title track, neighbors and change are peak cole songs, my fave album from him even if it isnt perfect.

Lol yeah that’s too much, tbf sing about me is such a goat level track that is a very high bar to reach

Ok bro ty for telling me to listen in full I just finished it! I was pleasantly surprised, there were only 2 songs that were meh to me & I am going back for a second helping

Album as a whole is underwhelming but title track is probably the best showcasing of Cole's storytelling ever.

Definitely his album that best fits the "sleepy" meme imo. Astonishingly dull project.

top 3 cole for me

Gif is crazy

You know, I remember getting a ride back from my mom's cancer surgery around the time it came out, and since it was a 2 hour drive, I figured I throw it on to fall asleep since that was the meme at the time and I was actually tired

But you know.....it really captured my interest in the sense of....it legit reminded me of my best friend who held it down for me when I was struggling at the time, even though he was juggling doing his "business" while taking care of his daughters.

It really brought something out of me, and as much as I clown on J.Cole, I think back to this album and remember sometimes s*** is bigger than myself and it's important to show love to those who show love to you and those around you.

lol one of the NFR Podcast guys has this as his top rap album of all time

one of his better albums

Folding Clothes is the most J cole song ever but tbh it's very relatable

This is NFR core music

Album was mid.

i don't really think about it much ngl

this has no bearing on J Cole himself, only some of his fans
so this is not hate

I do have a friend who is a J Cole stan (although he didn't care for The Fall Off)
& I have noticed with many other J Cole stans, they don't tend to go back & do their hip hop homework much.

I reckon the venn diagram circle of people who have J Cole as their favourite rapper doesn't have much overlap with 'people who have listened to Illmatic' or 'people who have listened to 10+ 90s rap albums'

S/O to Jermaine Cole though

Impressive how this, while seemingly true, doesn't make much sense lol
I mean those people would clearly enjoy a lot of 90s classics and Cole himself as an artist is a type to respect the OGs

Boring album but changes and neighbors are top 75

For sure I mean don’t get me wrong far from a perfect album but contextually I respect the hell out of him for putting this out coming off of his commercially dominant FHD era. This was clearly a passion project for him and I think the standout songs show that

Wet dreamz was on fhd

Idk it feels like diet tpab to me

Honestly I think it’s more akin to GKMC lol

good concept album fr

Some J. Cole fans came into hip-hop through J. Cole, rather than coming to J. Cole after already knowing the history of hip-hop. Because they haven't listened deeply to earlier artists, they may hear Cole's influences and techniques as more original than they actually are.

“I've heard this type of storytelling before.”
“This flow isn't particularly new.”
“That lyrical concept was explored decades ago.”
“His idea of what constitutes ‘real rap’ comes from an older tradition.”
“Cole is synthesizing existing hip-hop conventions rather than inventing them.”

The album that started with me no longer caring about JCole when I did like him prior to it

The Off Season is the only album I truly enjoyed from Cole from 4YEO to today era

Has some good songs tho, and nothing I would call bad except fold clothes