I did wonder if he had planned to drop some bullshit leading up to this long-awaited album he’s been working on for the past decade or maybe truly he did “fall off” and wasn’t the same artist as he once was. Did that drive and hunger go away? Was he complacent? Was this all a stunt? Who the fuck knows anymore, the world is falling apart. Anyways, going in I did have low expectations for this cause I did anticipate another bullshit or a snoozer album, but there were moments here and there where I did get that but overall…..this is a fine way to go out on, if he really does….
Now, right off the bat, almost a near 2 hours worth of New J. Cole music? Not trying to be a dick, but Jesus man. No, thank you. My attention span and age has cooked me in the last two years. I would rather spend two hours playing with shitty teammates on rivals or watch a generic popcorn Netflix original show/movie. I toughed it out and sat through it and listened. I honestly prefer the Disc one aka the Disc 29 portion of the album, to the other disc aka Disc 39. Mainly at the point I was already zoning out and everything started to sound the same old song and dance I’ve heard in the past. I do agree with some people saying the album does illustrate that when you do the exact old raps, beats, and flows that you did in your 20’s and even do when you’re now in your 40’s, you feel like you’ve outgrown the music. Like, take a chance.
I’m not gonna lie, when the intro kicked off with a country song, legit felt we were going to get the white rapper turned country artist trend but J. Cole took the cape. However, it was a transition to the song “Two Six”, a nod to a military base near where he came from, which the hook does sound like one of those military chants they do, so that’s nice. It’s a pleasant start to kick off the album, I love the refrain, drums are crisp, and and love the smooth outro. After we hear this track to get you pumped up, you get some legit homophobia and once again, transphobia with “Safety”.
The song starts okay, raps from various perspectives of his friends back home about how things been going in the past decade, with certain people he knew either dying young, got into the drugs, and feeling bad about losing contact with Cole’s fame getting too big and didn’t want to be a bother, feeling like Cole would think he wants to hang out cause he wants a hand out. The last verse is where it falls apart, it sounds like he's trying to do his own version of “Auntie Diaries” but somehow even worse than whatever Kendrick was doing, hell Kendrick said a slur and somehow Cole’s version was worse! He knew that transition, died of aids, feeling bad for not trying to help but also didn’t want to help cause he was a ‘fruit”. Like….what the fuck? And people legit thought what he was saying was “real” so funny man. Look I was friends with whom I ended up “beefing” with and transition but I didn’t make fun of them, I couldn't care less cause I wasn’t cool with them anymore but at the same time, it’s their life. I just hoped they were happy, we ended up patching things up. The whole song just left a sour taste in my mouth.
“Run Of Train” expands on “Safety” subject matter now with his people back home wondering if Cole is the same dude before the fame. The hook by Future is basically his true friends before the fame questioning his new friends what the fuck do you know about the real Cole? I love this song, the 2nd verse is the highlight here, I love his rhyme patterns. The *NSYNC and Wemby lines were quite good, and the line about how he wanted his music and fame to give back but also feels naive that he heals things when there’s a lot of grief and pain too tough to handle. "Poor Thang" sounds like old Cole, which is nice to hear. The song does have a theme about a "young pup" looking for validation but I feel people are going to focus more on him dissing some random ass rapper from his city. So funny he's calling him a punk bitch after each bar, it's comedy. I love it, need more negative energy. "Legacy" is basically about regret, a generic I wish we were still a thing song. Cole's singing is bad here, which is a major thing I dislike about this entire album. A lot of these hooks would be better if they had an actual singer doing the hooks.
"Bounce Road Blues" features Future and Tems on a The Alchemist beat, they two really outshone Cole here. Maybe that's the reason I enjoyed the song, Cole's verse is fine but Future's and Tem's contributions stood out more. I did like Cole singing here however, mainly it was used for the refrain, it's haunting and chilling, flows well with the vibes of the production. "WHO TF IZ U" is so Eminem coded, just based on the flow and cadence in the second verse and the production too. The beat switch takes me back to southern mid 2000's rap, even the hook in the first half does too. Overall, a fun song. "Drum n Bass" is cool, I love the low-key production. "The Let Out" was a huge swing, I love the story being told, the guitar solo was nuts to hear on a Cole song, and I love the intro to the music. I think I would've loved the song if it had a different singer, especially with the background vocals and hooks. Cole doesn't sound good here, it sounds like a bad karaoke night vocal. I praise it for taking a chance on doing something different but I wish the landing stuck. "Bombs in The Villa/Hit The Gas" was doing too much. The sample in the middle of the song was cool to hear, I think the last minute is the best part? I don't know. The bonus track on this disc is the same subject matter I've heard a bunch of at the point of the entire album but it sounded nice so I fuck with it.
Disc 2 aka Disc 39 Intro is rough. Not vibing with it. I wished he had done another country intro on this one instead of hearing his off-key singing. "The Fall-Off is Inevitable" has him rapping from death back to his birth talking about all his accomplishments, love, fame, etc. This was the first song to be released after the announcement of the album, I remember loving it, I still do. Nas did the same thing here once, which makes sense with Cole channeling Nas here a bit with his flow and production. It's a nice wink and nod to Nas, who Nas himself has been super critical about Cole in his early career. "The Villest" is my favorite track on this disc. Maybe the whole album. I love this kind of J Cole tracks. It's good to hear Erykah Badu on this, she fits like a glove. The homage to OutKast first listen I did eye roll a bit, but it has grown on me. The Darwinism bar threw me off a loop, I haven't heard about that word in a while, or ever since my younger days, The Sims line is good too. Hey, Petey Pablo is here! Cole on "Old Dog" sounds like he's doing a retro TI track but instead of the ATL it's about Cole's hometown. Nice change of pace when you get to this point of the album. Need a wake-up boost!
"Life Sentence" is bleh. Another Cole love song? No thanks! "Only You" was saved with the Burna Boy feature. Not crazy about the song, but the subject matter is good however. "Man Up Above" I fuck with. Friday night Lights flow and production, the sample mixed with the hook was super clean. This is some late-night drive music that I can fuck with. "I Love Her Again" is just another version of Common's song about his love for hip-hop but as a woman. This songs been redone a lot, nothing beats the original but this was good. Yes, he did mention the beef..speaking of which. "What If", which he raps under the perspectives of Tupac and Biggie if they were alive today if they aired out their grievances and squashed the beef. It's great storytelling, with him even rapping under their same flows and way they speak. Now I do kind of agree with AL from Pitchfork's review of this track, this is definitely a song made for podcasts to talk about. I feel and so did he, that this was Cole's viewpoint of the Kendrick and Drake beef. I honestly can hear this being discussed as I am writing and whenever this gets put out. "Quik Stop" is a story about meeting a fan, gassing Cole up, thanking him for saving his life, and to better himself every day. Cole reflects that his value in the world isn't money or fame but how his words can change people's lives. I thought this was solid, I liked that he made fun of himself a bit about dressing like a bum. Sometimes you've got to be comfy. “And the world is the Ville” is a good closer to the album, that bonus track is another stinker. “Ville” has an Isley Brothers sample, it sounded familiar when I first heard it. I remember my uncle would play the original song a lot back in the day, maybe that’s why I like this track. Those “put on for my city” never relate to me cause I’m from a shitty small town but I do love it when others rep their much better city/hometown.
My final thoughts are that overall I wish the album wasn’t a chore, some ideas were more fleshed out, not so many repetitive topics, and he had actual singers singing the hooks, because I would've loved this album a lot more. I think it's fine for what it is, maybe later on in the year the album will grow on me and I love it, as of now, I like it. Disc 29 is stronger than Disc 39. It's one of his more recent better outputs in quite sometime. I think the themes of looking back at your youth, maturing, growth as person and an artist was cute. If this truly is his last album (I found out It's a Boy might drop one day as of writing this), I do find it's one of the better "retirement" albums. I don't know. I do hope deep down he has closure and satisfaction with his career. Despite it flaws, he went out on his own term and hope he feels satisfaction with his accomplishments. I am ready for Cole's producer arc, he makes better beats for artists than himself funny enough.
Favorite Tracks: The Villest, Old Dog, Two Six, Run a Train, Bunce Road Blues, WHO TF IZ U, Drum n Bass, The Fall-off is Inevitable, and the whole world is Ville, I Love Her Again
Least Favorite Tracks: SAFETY, both of the bonus tracks
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