Born Winner: J. Cole Born Sinner Album Review

"I'm a born sinner, but I'll die better than that, swear..." It's way darker this time..."

                                                                                        ~"Villumanti" | J. Cole

These few lines alone describe J. Cole's sophomore release of Born Sinner. The Fayetteville, North Carolina bred artist takes you home on this release. Home to the roots and origin of what Hip-Hop is and what it was designed to be. Life lessons explained the way he learned them, awkward situations, and the trials of tribulations of what a lot of us have went through with a single parent trying to make a way. 

Born Sinner hit home for me with the open honesty from the talks of his crooked smile, meeting old one night stands giving him the ultimate lip service, and the humbled times of having your mom working two jobs and you just praying that she's OK on the way home, because "you know how niggas do". This album isn't for the people who were only witnesses of "the struggle" but were apart of it. The way to figure this out is simple; if your not bobbing your head repeatedly and saying "damn", "hell naw", or "ooohhh" then clearly you can not relate.

Witty, lyrical, hard, direct, heartfelt release from a artist I expect to be around for a long time to come. Simply a modern day classic release that doesn't even come close to letting Nas down. 

UnBLeeVable ★ ★ ★ ★ ★.

Favorite Tracks

Rich Niggaz

LOVE this song simply because "I hate rich niggaz, got dammit" One of the most heart to heart tracks on the album. J. Cole goes even goes into the fears of him becoming his father and step-father. His struggle to take the mainstream lane and to remain true in the rap game without selling your soul.

Born Sinner

As of now has become my official theme song of 2013. Trials, tribulations, and triumphs of being a man who learns from his mistakes and experiences. This tracks sums of the whole album and "if you not F'n with that, I don't care"

Let Nas Down

Masterpiece. Ultimate homage. This track symbolizes the passing of the torch from Nas to J. Cole and him taking the task on whole heatedly. Long live the idols, may they never be your rivals.

Trouble

The wordplay and the reference to my city Chicago, was enough to make me fall in love with this whip banger.

Land of the Snakes/Power Trip/Forbidden Fruit

Dude. Like really I could not choose just one, so today's 3 for 1 special includes a sample for the ages of classic Outkast, the early summer anthem that had me up all night, and thee most hilarious skit this year at the end of the song, oh and the track cool too.

June 18, 2013 Release Date

June 14th is Flag Day, that bright brassy brag that day, when every American whose heartbeat is true yells "cheers" to the colors, the red, white, and blue. But June 18th will be a day of reckoning in Hip-Hop. With four highly anticipated albums due to release:

J. Cole | Born Sinner
Kanye West | Yeezus
Mac Miller | Watching Movies With the Sound Off
Kelly Rowland | Talk A Good Game

All participants excluding the beautiful Ms. Kelly Rowland has played down the simultaneous release date, but we all know neither would not mind being victor in this heavyweight bout. J. Cole has proclaimed this summer would be a "Cole Summer" and accepts the battle with arguably one the most talented controversial artist of this generation, Kanye West.

Myself being an ad man at heart, I have to pay homage when its due to Mr. West with the brilliant guerrilla marketing campaign of projecting his track "New Slaves" all over buildings and neighborhoods in major U.S. cities. If the album title (Yeezus) and the allegedly controversial album art work were not enough. Kanye has added even more anticipation to his sixth solo release, that by the way cannot be pre-ordered. Kanye has all the weight going in, being 1-0 in his previous epic battle with 50 Cent with the release of Graduation in 2007. If I was a betting man, odds seem favorable going with Ye, but let us not stop there.

Mr. Cole Summer, took the Justin Timberlake approach of streaming his album free online before release, and who can blame him! Let us not forget JT's 20/20 Experience went damn near platinum the first week reminiscent of his N'Sync days. The only difference is JT's return was highly anticipated after his long hiatus from the industry, while J. Cole has to find a cure for the contagious sophomore slump. From listening to the stream, let me just say look forward to my review.

As for Kelly Rowland and Mac Miller, they are in the safe zone, where no matter what the outcome is as long as there top 5, its a win. Kelly Rowland has been EVERYWHERE, and I honestly believe its her time to shine. After hearing  "Dirty Laundry" I nodded in agreement with myself, like she has arrived. I would not be surprised at all if Miss Rowland reigns over all. Mac Miller buzz has only been getting louder with some proclaiming his album to be a sleeper on Tuesday, June 18th.

Only time will tell, but either way, fans and lovers of music please enjoy. It isn't every day that we get an array such as this one, please listen responsibly.