Hip-hop is becoming competitive again. The newest generation of rappers is bringing artistic integrity back to the music, and none with a higher level of skill and quality than J. Cole. He released his latest mixtape, Friday Night Lights, last Friday via his website and Twitter account to an incredible amount of anticipation. When I heard it was coming out, I wondered if FNL would be a low point in Cole’s catalogue. I feared that he might have sunk into the trap of over-saturating the web with freestyles while restless fans are waiting for the official album, like many artists today fall victim to. But every one of J. Cole’s projects is impressive, including FNL. He continues with his personal formula for success: he keeps his features to a limit, enlisting only Wale, Drake and Omen (plus a bonus track with Kanye West and the G.O.O.D. Music crew), he minimizes freestyles and opts for complete songs instead, and he raps to mostly his own original beats. There are a few songs on FNL that have been previously released on other mixtapes, but besides this minor discrepancy, trust me when I say this set of music from J. Cole is strong enough to pay money for (as if any of y’all pay for ANY of your music anymore). With that being said, I hope that Cole’s rhymes motivate you to go get his debut album, Cole World, when it comes out: “An album’s $10, you act like it’s 10 Gs/This food for thought cost the same as two #3s,” and I would add, you’re a fool if you don’t go on and download Friday Night Lights for free.
(it says "BUY IT" but if you click the link it downloads the zip file for free)
I'm definitely gonna check this one out, Cole's been on my radar since that Who Dat video came out and I'm interested in seeing what else he's capable of. Some of his songs he's been releasing are not as good as others but I hope he can keep his momentum up and his album lives up to the hype that's generating.
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