No More Big 3! What's Cole's Next Move?!?!

No More Big 3! What's Cole's Next Move?!?!

July 11, 2024

If you haven’t read my previous article, scroll down on the freshthoughts2020 tab and check it out. In that article, we discussed whether Kendrick’s feud with Drake might be pointless if he doesn’t aim for the commercial number one spot. With a clear task ahead for Kendrick (whether he follows it or not), we’re left to ask: What is Cole’s next move?

I.Cole's Strong Start in 2024

Cole came into 2024 in a great position in the power rankings and was a strong front-runner to take the lead. He outperformed Drake on “First Person Shooter,” went bar to bar with him again on “Evil Ways” from the “Scary Hours Edition of For All The Dogs,” and just completed a successful national tour.

II.The Apology and Its Aftermath

IMAGE VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES

Cole was set to answer the call when he released his “Might Delete Later” EP. However, moments later, his infamous apology came, leading many people to write him off and not wanting to hear from him for a while. Then he reappeared on the bubbling New York sensation Cash Cobain’s track “Grippy,” which has been regarded as one of Cole’s worst verses. The verse wasn’t even bad, but if it wasn’t mind-blowing post-apology, any verse he penned was going to get panned anyway.

III.The Dismantling of the Big 3

The idea of the Big 3 has been dismantled. The world waits on a new K-dot album, ready to crown him as number one, while the Drizzy hive stands patient awaiting Drake’s inevitable return. Again, what is Cole to do?

IV.The Two-Part Plan for Cole's Comeback

I believe Cole has to do two things to ensure a great comeback and even get his name back into that front-runner conversation. We know he’s been hyping up his album The Fall Off, which is in a worse position post-beef. Here’s what he should do to make sure his album isn’t swept under the rug when it drops.

First, Cole has to address Symba. Why Symba? People may have forgotten about that freestyle he did on the “Control” beat, but it needs to be addressed. He sympathized with letting Nas down but went on to say he left Bas and Cozz down, the whole squad down. He slammed him for the apologies. Cole has to address how he didn’t have to clout beef with Kendrick, and most importantly, he has to spank Symba for even thinking he can say that. There are a few angles he can go with, but I probably shouldn’t reveal that. If Cole is capable like I know he is, he should know the angles too. There are plenty of lyricists who will probably make fun of that apology moving forward with general bars, but he needs to make Symba the poster child of what happens when you disrespect Cole.

He needs to do this because Symba has enough lyrical respect from peers and elder statesmen of hip-hop that he’s worth addressing, and because Symba doesn’t threaten Cole in popularity. It’s like Pusha T with Drake. Symba can scorch Cole until he’s blue in the face, but modern rap is a popularity contest, and Cole would never lose that. However, for this to be effective, Cole would have to scorch Symba as if he’s going up against JAY-Z himself—no mercy! If Cole does this, half of the two-part plan to dominance will be secured by everyone taking mental notes: “Maybe we shouldn’t mess with this guy; that apology stuff doesn’t really mean anything.”

The second thing Cole must do is very simple: hits on hits! He has to get into his Forest Hills bag. That’s far from my favorite project from him, but it’s his most commercially successful album, and his sound isn’t compromised! He should re-listen to that album hard while creating The Fall Off and study the singles from Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. He needs smashes—songs for the radio!

With these two things working in unison, we’ll quickly forget the same people saying they “...never want to hear him again,” “he’s soft,” blah blah, will be the same people saying “oh Cole’s the G.O.A.T., Cole’s the G.O.A.T.”

These are only suggestions, and he can take these suggestions and stuff them up Rubi Rose’s ass for all he cares. But if he still cares and wants to get back in that conversation, he’s got to do something along these lines. It’s not even much, but it’ll be more than enough. Trust!

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HOW COLE HAS ME READY FOR HIS NEW ALBUM

​HOW COLE HAS ME READY FOR HIS NEW ALBUM

2018, has been a spectacular year in music and it’s only getting better. Cardi delivered, Nicki is coming back strong, and Drizzy is readying a career defining album. Hell even Kendrick is out here winning Pulitzer Prizes like he’s Ernest Hemingway.

But this Roc Nation signee and Dreamville’s Commander-in-Chief, has his own trick up his sleeve. His new album “K.O.D.” is set to release 4/20 and it has the world on its toes, specifically me.

Here’s the 3 factors that has me ready for the latest Jermaine project.

I. ART DIRECTION

ART by Detroit-based ARTIST, SIXMAU  - https://www.instagram.com/sixmau

The cover for Cole’s latest project is eye catching to say the least. It features Cole wearing a crown with children beneath him indulging in various drugs.

After a closer look me and the homie determined there was more to this painting that met the eye.

The children beneath Cole seemed to be lined up in an order of gateway drugs to the harshest level of drugs and it looks like what seems to be a loop, that takes the viewer to the harshest level of drugs back to the point of death (the last image behind the child is a skull).

Realizing the underlying messages in the artwork for Cole’s album made me think, how deep does the album go? [how deep is the intro? Lol, throwback Cole reference]. If the album’s half as good as the art I won’t turn it off for a while.

notice how the kids are riding the drugs like it’s a rocket ship, essentially they’re getting “high”

II. MYSTIQUE

Campaign for the album started with a series of shows stretching from New York to London exclaiming the public to arrive early and to leave their phones behind.

Random Cole shows in such prominent places makes one think, “what exactly is Cole up to”? Well it turns out, J.Cole played the crowd his newest album in which he encouraged listeners to cherish hearing the album first rather than explaining its contents. That in which only makes anticipation for the album even greater, its like someone seeing Black Panther before you but not giving out any of its details yet.

The mystique also increases with the album’s meaning. We spent almost half the day (okay slight boost) trying to figure out what the hell does “K.O.D.” means. The meaning holds such importance because it would give us insight into what the album could possibly sound like, This could be compared to when people were trying to guess the acronym for Yeezy’s last album. At that time all we had was “T.L.O.P.” who would’ve known it would’ve stood for The Life of Pablo.

Mystery always work in one’s favor when used correctly and in Cole’s case it is working quite well.

III. REDEMPTION

Its time to be honest fellow hip hop fans I did not enjoy Jermaine’s last effort, 4 Your Eyez Only. I thought it was cool how in the end, he was speaking from his deceased friend’s perspective but at the end of the day, it was just something I could not connect with. I haven’t really been engulfed in J.Cole since The Come Up, Warm Up, Friday Night Lights days. Those were the times I felt his hunger in every bar and I really felt like his soul was seaping through the records. Forest Hills was a great album but even so I didn’t find myself repeating that album much either. My favorites were “January 28th” and “St. Tropez” everything else really didn’t compare but they weren’t bad songs.

Also, I was tired of seeing Cole have no features or outside production. I feel like he would greatly benefit from both being that he doesn’t collaborate as often as his peers.

Anyways the energy from this album is daring me to say this could easily be J.Cole’s best album to date. I believe he will not fail and he will deliver just like I knew he could.

Artwork by ME, http://www.instagram.com/the__corner

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