Albums J. Cole - The Off-Season (Discussion Thread)

[THE 101]

The P4K review is on point and Alphonse Pierre is a good writer. I'd have bumped the score up to 7 or 7.5 but I just find Cole's music to be too self conscious in trying make "great" music, like there's this desperation to be considered legendary without the music to back it up. It rarely feels organic.

Like a good example to me is his lyrics on Let Go My Hand. He talks about not be a tough kid but winning some fights, losing some and it's just so generic to me. Like he's going for this personal reflective song but there's no personality to it. It feels forced and inauthentic.

That's my problem with him. He's a good artist who thinks he's a great artist.

 

[THE 101]

If it was Kendrick it would’ve gotten and 11/10 and if would’ve been a whole think piece on why Kendrick is a genius and so much better than his contemporaries.

Kendrick wouldn't have made this dry ass album though. Let's be real with ourselves.

 

[spliz]

Kendrick wouldn't have made this dry ass album though. Let's be real with ourselves.

He has already. Lol. This >>>>> DAMN. imo.

 

[THE 101]

He has already. Lol. This >>>>> DAMN. imo.

Not even close

 

[A Pimp Named Slickback]

Kendrick wouldn't have made this dry ass album though. Let's be real with ourselves.

Cole isn't Kendrick. Kendrick isn't Cole. They're two different artists that both bring value to the genre

 

[EBK String]

shyt is decent, nothing crazy that will stay in rotation for years. I don't know how he didn't get a Cam'ron verse.

 

[old boy]

Thing about the Pitchfork review, was that it's pretty on point.

All of the issues that people have said they have with either Cole or the album, were the same things said in the review. It's damn near word for word with what a lot of people have said on here and offline, lol. The dude that wrote the review is the biggest Jay Electronica fan around, and other MC's too, So he's always seemed pretty impartial and loves underground shyt. Reviews are whatever, but most of them are saying the same about the album's misses. Some people love the album, but a lot of people think it's just okay. 3 stars and 6's kinda say that it falls somewhere in the middle.

And as much as I root for Cole, and think he's dope at times, he's kinda that level of an MC. He lands somewhere in the middle. He has some of the tools to make classic shyt, but he's not on the level of a Kendrick yet. This is definitely his best album lyrically, but I can't give it the nod over FHD...yet.

good post. you know what man, i have always said that if we were still operating on pre-2003 standards cole would have been best served as a member of a group, either a duo or trio. you come off like either a cole hater or grumpy old man when you say this but my perspective is shaped by being gen x no matter what so they can take that for what it is. he can rhyme but he's not a soloist period. for instance i love camp lo but wells, were we ever pining for a geechi suede solo joint? or were talking hip hop outside fat beats like damn man when dice raw gonna finally give us a 15 joint debut? nah and both them nikkas are nasty!!! lol nasty yeah but not soloists

but the era is different. way different. so cole is exalted as being nas adjacent and it's like oh word? word? word? nah he's middle of the road b. let's stop the madness

 

[Prolific_1011]

Cole can rhyme but the words between the rhymes are not that interesting or captivating enough. With that said, dope album.

 

[Izanami]

The P4K review is on point and Alphonse Pierre is a good writer. I'd have bumped the score up to 7 or 7.5 but I just find Cole's music to be too self conscious in trying make "great" music, like there's this desperation to be considered legendary without the music to back it up. It rarely feels organic.

Like a good example to me is his lyrics on Let Go My Hand. He talks about not be a tough kid but winning some fights, losing some and it's just so generic to me. Like he's going for this personal reflective song but there's no personality to it. It feels forced and inauthentic.

That's my problem with him. He's a good artist who thinks he's a great artist.

you guys try too hard.

 

[I Really Mean It]

I totally understand Pitchfork’s argument that a lack of a concept hurts this project. It’s because Cole lacks a personality around which to form an album, leaving you with lyrics in search of an identity. Is he being conscious? Hard? Flexxing? His lyrics are schizophrenic.

 

[Negro Caesar]

Played it in the whip,and while I do like Cole rhyming on here, I skipped a few tracks.

intro
Amari
Interlude

Are boring songs and I think that Lil Baby is overhyped as fukk.

 

[ISO]

Kendrick wouldn't have made this dry ass album though. Let's be real with ourselves.

No he’s right.

99 MetaCrotic, instant classic, university lectured, and Grammys if Kendrick made any of Cole’s last three albums

 

[Insensitive]

Except Kendrick made his last albums and got all that.
Let's not act like Kendrick didn't have a THROWAWAY album full of straight heatrocks.
To this day, I'm like @ Untitled.

 

[InstantKlassik]

He has already. Lol. This >>>>> DAMN. imo.

Breh stop it. You must not like Kendrick at all. That’s the only explanation for this bias comment.

 

[MischievousMonkey]

That Easter Bunny bar ties in with the Mario one just before, Mario send shells in his games