25.11.09

Fly Music- A Star is Born

Sometime in the Spring of this year, a friend and musical soul mate of mine were at a social event, when he turned to me and said: "Yo, J.Cole is the future" and gave me "the face". Unfamiliar with the name, I paused, looked at him, and it was then that I knew, I had to know what he knew. You know? So I went on MySpace Music and discovered that I might have been "napping" for awhile. From ‘The Come Up” to “The Warm up” I eagerly listened to these mix tapes filled with classic tracks sampled by Gil Scott-Heron, Nas and even records produced by the artist himself. I'm no mix tape expert and I can say that before this brief era I hadn't listened to any mix tapes since all of Lil Wayne's mysteriously appeared on my ipod playlist courtesy of my big brother. I do however genuinely enjoy the concept of rappers/ emcees rhyming over previously released songs adding their own sixteens to the music. J.Cole's lyrics are anything but typical. He's not afraid to discuss his personal life experiences in college in his relationships, and association with people. Because of his flow he also doesn't have the stigma of a "typical down south rapper" either; of course I like to credit his time in the concrete Jungle for that. After being signed to Roc Nation he started to generate a buzz amongst hip-hop fans and people quickly compared him to newcomer, Drake. To me they're completely different rappers, so get over it people, listen to the music. I also dig his humility thus far: I read in XXL magazine once that he refused an offer to “hob-nob” with Diddy at a party because he didn't feel like he was at the level where he should be doing that yet, and rather just focus on the music. In that same article, he also said that he's aware folks wouldn't be so intrigued if he wasn't signed to Jay-Z's label. It’s all about the music for me, so on behalf of hip-hop fans all over, thanks for bring us this warm breeze, "Fayettenam". J. Cole him self makes the darkness [of hip-hop] seem so bright, and I'm Feelin’ like things gon be alright.

1 comment:

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