Being cast as Jay-Z’s protégé is both a blessing and a curse, but to be perfectly honest, Cole seems to have recast himself as some sort of modern day Tupac Shakur, to an extent. Was it worth the wait? Cole is certainly a divisive artist – not in the overt Drake way, but just purely based on skills, he gets the heads arguing for and against. But “Cole World: The Sideline Story” is here.
#J cole born sinner album target free#
He’s certainly succeeded in building up a buzz, although the inevitable album delays were starting to become tiresome, despite the free mixtapes he released in the interim. A virtual unknown two years ago, he was signed by Roc Nation, nabbed an attention-grabbing feature on the “Blueprint 3” and hey ho, a star is born. Another gigantic flame roars into action… Our hero remains as calm as Rakim spitting “As the Rhyme Goes On” and you start to believe! The third and final charge is perilously close and… In the “Who Dat” video, there is something similar. You know what I’m talking about, dear Reader – the big moment in an action film when the hero walks calmly towards the camera, and the most gigantic mama fucking explosion goes off behind them, and the hero doesn’t even flinch. Unofficially, it is known as the “Cool Guys Don’t Look At Explosions” law.
You see, there is a rule when actors are performing around pyrotechnics. The song is straight fire, with a superb beat, solid lyrics, incredible visuals and as a fire-starter, it worked pretty much perfectly for Cole.
Cole’s excellent video for “Who Dat” which sums it all up nicely.