Damn, that’s super harsh. Method Man, had a classic (according to some) and but couldn’t for the life of him follow up his initial success. Ultimately what cost him was his energy. To most it sounded like he didn’t know how to write an album. Some would say he didn’t really know how to write a song and it hurt him. But at the same time, the music he enjoyed making was what got the crowds amped. He needed to lean into his charisma and spit smooth playful raps over even smoother beats but he wanted jump up, in your face beats…
But J. Cole is a whole different animal. He writes songs and albums excellently, Kids on Drugs aside and now, writes features even better. I get that he may not be everyone’s cuppa, but he should certainly garner respect for his record.
In comparison, you look at Drake, who is very hit or miss and in fact suffers from trying to cater to his audiences rather than put out a cohesive project. In fact sonically, the one with 21 Savage is probably his best in terms of cohesion. That said, when he hits, he hits.
Another comparison would be Kendrick who is very good at cohesion, but some would argue that’s his downfall as sometimes his tracks fail to stand up on their own without the other album tracks. Objectively speaking, Mister Morale isn’t a great album, it’s for the best part very average, but it’s Kendrick and so people are forgiving.
If you did a versus with Mister Morale versus The Off Season, Cole wins. I say all that to say this, in terms of the big mainstream, Cole is clearly in pole position right now, some would argue he’s even about to start lapping rappers. That’s a million miles from Meth.
Damn, that’s super harsh. Method Man, had a classic (according to some) and but couldn’t for the life of him follow up his initial success. Ultimately what cost him was his energy. To most it sounded like he didn’t know how to write an album. Some would say he didn’t really know how to write a song and it hurt him. But at the same time, the music he enjoyed making was what got the crowds amped. He needed to lean into his charisma and spit smooth playful raps over even smoother beats but he wanted jump up, in your face beats…
But J. Cole is a whole different animal. He writes songs and albums excellently, Kids on Drugs aside and now, writes features even better. I get that he may not be everyone’s cuppa, but he should certainly garner respect for his record.
In comparison, you look at Drake, who is very hit or miss and in fact suffers from trying to cater to his audiences rather than put out a cohesive project. In fact sonically, the one with 21 Savage is probably his best in terms of cohesion. That said, when he hits, he hits.
Another comparison would be Kendrick who is very good at cohesion, but some would argue that’s his downfall as sometimes his tracks fail to stand up on their own without the other album tracks. Objectively speaking, Mister Morale isn’t a great album, it’s for the best part very average, but it’s Kendrick and so people are forgiving.
If you did a versus with Mister Morale versus The Off Season, Cole wins. I say all that to say this, in terms of the big mainstream, Cole is clearly in pole position right now, some would argue he’s even about to start lapping rappers. That’s a million miles from Meth.
Sorry for being so long-winded.