North Carolina rapper J. Cole released his fifth studio album KOD on April 20th, 2018. The album takes inspiration from the "mumble rap" epidemic that has taken over rap in the past few years, with rappers that use Auto-Tune and put little emphasis on lyricism. Cole's last project 4 Your Eyez Only faced mixed reviews from people who thought it was too much of a story that lacked a key single. Cole made sure to respond well. The album is less of a story than 4 Your Eyez Only, as it talks about many topics, like the overuse of drugs, addiction, depression, love, and taxation. The album is also notable, as J. Cole produces every song on the album, with the exception of "Kevin's Heart". Many of the tracks could be taken as satirical or mocking of the new generation, with the usage of the trap beats and triplet flows that new school rappers use. On "ATM", Cole raps about greed while also making it sound like a club song. This clever juxtaposition works in Cole's favor. He also raps about greed on "Motiv8" (that's not a typo; that is how the track is stylized.) On the title track, he addresses his upbringing and the people who criticize his lack of features. While Eminem on Kamikaze sounds spiteful and bitter for a majority of the album, Cole is more of a teacher figure on this album, warning his peers while also being somewhat sympathetic. On the final track "1985", he warns new school rappers of the consequences of appealing to the youth: "One day, them kids that's listening gon' grow up/And get too old for that shit that made you blow up/Now your show's lookin' light cause they don't show up/Which unfortunately means the money slow up." This track was interpreted as a diss to Lil Pump, who teased a track titled "F--- J. Cole" in 2017. However, the two settled their differences in an hour interview following the release of the album. The track is labeled as the intro to the "Fall Off", which is assumably the title of his next album. The project doesn't sacrifice lyricism for a more upbeat sound, and doesn't come across as overly preachy. However, it is not a perfect project. He has an alter ego that appears on two tracks, called "Kill Edward". He has a weirdly modified voice, and the parts just aren't pleasant to listen to. And while the tracks "Photograph" and "Kevin's Heart" are quality songs about a dream girl and being unfaithful respectively, they don't fit the overall vibe of the album too well. Bottom line, while Cole and Eminem had similar ideas on their most recent projects, J. Cole definitely made a better album. He has better hooks, the project is more consistent, and he is more understanding of the state of hip-hop, rather than sounding like a father who is pissed off at his son for having a sinkful of dishes needing to be washed. Favorite tracks: Window Pain, Brackets, ATM, Kevin's Heart Least favorite tracks: Friends, The Cut Off Final score: 8
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This is part of a new series I will be doing from time to time. As there are often feuds or "beefs" in the rap industry, I will give a timeline of the diss and examine who won, as well as any other commonly asked questions about the beef. This will be lengthy.
Drake and Pusha T's beef dominated headlines in May and June. The beef between the two goes back as far as 2012. Lil Wayne, Drake's mentor, actually has beef with Pusha going all the way back to 2006; they had an argument over who started the wave of wearing the clothing brand BAPE. After Pusha T dissed Wayne on "Exodus 23:1" in 2012, he also brought Drake into it due to him being on the same label as Wayne (Cash Money Records). So Drake and Pusha have been going at each other subliminally since 2012. On Pusha's newest studio album, the Kanye West-produced Daytona, the last track titled "Infrared" brings back up the ghostwriting rumors that plagued Drake in 2015. The line "It was written like Nas, but it came from Quentin" referred to Quentin Miller writing some songs with Drake. Drake quickly responded less than 24 hours later with his "Duppy Freestyle" track. The track took shots at Pusha T and Kanye West, calling into account how Pusha can question Drake for ghostwriting when his boss Kanye has also faced ghostwriting rumors. In fact, Drake has written for Kanye; he has writing credits on "Father Stretch My Hands", "30 Hours", and "Yikes". He also said Pusha is not "top 5 as far as your label talent goes", his career has fallen off dramatically, and that he did not sell as much coke as he raps about. He said at the end of the song, "I told you keep playing with my name and I'mma let it ring on you like Virginia Williams". That may not seem significant, but Virginia Williams is the name of his fiance. While obviously Drake was not dissing her and simply using wordplay with multiple definitions of "ring", at that point, Pusha assumed all bets were off. He responded to Drake four days later with "The Story of Adidon". Over Jay-Z's "The Story of OJ" instrumental, he raps about how Drake is "hiding a child" and that he is a "deadbeat motherf----- playing border patrol". He also mentions that the daughter of his child is a French pornstar, later rumored to be Sophie Brussaux. Drake responded to these allegations on "March 14" off of Scorpion, where he said, "She's not my mother like Billie Jean but the kid is mine." He confirmed Pusha's information was correct. It was recently founded that Drake played Kanye "March 14" back when Kanye was recording Daytona amongst his own album and three other projects. Kanye then gave that information to Pusha T when Drake dissed him on the aforementioned "Duppy Freestyle". However, Pusha claimed Kanye didn't give him that information, and instead he received it from Drake's producer 40. I highly doubt Drake's producer would backstab him like that, whereas Drake and Kanye are friendly rivals within the industry. Drake's claim seems much more plausible. That would make Drake's remarks on "Duppy" that much more hurtful, and take some of the sting away from Pusha's "Adidon". Whose diss was stronger? Pusha won the battle, Drake won the war. That may sound cliche, but each won in their own way. Pusha won by successfully revealing a massive bombshell and forcing Drake into a position where he did not respond directly to Pusha, but rather subliminally throughout several Scorpion tracks. Drake won because Scorpion was still incredibly successful, and he was able to dent the reputation of Kanye. As of now, the consensus is Pusha won. But as time goes on, people will forget the sting of his track and remember more the way Drake was able to expose the hypocritical ways of the two. Did Pusha T cross the line? One of the lines of "The Story of Adidon" was, "OVO 40, hunched over like he 80. Tick tick tick, how much time he got? That man is sick, sick, sick." This is a reference to 40 having multiple sclerosis, or MS for short. People are on both sides; some feel that he shouldn't have made fun of someone who is slowly dying, while others say Drake brought it on himself by mentioning Virginia Williams. Additionally, on "Two Birds, One Stone" released back in 2016, Drake made remarks about Kid Cudi's mental health, saying "You were the man on the moon, now you just go through your phases, lifestyle of the angry and famous." However, I feel there is a difference between mentioning how someone is bipolar and essentially wishing death on someone. Additionally, Drake did not even diss Virginia Williams, but rather simply mention her. 40 had nothing to do with the beef, and Pusha was saying something that did not make his diss any stronger and rather simply gave him more attention and views. I respect Pusha T as a rapper, but what he said was incredibly uncalled for. Overall winner: Drake On August 3rd, 2018, Travis Scott finally released his third studio album Astroworld. Travis has been teasing it ever since he dropped Rodeo in 2015. The album faced a few delays and following two mediocre albums for Travis, some people were skeptical about how good this album would be. But Travis delivered. The album is named after the Six Flags Astroworld park that was in Houston until 2005. One thing that I like about the album is most of the songs take 15 or so seconds to let the beat build and set the tone, sort of like a ride starting up. The production is very creative, taking the traditional trap beats and giving them a pop twist. There are also some beat changes like on Rodeo. Travis isn't going to blow you away with his lyricism or his storytelling, but he uses his beats and guest features well to create different moods on different songs. There is features from many artists, such as Kid Cudi, Drake, Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, Juice WRLD, Migos, 21 Savage, and more. On the opening track "Stargazing", Travis uses this Auto-Tune falsetto in the first part of the song to describe how it feels to get high, before a beat switch into part two where he raps essentially about what has happened to him in his life during the process of making the album. It's a great way to start off the project. "Carousel" has vocals from the aforementioned Frank Ocean, and it's another track about the use of drugs, with some hollering in the background to add to the experience. It transitions into the best track on the album, the Drake collab that has taken the Internet by storm, "Sicko Mode". The song has three parts and is essentially Drake and Travis rapping about how dominant they are at the rap game. There are so many things that happen with the beat changes; it captures so many different vibes and puts them into one song. It really feels like a roller coaster. Drake ironically sounds more confident and important on this song than he does on the majority of Scorpion. Travis is more than drugs and swagger, though. "R.I.P. Screw" is a nice tribute to the fallen, DJ screw, and "Stop Trying To Be God" is an attempt at a ballad from Travis that it actually works. Background vocals from James Blake and Kid Cudi and a harmonica solo from Stevie Wonder add to the song, as Travis tells his opponents to remain humble. "No Bystanders" is an incredibly energetic track about embracing the party lifestyle with vocals from two of rap's biggest newcomers, Juice WRLD and Sheck Wes. Travis's flow on this track is one of his best for the album, and the song is perfect for when you need to feel pumped up. From there, the album transitions into two tracks that feature Canadian R&B star The Weeknd: "Skeletons" and "Wake Up". Both tracks discuss the way certain women make them feel. On "Skeletons", Scott, The Weeknd, and Pharrell Williams combine their vocals on the outro for a breathtaking experience. "Wake Up" isn't too special, but it transitions beautifully into "5% Tint". The synthesizers in the background are very smooth and allow Travis to casually flow while he raps about an extravagant lifestyle. "NC-17" features a dark and moody beat and a chorus that sounds very similar to Young Thug. There are some not-PG lyrics on here, and an incredibly humorous verse from 21 Savage. But the album isn't as strong to end. Travis Scott has difficulty carrying a whole track by himself from times, as "Astrothunder" is boring. "Yosemite" thankfully is one of the album highlights, with a smooth chorus from young Atlanta rapper Gunna and a guitar-heavy instrumental that is one of the best of the entire year. However, Nav's verse at the end does not say anything lyrically important and is quieter than the rest of the song. It's a blemish on an otherwise close to perfect song. Newcomer Don Tolliver steals the show on "Can't Say". The chorus on this song is super infectious as the two tell tales of acquiring women and getting high. "Who? What!" featuring Migos is a track about how Travis will ride and die with his friends and go at anyone who challenges them. It's not bad, but it's nothing special; Migos doesn't really contribute much. The project ends on a rather unspectacular note. "Butterfly Effect" was a good single, but doesn't fit with the overall vibe of the album. "Houstonfornication" suffers from a boring delivery and typical lyrics about the fun and careless things he does. The final track is "Coffee Bean", which is a more mellow beat reminiscent of a ride shutting down. He raps about his relationship with model Kylie Jenner and how that's affected his life. I appreciate Travis getting introspective with his lyrics, but the song itself isn't memorable. Ironically, the weakest thing about Astroworld is probably Travis Scott. He is still limited as a rapper and is outshone by guest features on here more than he probably should be. Many of the tracks without features are not quite as memorable. However, almost every track here has a purpose, which in the era of "Put as many songs on the album to increase streams" is nice. Travis uses all elements of the song -- features, instrumental, etc. -- to create a mood, and made an album for his hometown of Houston to enjoy. While not as good as Rodeo, it takes risks and has many re-playable songs. It's incredibly entertaining and truly feels like an amusement park, everything centered around Travis. Favorite tracks: Sicko Mode, Stop Trying To Be God, Yosemite, Can't Say, Stargazing, No Bystanders Least favorite tracks: Astrothunder, Coffee Bean Final score: 8.5 |
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