his own production on FNL , The Warm Up and the Simba series
So why the disharmony with him doing it now..
I'll still support and reserve my own judgement
Just trying to see why so many people find it a lethargic album???

 

[licensed to ball]

^We've tried our best to explain why SOME of it is a bit boring. Not every song, but some.

You gotta listen to it yourself and form your own opinion bro. You won't fully understand what we mean if you don't listen.

 

[ayotayo]

^We've tried our best to explain why SOME of it is a bit boring. Not every song, but some.

You gotta listen to it yourself and form your own opinion bro. You won't fully understand what we mean if you don't listen.

I concur...

 

[xx hpdv iii]

Wow. This album is a let down. And im the biggest J. Cole fan there is. Literally. But this doesn't fulfill my expectations at all. As many have mentioned already, the production is far too bland. The concepts, the hooks, melodies, the album as a whole has more songs that are boring than not. More songs that by this time next month you're gonna press skip. And the raps on the album are a bit overrated as well which is crazy, because people keep talking as if he is just all out flowing on every track and not saying the same thing, the same simple similes and metaphors at that. He does have his moments though on born sinner for sure which is to be expected cause Cole is definitely extremely talented with the pen. His raps are good, but that's it. Not great. His flows since 09 have come down every project. There was a time where dude would rap circles around people. Straight up. He's not that guy anymore imo. Which didn't have to be a bad thing because TBH I could care less how awesome you rap if your songs put me to sleep. And wanting your album to have a much more darker tone to it does not have to equate to a boring product. I think dude was rapping his best on the warm up, but FNL was my favorite due to the balance of great raps and hooks and melodies and attractive production. His first two albums both have far too many lines where you're like "Dude, you supposed to be that guy. That ill rappers rapper." You used to count on that with cole. He's had that wrong rep of being boring which until Born sinner wasn't accurate at all imo, but you could never say dude bars weren't top notch.

With that being said, Sideline Story is better than Born sinner. As someone mentioned for one it's extremely underrated by Cole and others imo. From Mr Nice Watch to Work Out, to Dollar and a Dream III, Can't get enough, Lights Please, in the Morning, Lost Ones, Nobody's Perfect, Breakdown, Nothing last forever, All these songs have more life to them more of a bounce to them than the records on Born Sinner. On sideline story dude discussed real societal issues, Love issues, Catchy songs, rap songs, He had it all tbh. He's got to find that balance on a consistent basis because he shows far too many sings of being able to do so. Especially with songs like power trip. That's one of the greatest singles of all time. That's just me though. Still, Born Sinner is a good album. She Knows, Rich N*ggaz, Let Nas Down, Power Trip, Crooked Smile, and Born Sinner are all really really great songs.

Cole wouldn't be getting the "this wasn't what I was expecting" reactions every time he drops if people would stop looking at cole as if he's the next coming of Pac or Biggie or something & I understand people expect that from him because of the warm up and fnl, time has proving he isn't that. He's more, good to very good rather than great to extraordinary or something we haven't seen before. At cole's best imo, he's more in the Drake lane, like a notch below, rather than the Kendrick Lamar or nas lane and it seems like he knows it and it bothers him a little. That's why he tried so hard on born sinner to do otherwise. He hasn't made a project this, for a lack of a better term, Gritty since the come up tbh. That should let you know that cole is at his best when he's giving you the power trips, the workouts and the lost ones, that versatility all on the same album rather than the villuminati's followed by LAnd of the snakes and trouble.

No. You wrote a long review and all of it is voided because you think that Cole's rapping abilities are in Drake's lane.

 

[mugen81]

^We've tried our best to explain why SOME of it is a bit boring. Not every song, but some.

You gotta listen to it yourself and form your own opinion bro. You won't fully understand what we mean if you don't listen.

Fair enough

 

[xx hpdv iii]

Any word on the concert locations this week? The Miami show in particular...

 

[ace rawstein]

By the 18th I prolly will officially say this is a better ALBUM than CW:TSS.

It seems like a lot of y'all are listening to this album to critique and compare and not to be entertained as a fan, which is unfortunate.

As a long time fan of his(since 09), I'm glad to see him not allowing himself to be boxed in. He made a great album with no skippable tracks that is wide ranging in appeal. The more I listen the more I find it odd that a good bit of ppl on NT don't like the music on here. This album is filled with stuff that I don't hear no other rapper doing right now, from song format to lyrics. Yet ppl are criticizing from both sides saying erything sounds the same and boring and then others are hollain bout nutin sounds like his old stuff...

Like what's wack on here? Like what's boring? All I'm hearing is great melodies and dope production that sounds fresh but it appears I'm in the minority.

Every single from the album is/will be better than CW singles(and I liked all CW singles). No left over 2-3 yr old tracks. No Nice Watch, No Cole World. "Rise and Shine" and "Breakdown" were the only type of records that he coulda held on too and recreated if he wanted. Every other sound from CW I am actually content with him not bringing back. And I really liked CW a lot. I think that was his best project up til now.

Ppl have been calling Cole boring since The Warm Up and for him to put out Born Sinner and it sound nothing like his previous work but still be labeled boring... I mean I don't get it. I understand a lot of hardcore fans wanted Cole to pull a Kendrick but he didn't, but y'all acting like this is unacceptable album and I can't see how that is remotely close to being true.

 

[combo gd]

I like Runaway.

Overall, I am not feeling the album

This album is like the rap version of Channel Orange. I really want to like it more than I actually do. It has some ok joints, but it is missing something. 

Truly Yours should have been the album. 

K and J both need to head back to the post office. 

 

[mr brown]

i think its a great album, but i can understand the hate. the album lacks those quintessential records that you remember an album for. I think BS > CW but CW had records like 'Lights Please', 'Lost Ones', and 'Nobody's Perfect'. Those records, you could play for anyone, and they'd see the appeal of J. Cole. This album has none of those immediate songs, aside from Power Trip. Everything else is an album cut, on par with 'Sideline Story' from the debut, a song better appreciated as part of the whole package. But BS doesn't have the misses the CW had, the only weak songs I'd say are 'Trouble' (still solid lyrically, I just hate the chorus and choir) and 'Ain't That Some ****' (I could have done without). Everything else is on point, and show that Cole has matured lyrically and production wise.

 

[gone in 60 seconds]

Watch when the albbum drops & the masses gice their opinion, y'all change your minds.

There was already ppl on here saying "my Ig & Twitter is saying it's good, so it's good" or "your review/opinion is too short or broad so you're wrong". They go listen & then all of a sudden they like it but can see why ppl don't. Sh*t doesn't even make sense

By no means is it a bad album but considering him hyping it so much & moving the date to compete w/ Yeezus. Also combining his potential, his past works & thinking he'd PROGRESS as an artist, this is a let down.

Still better than most, but I can't give it anything over a 7.5