{"id":8443,"date":"2017-01-31T17:54:45","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T22:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altwire.net\/?p=8443"},"modified":"2023-12-06T06:38:27","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T11:38:27","slug":"opinion-j-cole-boring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/opinion-j-cole-boring\/","title":{"rendered":"\u041c\u043d\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435: \u0414\u0436. \u041a\u043e\u0443\u043b \u0441\u043a\u0443\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00ab<\/em>J.Cole<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>is boring\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

This statement is one of the most debated statements in \u0445\u0438\u043f-\u0445\u043e\u043f<\/a> today.\u00a0 A simple Google search will lead you to countless posts debating this very issue. Before getting into why this might be, let\u2019s go back in time a little. Let\u2019s go back to a time where\u00a0J.Cole<\/strong>\u00a0was simply\u00a0Jermaine<\/strong>, a young aspiring artist from North Carolina. It\u2019s important to look at the big picture if we want to get a proper analysis of why people think he\u2019s boring. I mean, if so many people think so, there must be some truth to it, right? No? Let\u2019s jump right in.<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s first mix-tape,\u00a0The Come Up<\/em>, was released on May 4, 2007. This came around the same time as he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 3.8 GPA from St John\u2019s University in New York City.\u00a0This mix-tape would only start racking up the views later as Cole rose to popularity. This project was, however, far from a joke.<\/p>\n

To be blunt,\u00a0<\/strong>Jermaine<\/strong>\u00a0showed the world he wasn\u2019t fucking around. The hunger was there. Just look at these lyrics for example: \u201cThank god we made it my nigga we growed up now we crazy over that bread call us the donuts (dough nuts)\u201d.\u00a0 Very raw, yes, I hear you, however, he was only 22 years old, but his hunger made up for it. You could hear him crying out for attention; and I mean that in the best way possible.\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0put his name in the conversation.<\/p>\n

I feel like this is one for the\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0fans though, I mean, maybe it\u2019s just me, but the only people I\u2019ve discussed this mix-tape with were huge\u00a0J.Cole<\/strong>\u00a0fans.\u00a0The greatest thing about this mixtape, though, is how relatable it is. \u201cits time to face reality , the Ville is a trap nigga now, and if you aint focused you gon’ be here for a while\u201d. This showed a more mature and conscious side of him.<\/p>\n

But enough on\u00a0The Come Up.<\/em><\/p>\n

His next mixtape,\u00a0The Warm Up<\/em>, is what really got people interested. We have to remember that this was at a time where rap wasn\u2019t really in its best state; in fact,\u00a0Kendrick Lamar<\/strong>\u00a0wouldn\u2019t really rise to stardom until 3 years later.\u00a0\u0414\u0436\u0435\u0439-\u0417\u0438<\/strong>\u00a0clearly saw a young man who was easily marketable yet not gimmicky. With that,\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0put pen to paper on a deal with\u00a0Roc nation<\/strong>\u00a0shortly after. It was now clear that\u00a0Jermaine<\/strong>\u00a0was a rare breed.\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0was here to stay.\u00a0The Warm Up was a testament to\u00a0J.Cole\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0versatility, mixing up emotion in a manner really relatable to the swarm of fans that he had gathered.<\/p>\n

Next up came a mixtape that many hip hop heads consider as his best work to date.\u00a0<\/em>Friday Night \u041e\u0433\u043d\u0438<\/a><\/em>\u00a0released on November 10, 2010, and searches for his name rose by far to the highest it had ever been \u00a0on Google.<\/p>\n

So back to our question. Why do some people think\u00a0J.Cole<\/strong>\u00a0is boring?\u00a0The body of work that was to come next might be the answer.\u00a0Although\u00a0Cole World: The Sideline Story<\/em>\u00a0was well received by critics, most hip hop heads thought it was a poor project. This album sounded more commercial than his previous work. It felt like he was missing the hunger that he previously had in his delivery. The\u00a0\u201cAny Given Sunday\u201d<\/em>\u00a0series that preceded the album created much hype for the album. And\u00a0Cole World<\/em>\u00a0didn\u2019t live up to that hype.<\/p>\n

Corny lines like \u201cI’m already hot u could say I’m pre-heated, if money talks mine telling yours to be seated\u201d didn\u2019t help his case. It really seemed like he could do better. In fact, many said that he purposely dumbed it down so that his album would have a more commercial appeal. Even\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0didn\u2019t seem to be happy about it as we saw in\u00a0\u201cLet Nas Down\u201d<\/em>, where he speaks of\u00a0<\/strong>Nas<\/strong>\u00a0harshly criticizing his single\u00a0\u201cWork Out\u201d<\/em>.\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0idolized\u00a0Nas<\/strong>, so this really hurt him deep inside.\u00a0Nas<\/strong>\u00a0clearly didn\u2019t mean no harm, and made an affectionate song called\u00a0\u201cMade Nas Proud\u2019\u2019<\/em>, featuring\u00a0Cole\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0verse as well as his own.<\/p>\n

In my opinion, the fact that many fans had such high hopes for the album made it sound even worse than it actually was.\u00a0It\u2019s important to remember that \u201cbanger raps\u201d made their way into the game slowly after. Artists like\u00a0Migos<\/strong>\u00a0\u0438\u00a0\u0411\u0443\u0434\u0443\u0449\u0435\u0435<\/strong>\u00a0started coming up with a style much more experimental to\u00a0Cole\u2019s<\/strong>.\u00a0A lot of the criticism of\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0stems on the fact that he keeps things too \u201csafe\u201d. Compare this with\u00a0<\/strong>Kendrick<\/strong>\u00a0who released\u00a0TPAB<\/em>, where he explores a variety of political and personal themes concerning racial inequality, African-American culture, depression, and institutional discrimination.\u00a0It\u2019s not to say that\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0wasn\u2019t working as well. He released\u00a0<\/em>Born Sinner<\/em>\u00a0a year later, which showed good progression in his career, but it still wasn\u2019t what some people were expecting from him. He started getting labeled as \u201cboring\u201d, but also kinda corny with lines like \u201c because motha fuck I\u2019m the shit I pass gas wen I feel \u201c.<\/p>\n

A year later, Cole released\u00a0\u00a0FHD<\/em>\u00a0out of nowhere, with no marketing or promotion. It took all his fans by surprise and it ended up going \u201cDouble Platinum with no features\u201d, a saying that has today become something of a meme. All jokes aside,\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0outsold\u00a0Yeezy<\/em>. Nothing more to say here.<\/p>\n

Hip Hop heads still weren\u2019t interested but weren\u2019t uninterested as well. If that makes sense. It was just \u201calright\u201d. And it further fueled the online trolls to continue labeling him as boring.\u00a0Cole<\/strong>, however,\u00a0wasn\u2019t done yet. \u00a0The Revenge of the Dreamers<\/em>\u00a0series were a good showcase of the artists\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0had signed to Dreamville, but they also had good\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0verses. Everyone just started a noticing a trend:\u00a0Cole\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0mixtape game is better than his album one, though his albums sell massively due to his really loyal fanbase which gathered swarms of male as well as female fans.<\/p>\n

It seems like his music has been regressing since\u00a0Friday Night Lights<\/em>, a mixtape which many say should\u2019ve been an album.\u00a0Many hip hop heads don\u2019t do their homework though. Having never listened to Jermaine\u2019s mixtapes, they\u2019re left judging him on the quality of his albums, when they would be more suited to his mixtape material.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, more experimental hip-hop hit the scene and left\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0behind.\u00a0\u0411\u0443\u0434\u0443\u0449\u0435\u0435<\/strong>\u00a0is one of the biggest hip-hop stars; an artist that clearly goes against the grain.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like judging albums prematurely \u2013 but at the moment\u00a04 Your Eyez Only<\/em>\u00a0hasn\u2019t got me begging for more listens. It\u2019s interesting to see\u00a0Cole\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0progression though. It could be said that his beginnings as a father and a husband is the main topic of the album.<\/p>\n

So there we have it. To conclude,\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0has been labeled as \u201cboring\u201d because:<\/p>\n

– Some believe his music has been regressing rather than progressing<\/p>\n

– Cole doesn\u2019t go against the status quo enough which is something that is BIG in hip-hop right now<\/p>\n

– The corny lines<\/p>\n

– People\u2019s expectations of\u00a0Cole<\/strong>\u00a0don\u2019t fall in line with his vision<\/p>\n

– His mixtape game is more suited to his \u201chip hop head\u201d fans<\/p>\n

Cole<\/strong>\u00a0is not here to give you the most fire bars you\u2019ve ever heard.\u00a0He\u00a0is here to tell you things about yourself that you didn\u2019t even know and\u00a0to speak of his story\u00a0by\u00a0taking you along on a journey. It is clear that with his massive fan base behind him,\u00a0Cole\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0here to stay.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00ab\u0414\u0436\u0435\u0439 \u041a\u043e\u0443\u043b \u0441\u043a\u0443\u0447\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb. \u042d\u0442\u043e \u0443\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0436\u0434\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u2014 \u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e \u0438\u0437 \u0441\u0430\u043c\u044b\u0445 \u043e\u0431\u0441\u0443\u0436\u0434\u0430\u0435\u043c\u044b\u0445 \u0443\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0436\u0434\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0432 \u0445\u0438\u043f-\u0445\u043e\u043f\u0435 \u0441\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044f. \u041f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0439 \u043f\u043e\u0438\u0441\u043a \u0432 Google \u0432\u044b\u0432\u0435\u0434\u0435\u0442 \u2026 \u0427\u0438\u0442\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0434\u0430\u043b\u0435\u0435<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1503],"tags":[1654],"class_list":["post-8443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial","tag-j-cole","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altwire.net\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}