Three years after the release of KOD, J. Cole released his sixth solo studio album, The Off-Season.
As the album's name suggests, although J. Cole's focus has slowly shifted toward basketball, he still made the album through Off-Season. A pun also means that Cole's focus should be temporarily focused on basketball, that is, the "Off-Season" that entered his rap career.
Throughout the album, from Dirty South to Trap to Boombap, the music style is diverse, mostly continuing Cole's "Trap+ melody chanting" line in KOD. With the addition of big-name singers such as 21 Savage, Lil Baby, 6LACK, etc., as well as a handful of Bas and Morray, two little brothers/newcomers with outstanding personal styles, plus the blessing of T-Minus, a veteran southern producer who made the Divine Comedy "Middle Child", the lineup of this album is not luxurious.
The album as a whole continues the characteristics of Cole's recent albums: the first sound is rough, the details are delicate, but the song is high and low, there is no song that can really be played, suitable for people who really like to buckle the teacher to quietly appreciate.
In this album, in addition to paying more attention to skills, Cole pays more attention to the embodiment and expression of self-thought, and the vigilance and criticism of the social status quo are less than "4YEO". Even in track 2 and track 7, two tracks about phenomena, J. Cole only used it to describe his own mental journey. This trend has been around since KOD.
Here's how to enjoy the single.
① 9 5 . s o u t h
Today C o l e filial piety will have to do this kind of typing.
Song title "9 5 . S o u t h" is the highway number that connects J. Cole's hometown of Charlotte with his second hometown of New York, representing his journey from his growing community to college in New York, all the way to the current J. Cole. At the same time, the song title and the style of the song also have a good echo: the typical Dirty South Crunk, for a moment I felt like Kid Cudi who heard it for 17 years.
It is worth mentioning the song's homage to the rappers of the '00s: the vocal of Cam'ron, the pink god of war, the lyrics pay tribute to the famous song "Dilemma" by southern rap superstars Nelly and Kelly Rowland (the Chinese cover version is called "Say Love You to the Sky, and the brothers in the 90s should be familiar with it"), and the divine comedy "Put Yo Hood Up" by Lil Jon, the king of the southern Crunk, at the end of the sample, in J. Cole The self-aggrandizement of its own lyrics shows us the original ecology of southern rap twenty years ago.
But the lyrics are relatively empty, and as a well-known teaching director in the rap circle, the lyrics of this song are somewhat mediocre.
(2) and m and r to
The accompaniment was handmade by T-Minus. The iconic 808 hi-hat, combined with the brainwashed flute melody, even gives the impression of listening to Roddy Ricch songs, while Cole's vocals continue the route of melodic chanting from the previous two albums, and they have grown from the dangerous "Fayetteville" all the way to the life mileage of creating their own "Dreamville". There are many depictions and criticisms of the social realities of "watching out" in the black community, which Cole has been calling for change.
This accompaniment is ear-catching, the vocals are not bad, and the lyrics are profound. Although Cole's voice and flute don't quite match, his flow and lyrics clearly overshadow these shortcomings.
(3) m y . l i f e
The biggest highlight of the entire album! Following "a lot", J. Cole & 21 Savage is another collaboration between the ace group. Choir sampling like "a lot", coupled with the fact that morray, a dreamer from the choir, sang the chorus, was supposed to be the best single on the album, but I personally have doubts about the future of this song.
"A lot" succeeds because it's 21 Savage's song, J. Cole's voice is louder than 21, and when he's a guest for 21, he's like the bright eyes on the dragon's head. But on this song, although the 21 singing single is also very good, compared with the previous verse of J. Cole, it has a tiger's tail feeling.
Of course, how to determine the specific is up to the vast audience, my personal opinion does not represent anything, this is left to everyone to judge.
(4) a p p l y i n g . p r e s s u r e
One of my personal favorite songs on the entire album, accompanied by J. Cole himself, began with a loudspeaker on the basketball court that gave a hard blow to the ear, as if to tell you that "the big one is coming", in fact, the big one did come: J. Cole unreservedly showed off all his talents in this song: the DJ Premier-style Boom Bap accompaniment of "heavy drum + melody slice", filled with the whole song's inner and outer sentences and intervals, and the punchline and flow of the clouds, which perfectly showed everyone the musical literacy that an all-round rap superstar should have.
Share a few of these typical Punchlines:
● My latest bеat just sound like they was relеased by David East
Genius rhymes like "Most have to" and "Broke rapper."
Sh!t crazy, didn't know I got more M's than a real Slim Shady video (with a clap of divine phrases, with both "Sh!t Crazy" and "Slim Shady", and in less than 15 words left, the four squeezes of know, mor, real, and video are stuffed, genius!) ）
The reason for not giving a perfect score is purely because the song is too short to listen to, and the public's acceptance of boombap is low, but I still hope that this song can make more and more people like boombap.
(5) p u n c h i n ' . t h e . c l o c k
The second of the few Boombap on the album, with an interview with Lillard (an NBA player) as a clue to the whole song, J. Cole tells us the inner world of "himself" struggling with psychedelicism, showing us the twisted world that an addict sees after stumbling on psychedelics.
Just like the task of Trevor Hawthor Grass God of War in GTA5, it seems to be fun, but it is actually destroying their own hearts, and now countless ignorant young people are suffering from such poison without knowing it.
Flow is smooth, the lyrics are deeply inspired, and the narrative is perfect, which can be said to be one of the best tracks on this album.
⑥ 1 0 0 . m and l '
The Auto-tune at the beginning makes people laugh, and it can only be said that the chicken buckle is really the king of the whole life. This song was also created by T-Minus, so many people say that it will feel like "Middle Child" when first heard, and J. Cole's own singing voice seems to indicate that he himself is also interested in creating such a popular divine song again. But alas, the same approach will not succeed a second time.
But this song is still a commendable high-quality work, from this song you can see J. Cole's journey from a no-name to a superstar, J. Cole is also using his own experience to inspire everyone to persevere.
(7) p r i d e. i s. t h e. d e v i l
"Pride", I personally believe, can be understood as "whitewashing" at the social level, and "face problem" for individuals. J. Cole uses the thread of "Pride" to make a clear and profound introspection: the appearance of the face is only an escape from the evil core of society and the individual, and if it does not face these hidden diseases, it will one day regurgitate itself.
But the focus of the song is Cole's introspection, which makes me as a listener unable to fully understand the thinking behind the song, and even feel that his lyrics are more false and empty, which is more about Cole's self-criticism than the divine comedy of "High For Hours" that really judges society.
J. Cole's quick-mouth transition in the bridge section can be said to be very smooth, followed by Lil Baby's verse. The pattern of Xiaobao's lyrics is certainly not comparable to Cole', mainly describing his excellent character of not forgetting his original intentions, but it is expensive in reality, and good flow and melody arrangement also show his strong strength.
(8) l e t . g o . m y . h a n d
The song's accompaniment comes from the 16-year-old album's eponymous pilot documentary, 4 Your Eyez Only, and much of the music in the documentary was by J. Cole himself, and the accompaniment of this song is no exception. Cole's own lyrics are deep enough, and the chorus and the singing of Bas and 6LACK in the bridge section, and the vocals and piano samples of Puff Daddy at the end make the song more full.
Compared to the previous one, this one's introspection is more real: a change of mindset after fame and wealth, a holiday with Puff Daddy (at the 2013 MTV Awards, puff wanted to find a stubble to throw wine on Lamar's body, was blocked by Cole, and the two gangs almost fought over it), and thoughts about the future of himself and his son. Song title "l e t . g o . m y . H a n d" comes from a phrase cole's son said after learning to walk, telling him that I could walk on my own, and Cole thought about what he had experienced as a child when he became truly independent.
From "Hol' up" in 11 years to "FEAR" in 17 years, from "30,000" in 18 years to "No Pressure" in 20 years, these three thoughtful new rap superstars have invariably experienced this mental journey: from the spirit of fame to the emptiness after becoming famous.
They all chose to introspect, and the results were different: the lama chose to break through to a higher level of thought, Logic chose to retire and enjoy his life, and Cole told him to stay awake at vanity fair. There is no right or wrong choice between the three of them, and they all make the decision they want most.
(9) i n t e r l u d e
As the precursor song of the entire album, this interlude is not only a simple vignette, or a dividing line between the first half of the album about yourself and the second half of the warning to others, on the other hand, this song is like a brief introduction to the idea of the album: the pain of street suffering, the journey of the heart after becoming famous, the thoughts about their future. He has experienced this at a time, but his mentality changes when he looks down on the suffering of his fellow citizens from the perspective of a superior. Today, he will no longer be troubled by such a life, but he is heartbroken by this, quite a charm of "Zhumen wine smells of meat, and the road has frozen bones".
The song itself was short, and without saying anything more to us, proceeded to the next song "t h e . c l i m b . b a c k"。
(10) t h e . c l i m b . b a c k
The song was originally released in last year's EP Lewis Street. Climb back means "climb back" and specifically refers to returning to the original environment from a high place/outside. As the title suggests, J. Cole depicts the changing mentality and performance of the people around him after his fame has been accomplished, and the reflections on their performance and life when confronted with these people.
When you succeed, you will inevitably have a group of flatterers, jealouss, and admirers. J. Cole is thinking about what kind of inner world is hidden behind the changes in the mentality of those people: lust for profit, living a life, or depressed.
"Said, 'Most of these n!ggas gon' hang themselves, just give 'em the rope and see'" – here Cole borrows a friend's words to state that "blinding his eyes by something outside his body is tantamount to suicide", and if he does not stay away from these people, he is setting himself on fire, and he is assisting the person's "self-destruction", which is tantamount to homicide, This also echoes the words at the end.
We may not have the rich annoyance of J. Cole, but when faced with a choice of interests, ask yourself, "Which is more important?" Getting or letting go?”
11.c l o s and
A song that perfectly demonstrates J. Cole's storytelling abilities. From a bystander's perspective, Cole tells us about this short life of the "brotherhood" experience.
When we listen to "Change," listen to "DUCKWORTH." What you see is a street tragedy that is no different from this song: young people who get Fast Fame on the street are unable to protect their huge wealth and set themselves on fire.
This is not an isolated case, but the tragedy of "boiling beans and burning beans" that their communities are experiencing all the time while their compatriots chant BLM. At the end, cole wakes up from this nightmare and finds it true when he talks to his mother on the phone, which is not a coincidence, nor is it expected or metaphysical, J. Cole wants to tell us that this is a tragedy that is playing out all the time in the community, and I don't know when this tragedy will stop happening...
12. h u n g e r . o n . h i l l s i d e
Outro of this album summarizes the ideas Cole wants to express in this album: don't forget the original intention, forge ahead. When he gained wealth and fame, he was initially blinded by fog, and then he saw his true heart and thought about how to continue his future.
Throughout the album, Cole shows us the full inner world, as well as his thoughts and thoughts on what is happening and who is going through it. What we have to do as listeners is not to expect a song that will make the public know J. Cole again, but to listen quietly to what J. Cole wants to bring to us on this album and to look forward to the arrival of "The Fall-Off".