At 29 Jermaine Cole is becoming a philosopher, a young Socrates if you may, and that puts him in a whole different lane from his peers, your Drizzys , Big Seans, Kendrick Lamars and even the self-worshipping Jays and Kanyes. Jermaine is confident but not aggressive and there is no denying that he is a prolific storyteller and an impressive rapper. What sets him apart is that damn good head on his shoulders, complete with that crooked smile. J. Cole understands what’s important, and like Plato and Aristotle, he is concerned about the meaning and the reason of life and existence. While his latest album: 2014 Forrest Hill Drive is not an album about God or the Big Bang or even about creationism vs atheism, it sure is a philosophical album about what matters. It’s an album about living an honest life, young man sexcapades, freedom, happiness, love, family, childhood dreams, adolescent endevours and a place called home.
I have a feeling that the media just might pick up on ‘Apparently’ and put it on heavy rotation BUT there are no radio-friendly singles on this album because Jermaine is now disillusioned with the glitz and the glamour that come with pop culture and mainstream commercial success, quite frankly, he couldn’t be bothered by album sales or radio interviews or TV appearances, he states it clearly on the last track ‘ Note To Self’. J Cole wants us to listen to his album at a dinner party and have roburst conversations about our core values as a people, our fascination with material success, race relations, black on black violence, and the kind of societies we ought to be building. He makes chucklesome comments about how some drug dealers would rather go to school and get that degree as opposed to being stuck with two choices. This album is somber and hypnotic, and dude knows it, on January 28th he says “Cole is the hypnotist, control the game whenever he snap”.
J Cole has never sounded as self-assured as he does on this album, he talks about going toe to toe with the giants on ‘Fire Squad’, he goes on to say that he is so ahead of his time that even when he is talking about the future he is reminiscing. So I guess he is not worried about his idols becoming his rivals anymore. All in all, this is an exciting album, considering the nonsense that’s circulating all over the internet and music television. And judging by the quality of the contents, I think it’s safe to say J Cole is an album away from a classic. Some publications have called this album a nostalgic self mythology and I might have to listen to it again and again to get what they mean, I am just impressed with Jermaine’s humility, bravery and honesty, his willingness to shy away from celebrity and to perturb himself with the issues of young black American men. If you were following Q Tip’s project school Iggy Azalea on Twitter, you too might have learnt a lot about the history of Hip Hop and its initial social activism and comradery. And J Cole does kind of take Hip Hop back to its glory days before the video hoes and the champagne popping, he uses it as a tool to comment on social issues and individual struggles. Meaning Hip Hop is still alive. Nas must be proud.