Back on February 12, J. Cole dropped Truly Yours—a collection of free songs he described as being “in their raw form, no polish…just a lot of my soul,” as a way to thank his fans for their patience. Now, with just under two months before his sophomore album, Born Sinner drops, Cole returns with another half dozen free tracks.
The threat of being sued for raiding Bobbi Humphrey’s catalogue was enough to make Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y slap a barcode on the terribly mediocre Live In Concert. It took an out of court settlement for Lord Finesse and Mac Miller to see eye-to-eye over a sample used on what was technically a free mixtape. Those seem to be a new reality Cole is also well aware of, as he opens up the EP with “Cole Summer,” rhyming, “This sample was yelling loop me / Ms. Hill, please don’t sue me / ‘Cause I ain’t one of these rappers out here frontin’ like he got it / Nigga, I ain’t fuckin’ got it nigga…”
It combines the penchant J. Cole has established for heartfelt rhymes with some tongue-in-cheek humor over Lauryn Hill’s “Nothing Even Matters,” as he points out the limitations of his newfound success by noting that the stacks of thousands Drake throws away in the strip club eclipse his. What can we say? Third world rapper problems are still in effect, and Cole isn’t above poking fun at himself.
In yet another example of just how fast Hip Hop moves in the Internet/Social Media Age, producer Canei Finch took to Twitter about a day before Truly Yours 2 dropped to reveal that a sample of “Hurt” by The Manhattans powers “Kenny Lofton.” The Young Jeezy feature makes this the second time in recent memory Snowman has been paired with another vulnerable emcee over one of Fench’s Soul samples. Given the reception of Kendrick Lamar’s “Westside, Right On Time,” why mess with a successful formula? This one works just as well, with Cole supplying sports-based double entendres that reference ‘90’s NBA combo guard (and current sneaker-head cult hero) Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and the track’s namesake, Kenny Lofton.
The radio pandering singles versus heartfelt stream of consciousness dynamic that played itself out on Cole World: The Sideline Story seems to be resolved this go round on both “Head Bussa” and “Chris Tucker.” While 2 Chainz one-ups Cole by being his usual, hilariously ratchet self on the latter, both tracks display the balance J. Cole seeks without sounding forced.
Naturally, all of this begs the question of just how much consideration we should give another collection of freebies this close to J. Cole’s proper sophomore effort. If you’ve ever paid for an EP or a maxi-single, then you’ve essentially already answered your own question. As for Cole’s assertion that, “this right here is not a preview of what the album gone bring you,” we can only measure these high-quality cutting room floor scraps against an official offering like “Power Trip” and wait until June 25. In the meantime, both casual fans and Cole Stans alike can package these six songs with the first Truly Yours and have something that competes with a lot of albums in the marketplace.
DX Consensus: “Free Album” (the highest possible praise for a mixtape)
WE ONLY GET QUALITY SONGS FROM COLE!!!! JUNE 2013 IS OURS!!!!! DREAMVILLE RECORDS/ROC NATION!!!! BORN SINNER JUNE 25TH!!
This dude is lame..
your brain is lame
FUck you bitch ass! cole rules the rap game
cole got alot of haters, dudes very consistent
I liked this one a little better than the first installment.
Dont see how anyone can complain when we get good free music
so dope
1. Born Sinner (Intro) (Produced by J. Cole)
2. Forgiveness feat. John Legend (Produced Cool & Dre)
3. I Try (Produced by Bink!)
4. Jesus for a Day feat. Kendrick Lamar (Produced by J. Cole)
5. Lose Myself (Produced by Boi-1da, co. Matthew Burnett)
6. Power Trip feat. Miguel (Produced by J. Cole)
7. A Long Walk feat. Jazmine Sullivan (Produced by Salaam Remi, co. J. Cole)
8. Miss America Reprise (Produced by J. Cole)
9. Conscience Catches You (Produced by Mark Ronson)
10. How It Make You Feel feat. Melanie Fiona (Produced by No I.D.)
11. The Letter (Produced by J. Cole, co. Canei Finch)
12. Shame feat. Nas (Produced by Salaam Remi, co. J. Cole)
13. Family Reunion (Produced by Just Blaze)
14. Runnin’ feat. Common & D’Angelo (Produced by J. Cole)
15. Welcome to Sinville feat. B.J. the Chicago Kid (Produced by J. Cole, co. Canei Finch)
smooth as fuck
Firee
Shit is fire. Better than the first one. Hopefully BS is 10x better.
its been a month since nacierma dream was released. do you know where your review is?
That what I’ve been asking for a while. I guess the question is not “What The Fuck Is A Papoose” any more, but WHERE the fuck is Papoose…? Seriously HHDX, write that damn review!
good mixtape,but part1 was better
Its pretty good but I dunno the kid just comes off as boring to me most the time not really his fault, he rhymes good and picks decent beats but I dunno it just doesnt all come together like I keep hoping it will. Definatly a talented artist tho
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Cole World
everything cole drops is solid, cole summer is my shit
The irony is Lauryn Hill is so desperate for money now she might just sue…
Best song on this tap is “Cousins”
This is quality music. He was actually spitting and speaking the truth on radio friendly songs like Chris Tucker and Head Bussa, A lot of artist don’t do that. I appreciate the realness from J.COLE.
dope music.. the first ep was pretty sick too.. looks like cole will go above and beyond with born sinner..
Is there a part 3?
Quality mixtape
FIRE.
5/5
AWESOMELYDOPE X2!!!
AWESOMELY DOPE X2!!!
5/5 easy how does this dude still have haters
Dope
Content: 4.5/5
Guest Spots: 3.5/5
Lyrics: 4/5
MC: 4.5/5
Production: 4/5
Half was classic, half was average. Better than most. 4 star
Great!!!…
sick tape from cole
I fucks wid it !!!!!!!!!!
Sick shit!! Born sinner
amazing
good mixtape but part 1 was better
I’m with that!!!
Awesome piece of work!!!! Cole!!!!
It’s good.
Beats 4/5.
Guests 3.5/5
Mc 4.5/5
Lyrics 4/5
Good shit
Amazing!!
alright
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