Mixtape Review – J. Cole’s Friday Night Lights

Posted at November 24, 2010 by Julie J Comments Off

J.Cole makes me feel good about the future of hip hop. Keep in mind, I’m not one of those people who prescribe to that whole “hip hop is dead” school of thought. Au contraire, I am just excited to see what J.Cole’s future has in store for us, and as a lowly blogger, to be along for the ride.

I’m sure that after reading that introduction, you could have guessed that I was not the least bit disappointed with J.Cole and Friday Night Lights, a mixtape of leaked tracks along with some previously unreleased tracks.

One of my favorite songs on Friday Night Lights is “Blow Up,” in part because it’s catchy, but also because I love his lyrics (seriously, who else can rap about Sallie Mae, and that’s a statement, not a question). Other standouts are “Villematic” (over Kanye’s “Devil in a New Dress” beat), “Premeditated Murder,” and “Cost Me A Lot.” I liked that he didn’t rely on features to carry this tape, and produced most of the tracks himself. I especially like what he did using the “My Cherie Amour” sample from Stevie Wonder for his track “Love Me Not.”

J.Cole kind of reminds me of Lupe because his lyrics possess a depth and quality that is sadly not inherent in most music today. Partly because of that, and partly because of the lyrical content and his ability to tell stories (take note, Cudi), his music also evokes emotion in me, and the only other artist whose music does that is The-Dream (maybe I just have an icebox where my heart used to be, completely possible). Oh, and he is the first artist who Jay-Z signed to his label, so that must count for something, too, right?