The Off Season - J. Cole: Review
J. Cole
is a North Carolina based rapper who is now over a decade into his career. He has had a bit of an interesting relationship with the reception of his albums. While each of his projects have been major commercial successes he hasn't necessarily won over critics with the exception of his 2014 Forrest Hills Drive project. Though he is consistently cited as a lyrically strong and socially conscious rapper, he has never achieved the level of acclaim as some of his contemporaries.
Review By Lav:
I think I stand in a pretty similar place to most people, particularly other critics, when it comes to J. Cole. While he reps my home state that still doesn't make up for plenty of his projects being padded out with incredibly mediocre additions and mislead lyrical themes. This sort of came to a head last year when J. Cole was publicly called out for his lack of political awareness by Noname and made a track and statement essentially denying that he was ever trying to be socially conscious. This is actually pretty relevant to this new album that sees Cole trading out some of his typical grandeur for a much less do or die approach to song topics. This means that he isn't swinging for the fences, but also prevents him from striking out completely.
95 South is the outlier which does deliver a pretty grand presentation as an opener backed by an explosive beat and Cam'Ron spoke word. Generally it works with the only exception being when Cole spits a kind of embarrassing bar that totally trivializes the entire point of the songs braggadocios premise. It works really well as an intro setting the tone for the record. My Life is one of the best Cole songs I've ever heard, and I mean that. Firstly the instrumental is heavily inspired by a track that contains one of Cole's best ever features, 21 Savage's a lot. Wouldn't you know it Savage himself shows up on this track and both he and Cole perform excellently with hard-hitting vocals and quotable verses highlighted by some slick NBA bars from Cole. Morray handles the hook here and does just as good of a job making for a fantastic song.
Applying Pressure is a track that's basically just one long verse with spoken intros and outros.
Thematically speaking I think it's a great moment that sees Cole peeling back the curtain on the typically glamorous bragging you find in rap songs. Unfortunately he does sort of embarrass himself again on the back end with an extremely tedious outro that may be one of the records most skippable moments. Punchin The Clock features a sample of Damian Lillard which is a pretty badass thing to do and it really requires that you bring it on a song like this. The song is a great series of bars performed with a hard-hitting demeanor worthy of Dolla Dame inspiration. At under two minutes Cole basically goes off on one long verse that never loses its momentum and makes for another highlight.
Let Go My Hand is yet another track with only one long verse from Cole. It's one of the jazziest instrumental on the record and Cole is obviously ready for it philosophizing with a low key flow that is intoxicating alongside his strong lyricism. While I've never been a big fan of Bas he sings on the back end of the track and does a pretty good job delivering a memorable refrain. Interlude was released as a single but it really stands with the best songs here. While his spoken word parts still come off as a bit much the actual bars here are almost impossibly smooth and guaranteed to get stuck in your head.
Like I said at the start of the review the record rarely shoots for the stars but honestly I think that's a good thing because it prevents the record from having the low points that Cole albums so often do. The Climb Back was a solid single from last year that I still think has one of the best hooks on the record. While the beat may not have 5 minutes worth of play it is no doubt solid and clearly not the focus of the song. The lyrics of the track are definitely a highlight and a weakness as there are some truly great bars placed alongside some more very embarrassing moments. Cole's bars about losing sleep over gun violence are incredibly poignant and find a new way to express the seriousness of the subject matter. Unfortunately in that very same verse Cole blames all his problems on "PC" and "woke culture" while also seeming to imply that homophobia is okay. It's one of a couple unfortunate moments on the track that really sell it short on its lyrical potential. Close is on the shorter side as well as being self-produced so it's all Cole from start to finish. He brings an exciting performance despite dipping into lyrical clichés a few times making for a solid track. Amari is the closest thing to a trap banger with rattling high hats in the beat and vocals that are slightly touched up with effects. While the moments where Cole is really straining his voice can be a tad tedious for the most part the track is pretty smooth and rides a solid performance from Cole.
Pride Is The Devil is one of the more versatile Cole performances here that sees him delivering a hook, a short bridge and his verse with ease. I love the reputation in his verse that helps his point get across really clearly and it sounds great within his flow. The choice to have Lil Baby feature on the back half of the song is a weird one but I guess it isn't quite as bad as I expected it so be. While he does a better job than usual of rapping with an actual flow his lyrical shortcomings are still on display and he seems out of his league next to Cole. It doesn't ruin the song but I can't explain why this is the track that Cole wanted to include a feature like Lil Baby on when he obviously wasn't going to be able to keep up. Hunger On Hillside is a weird closer. Cole handles much of the song and bounces between a lot of different vocal affectations. Right as the repetitive short flow on his first verse is really starting to get annoying he starts singing out of nowhere and legitimately sounds like Post Malone. There are a few more basketball bars and rap clichés on the back half of the track. As silly as it is I love the bar about "fucking hoes until you realize you're the ho".
The only total whiff on the record is the track 100 Mil which features a really, painfully predictable trap beat. The hook gets off to a solid start but never really brings it home and leaves the song in this super dry limbo state where Cole tries his hand at more auto-tuned singing. That is pretty much it for the track honestly I've seen a lot of people mentioning how cool the sampling in the beat is and while I guess I can admire the technical prowess the results sound like mountains of other trap flavored beats we've been hearing for years.
When all is said and done I don't mind the lack of risks being taken on The Off Season. Compared to some of Cole's other records the lack of grandiosity is made up for by an increase in consistency and crucially, a lack of true low points. Over these mostly short, pretty simple tracks Cole flexes his talent as a lyricist and performer without getting too caught up in expectations. This makes for his most casual record in years but the easiest one to genuinely admire his talent. The whole thing feels more like a mixtape than an album but without getting lost in the trappings of a poorly thought out concept Cole made something pretty good on The Off Season. 7/10
This cover is so close to being perfect. The idea is great but the execution leaves something to be desired. If it was zoomed out and had some better color correction in it, it could shine but the piece looks messy and half-assed as is. It should've has mote thought and attention before being put out. 6.5/10
