By now everyone knows who J Cole is. J. Cole has a huge love/hate relationship with a lot of folks in the hip-hop community, Fan's thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread and he talks about the "real" issues going on in today's society that no other rappers talk about. Other's think he's overhyped, fake woke, sleepy, underwhelming, etc. I've been a casual fan of Cole's for since his early come up and sure I think Cole is a very talented artist and seems like a nice hearted fellow, at times though he can be a bit underwhelming and overhyped. What bothers me is that his fans think he's the only one talking about real conscious shit but there's a lot of rappers from his core group to even some of the "mumble' rappers saying the same shit like drugs to politics that he does. At the end of the day I still enjoy Cole and don't hate me but he does have some flaws and we shouldn't put him on this high pedestal that he's greatest of all time.
Going into this new project I was wondering what the album concept was going to dive into with the album cover to the three different meanings of 'KOD" with Kids on Drugs, Kings Overdose and/or Kill Our Demons. After many listen to this I've sensed a huge "DAMN" and ''These Days" influence on KOD. Cole basically took the current trends and sounds of the hip-hop climate and put his more lyrical/conscious twist to it. At first, listen I was mixed if borrowing what Kendrick and Ab-Soul did with their albums with the sounds and vibe if it was a good thing or bad thing but with more listens digesting this I think it's slightly more good than bad.
The Intro track sets the tone what the story is gonna be here and we transition to the title track 'KOD". The first verse has Cole flexing, rapping why he don't need no features, the seconded verse has Cole talk about his youth years and the drug scene. I enjoyed the bouncy production and the hook is very catchy, sounding like Cole is rapping in a different persona talking about how he's the best drug dealer around. One of my favorite lines here is "I stacked a few M's like my last name Shady". At the end of the track, it mentions the strongest drug of them is love which transition to the next track "Photograph". The theme here is falling in love with someone through a picture on Instagram despite never meeting this person. Cole rapping about being jealous when other dudes talking slick in her comments or she hasn't posted in awhile, the chorus does have a creepy undertone to it with him saying I don't know your name, wanting a follow back, and not showing your friends pictures of this person cause you don't no one to have her but you, really stalkerish, to say the least. I do enjoy this song mainly social media can be addicting and I feel like a lot of guys and girls have obsessed over on social media without meeting or speaking to them, If we're being honest (Cause I was this way back in my youth, shout out MySpace).
"The Cut Off" does have a good message about cutting friends off due to not being trustworthy and alway's being taken advantage of but the main issue here is the feature. Kill Edward is the alter ego of J Cole and is the only feature on this track and "FRIENDS", I know one main issue Cole has is that his hooks can be pretty hit or miss due to cole singing voice not connecting. I know he doesn't like no features but I feel he needs some singers or put someone from his label to get some shine. Overall the song has a decent message and people can relate to it but the alter ego of cole makes it fall flat. "ATM" is easily one of my favorite cuts here, with Cole's fast and energetic flow rapping his love for money. I love the production with the ATM sound creeping in after the hooks and bridges, the message isn't that strong but it has the idea of greed and materialism and not appreciating them, and the character he portrays here makes the track work and it's easily a highlight here. "Motiv8" is a very lowkey track but it's pretty sleepy on a track about being motivated. I kind of dig the instrumental and the flow on the refrain but Cole's lyrics, the hook, the weird vocal pitches and it's short run time makes the track nothing special at all.
The cleverly titled 'Kevin's Heart' has Cole rapping the temptation of cheating behind the back of your love without them knowing, the hook references doing xans and smoking weed to calm yourselves from being anxious. Cole compares doing these drugs to cheating on your partner, they're lines that could be a reference to an actual woman that he doesn’t want to cheat on and it's about drugs where he takes one main type of drug but he want's try other drugs that ain't his main drug. I love the double entrance and the many meanings that this track has and it relates to the killing our demons meaning for the album, I also actually enjoy cole smooth singing voice here.
"Brackets" is about taxes, yes you heard that right, taxes. The main let down here is the first half of the song, the hook, and production is quite sleepy and the structure of this track is a chore to get through to build it up but the 2nd verse is a major highlight. Cole asking where does all his tax money go to and why to the government so they can for weapons that somehow people in his hood get their hands on them and not helping rebuilding roads, schools and how come they ain't hiring people who look like him. The message is there but the track needs more of a punch to it with the production and a much stronger hook.
"Once an Addict(interlude)" has Cole dealing with his mom alcoholism when he's younger, dealing going to college and being scared of her mother's well being when he's far away but him going to college is the best thing for him to do cause he just want's to run away from all this. It's one of his most powerful track he has written up to his point, the track hits me in the feels when he mentions he should've stayed closer to his mother instead of running since his parents are now divorced and she's now addicted to crack. "FRIENDS" goes deeper into the topic of drug abuse, it's not very preachy but what hurts the track is the "Kill Edward" feature and also the song does have a great start but the ending falls flat. He's going in about politics, poverty, and people who are short-sighted with goals that he needs more album's to discuss more these messages. So with all this, he ends all with this corny message " mediate not medicate" which sounds like a DARE slogan or a shirt that has this message at your local Walmart. "Window Pain" has Cole upset and expressing his frustrations of people not listening to his advice of what to do and not what to do. At the end of the day though he appreciates what he has and that his friends have their flaws and God works in his mysterious ways. I enjoy Cole's flow and the production as well.
"1985" and everyone is freaking the fuck out with people thinking he's dissing Lil Pump, SmokePurpp, and all these mumble rappers, but come one this isn't a diss track, he's spitting game and giving advice. He has Cole giving observation how these rappers should invest their money and not waste their money on expensive, evolved with their music and not stick to the trends, and talking about white kids can be clueless that consumed their music with how wacky they look and that's it is not what black culture is. Sure the tone is very passive aggressive but he's looking out for them with some tough love and doesn't want them to be irrelevant, broke or be on reality tv shows like love and hip-hop, just spitting game.
Final thoughts are that yeah, they are a few moments here and there where maybe with a feature from a singer on some of the hooks, production could've more a punch to them, and mixed messages on here working and not working, I enjoy this album for what it is. It's a huge step up from his last album and it's easier for the cole fans to defend this album instead of his last one. With Cole putting his own twist on modern rappers like some of his contemporaies did I think he did a decent job at it. Just like his couple of albums that opinions are gonna be a pretty mixed, This J Cole album is his best to date but is this album amazing? No, at his core this is good but not overall great. It's of those albums where it's enjoyable but I don't think it deserves to be on a pedestal that's its classic or a 10/10 or a very deep great concept where it could've many different theories, I just enjoy for what it is. I'm not sure where Cole from here but I'm still curious to hear from. Thank you for reading, what're yall thoughts on this album? Robert Garcia out.
Favorite Tracks: ATM, 1985, Once An Addict Interlude, Brackets, Kevin's Heart, Widow Pain, Photograph
Least Favorite Tracks: The Cut Off ft. Kill Edward
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