The Come Up...The Warm Up...The Blow Up?

My cousin introduced me to J. Cole back in June 2009, at a time where I refuse to listen to anything other than Drake's So Far Gone. I was skeptical at first; sadly, as much as I consider myself to be a hip hop head, I need more than one person's stamp of approval before I listen to a mixtape. An album is different, its already got many people's thumbs up before it was even produced, but a mixtape is different. EVERYONE thinks they are a rapper (trust me, I went to a suburban Detroit high school where this boy would rap the morning announcement. Atrocious is an understatement). The MacBook is a gift and a curse, it gives really talented people a chance to produce their own music and get it out there without the help of the record company, but at the same time, it gives talentless people a chance to pollute cyberspace with their garbage.

However, after I reluctantly downloaded The Warm Up, J. Cole's second mixtape, I was pleasantly surprised. So Far Gone wasn't even played for a good month, which was pretty controversial amongst my friends. The Warm Up to me was a mix of social commentary and the personal experience of being one of few people going to college from his hometown in North Carolina. It was about the daily struggle, but also the rise that working very hard and following your genuine dream, not the 9-5 that is crammed into your head in college. The most relatable song is "Grown Simba" where J. Cole talks about how he can't wait to be king, but how it feels like to be a prince. Everyone can remember the Lion King and how Simba just wanted to make it. In retrospect, after graduating from college during a recession I can relate to this movie way more than when I was back in elementary school. "I Get Up" is my daily anthem. I can play this in any mood, good or bad, and I feel even more motivated. "Ladies" is a pretty clever song about females. Instead of the typical chick song asking me to be a freak in the sheets and the streets, the play on words in cute. My favorite line is "No chain around his neck, but better watch out for the charm." J. Cole is known for his play on words that you might not get the first time around but once you do, it puts a smile on your face. It seemed fitting the he did his own take on "Last Call" because he was signed for Roc Nation. He's story is interesting, using college to get him into rapping, and graduating Magna Cum Laude from St. John's University.

It was interesting to listen to his first mixtape 9 months later, The Come Up. I didn't really know what to expect at all, especially since he made it back in 2006. I also hate when every song has an introduction with DJ tags, which this mixtape is filled with. The common theme of The Come Up is man is college missing his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. In "School Daze" he reminiscences about high school, wishing he could go back to those days, but in "College Boy" he talks about how great college is. Cole frequently mentions how he wished other people from his area had the opportunity he had to go to college, but they weren't encourgaged to. The original version of some of the tracks from the Warm Up are on here, including Dollar and a Dream, Dead Presidents, and Simba. I feel like Simba is the best track on the album, and I love the visuals of the video he made for it.



The growth is evident from The Come Up to The Warm Up. He is more confident in his lyrics; he doesn't feel the need to say "get it" after every clever remark as he did in The Come Up. J. Cole social commentary/personal experience will make him a talked about rapper not only in the mainstream but in authentic hip hop culture (whatever that means these days). Lets just say, J. Cole doesn't dumb anything down to sale records.