J. Cole has long been a prominent rapper in hip-hop, continuously being at the top of the charts. As one of the artists that has heavily influenced me in my life, I wanted to rank my favorite J. Cole projects, excluding his singles and other projects such as the "Truly Yours" EPs, "Any Given Sunday" series, "Revenge of the Dreamers" compilations, and "Forest Hills Drive: Live." Honestly, it was extremely difficult trying to rank the projects since all of them are almost on equal plane with one another. But at the end, I was able to meditate on which projects were the ones that spoke to me the most in sound, lyrics, and concept.
7. "The Come Up."
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People generally don’t know about the existence of this particular mixtape since it is rarely mentioned by J. Cole himself, and if they do, it is usually written off as a fault in his discography. It’s true that this version of Cole was still early in the development of his style, but “The Come Up” still paints a clear picture of Cole’s story of coming up to the Big Apple from the small town of Fayetteville. Compared to the other projects, there aren’t as many songs that I enjoy as much, but there were definitely gems that popped out to me in the project; songs such as “Simba,” “Lil Ghetto Nigga,” “I’m the Man,” and “Quote Me” displayed both his talent and growth as an artist.
6. "4 Your Eyez Only."
Listening to this album is like taking a peek into Cole's personal life. He continues to take his audience to his deepest inner thoughts while including parts of his current life with songs such as “She’s Mine" pt. 1 & 2” and “Foldin Clothes.” The album is indeed on the shorter side in length, but every song is poetic and introspective in their own ways. Perhaps this album will reach higher on my personal list when I have more time to meditate on the songs, but with where I’m at with the other projects, I think this is the place for it.
5. "The Warm Up."
Cole’s first most notable work. To me, “The Warm Up” was a statement toward the rap game that he’s going to top the competition. Freestyle like tracks such as “Heartache,” “Water Break (Interlude),” “Grown Simba,” and “Til’ Infinity” make it apparent that he came to play with his best hand. Besides his attempt to show off his ability to rhyme, “The Warm Up” is where we really start to get to know Cole and his stories. “Can I Live” tells of a story about the environment he dwelled in, and “Dreams” talks about his struggle with romantic infatuation. Overall, the whole mixtape is certainly not a body of work to be overlooked and has led me to appreciate my own experiences, as well.
4. "2014 Forest Hills Drive."
The amount of honesty and revelation on this album reminded not only Cole but also his fans and everyone listening about what’s important: love. As the other album, having completely no features allows room for Cole to say what he needs to say while creating an intimate atmosphere for his audience. At this point of artists’ careers, they have a tendency to forget where they came from, but Cole manages to bring us back to his childhood and explain the origin of his happiness. The album includes songs like “03’ Adolescence” and “Wet Dreamz,” which remind us of Cole’s ability to tell his story in a creative way, then includes “Love Yourz,” “Apparently,” “No Role Modelz,” and “St. Tropez” that explore the meaning of joy in one’s life. For me, this album shows me the importance of the little things and how we should cherish those who are close to us.
3. "Cole World – The Sideline Story."
The highly anticipated first album of Cole’s career. The concept of the album was successfully introduced by his mixtapes “The Warm Up” and “Friday Night Lights” and establishes the type of rapper that he is, which is introspecting and storytelling. The whole album is well-rounded with hits such as “Work Out,” “Cole World,” and “Can’t Get Enough,” reflective pieces like “Lights Please,” “Never Told,” “Breakdown,” and more rap-heavy records like “God’s Gift," “Dollar and a Dream III,” and “Rise and Shine.” “The Sideline Story” captures the essence of J. Cole not only as an artist but also as a person, and it creates an experience that makes the listeners care about where he is coming from.
2. "Friday Night Lights."
Honestly, labeling this project as a mixtape doesn’t give the value where it’s due. Due to everyone’s prodding during this period of time, J. Cole decided to sacrifice some album material in order to put out a quality compilation of songs for his fans, making the project on par with the work of an album. What makes “Friday Night Lights” such a great project for me is the amount of intimacy shown in his songs like “Before I’m Gone,” “Love Me Not,” “2Face,” “Home for the Holidays,” and “Premeditated Murder” that tell of his personal thoughts and adolescence. Cole also includes tracks like “Villematic” and “Back to the Topic (Freestyle)” in order to capture the essence of the mixtape and to continue showing off his ability to rap.
1. "Born Sinner."
Not only do I think the lines on this album are some of his best lyrics, but the thing that really made this album so amazing was the fluidity of the story being told. The concept of going from darkness to light was highly apparent, and the relation between every song with the different biblical references made this whole project feel like a well thought-out album. Most of the songs in the album such as “Runaway,” “Power Trip,” “Mo Money (Interlude),” and “Chaining Day” display the struggles and insecurities that he was going through, and then ended the album with a more hopeful perspective with the tracks “Crooked Smile” and “Born Sinner.” Cole used this album to try and write his way out of darkness, and as a listener, it has helped me get through my own trials and tribulations.
