Album Review: J. Cole-Born Sinner

J. Cole is a rapper that has been hyped ever since he dropped his second mixtape The Warm Up in 2009. He quickly rose through the underground ranks and got signed by Jay-Z and Roc Nation shortly after The Warm Up was released. Ever since hitting the mainstream, the hype behind Cole has only grown and he is one of the most successful up-and-coming rappers at the moment. Personally, I've never been a fan of Cole's music, but I decided to give him another shot with his second full-length Born Sinner. To my surprise, Born Sinner ended up being a worthwhile listen.

Born Sinner is a focused and consistently solid record. Cole spits with undeniable confidence that borderlines on cocky. Normally something like that would bother me, but Cole has the lyrical skills to back up his smack talk and the brash aura that surrounds him (the Boy Meets World, Big Tigga and Trinidad James references in the first verse of "Villuminati" are absolutely fantastic.) Born Sinner is at its best when Cole is just going at it with the more hardcore-based songs. Tracks like "LAnd of the Snakes" and the aforementioned "Villuminati" sees Cole's clever wordplay take center stage and it makes for great hip-hop. He seems most comfortable flowing over uptempo beats that suit his in-your-face style and arrogant lyrics. 

At the same time Born Sinner succeeds, it's too safe to be something truly special. While the album never really stumbles, it seems like Cole isn't using his full-capacity as an artist for a majority of the record. Outside of a few standout tracks, the album kind of just coasts at a level that is competent and relatively enjoyable but equally frustrating because you know he is capable of doing better. I applaud him for him trying a lot of different styles on this record, but a lot of the slower, conscious/poppier tracks just don't match-up with his lyrical ability and style demonstrated on the faster songs (hit radio single "Power Trip" is a prime example of this.)  This album tries to be reminiscent of hip-hop classics like Dr. Dre's The Chronic and Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle with various interludes, a loose concept and a variety of different subject matters, but lacks the consistent punch throughout to be even mentioned anywhere near the same breath as those records.

Born Sinner exceeded my expectations while simultaneously aggravating me. J. Cole is an undeniably skilled rapper who is versatile enough to flow over hardcore bangers and slower, conscious tracks with relative ease, but he only rarely taps into his full potential on this record. Cole has the chops to make an excellent record, but instead settles for one that's just pretty good and will ultimately get lost in the shuffle of recent standout hip-hop albums. Cole has a lot of promise for the future and hopefully can craft an album that is consistently impressive throughout.

3.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Villuminati
2.LAnd of the Snakes
3.Let Nas Down