![]() ![]() His voice and rhymes, however, are as indistinctive as ever. Producing the lion’s share of the tracks here, his beats have never sounded better. It simply exists, the musical equivalent of an inanimate object.Ĭole’s greatest strength, in truth, is behind the boards, rather than on the mic. The LP is constantly listenable, never exciting never poor, and never outstanding. Quite simply, that the mild-mannered rapper embodies the average. His debut was a misstep, to be sure, but what Born Sinner with Cole firing from all cylinders is perhaps more troubling for him. Cole, while a stalwart, likeable figure, is ultimately the underdog he likes to play. West’s LP, whatever its flaws, is a work from a visionary, unique to the core. West, the young MC certainly had to be confident in his LP’s quality, or desperate for the attention it’d bring. Bumping his release date up in order to go head-to-head with Mr. In fact, in his fervor to top his debut – and make more of an impact on the rap landscape – Cole has put his album in an unfortunate position. That isn’t to take a shot, but certain things are just best left alone, untouchable. 1” for his “Land of the Snakes,” instantly dooming his track to endless comparisons to the vastly superior original. One has to hand it to the kid for trying, but Cole has an eternal habit of biting off more than he can chew with his intentions, such as borrowing the backdrop from OutKast’s “Art of Storytelling Pt. Illmatic himself on “Let Nas Down,” with other more subtle nods abound. Which is no surprise, Cole is rather obsessed with his progenitors, from Jay-Z the mentor, to dedicating an entire awkward ballad to Mr. The first track’s strongest moments come, as always, from his insecurities, telling of Beyoncé buying a car that, “was probably more than he was worth,” and that, “she knew it, probably.” At the same time, he ham-handedly, repeatedly remarks, “Sometimes I brag like Hov,” during the chorus. This can be his strongest ally, but simultaneously makes most of his attempts at boasting fall flat, as near all aspects to Born Sinner attest.Īs the album opens, Cole immediately asserts, “It’s way darker this time.” Alright, we’ll take his word for it, but one would hope the material could have said this for him. ![]() In truth, the rapper is most comfortable spitting simple musings and reflecting on a lack of belonging. ![]() As the album’s sub-title, The Sideline Story, bludgeons the listener over the head with, Cole is – quite insistently – hip hop’s perpetual underdog. Cole has been on the run the past year, repositioning following the awkward misstep that was his major label debut, Cole World. A handful of other numbers carry that same weight, making Born Sinner a daring step forward for Cole and an exciting attempt at mastering Jay's Blueprint style.J. Still, "Crooked Smile" with special guests TLC is a genuine, mature step in the right direction and will have no trouble reaching vintage age. All this bold borrowing is backed up by lyrics that flow fine until their shocking twists ("She raisin' that guy's kids while she swallowin' mine"), while "She Knows" with Dirty Projectors vocalist Amber Coffman is shameless enough to spit "This is Martin Luther King in the Club/With a bad bitch in his ear/Saying that she down for whatever/In the back of his mind is Coretta." It's snide, smart-ass stuff and when it comes to sublime/ridiculous balancing act that his heroes Jay-Z and Nas have mastered, Cole is a little short on the sublime side here to be considered classic. Cole is the one who produced most of the album himself with his Kanye-sense of sampling (work songs, gospel, old soul, etc.) and his love of hard bass (check "Trouble," "Chaining Day," or infectious single "Power Trip" for some great low end) both returning from before, but it's his love of jazz that provides the greatest rewards as "Forbidden Fruit" (it's like Erykah Baduh meets Ice Cube on this soulful dude cut with guest Kendrick Lamar) and "Let Nas Down" (a pledge to honor the man with better rhymes and less pop) are both driven by their Blue Note-inspried backbeats. No spoiler alert required for that one as the opening "Villuminati" has the gall to sample Biggie's classic "Juicy" while using Jay's nickname as a mantra by repeating "Sometimes I brag like Hov," but besides this, Born Sinner is the a more self-confessional and word-filled effort than before, all of it very busy and Black Album minus the references to Beyoncé and the beats from Rick Rubin. Cole bringing the sound of Drake down to the streets, the Roc Nation rapper's sophomore effort finds him going for the full Illuminati and attempting an ambitious, multi-faceted album in the style of his label boss, Jay-Z. ![]()
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