“No Role Modelz” is another favorite (OBVIOUSLY CLEARLY). He realizes that the Hollywood bubble is real, and that authenticity is almost non-existent. He realizes that Hollywood cannot coexist with privacy, and that he just wants everybody to leave him alone. This is one of the first songs where Cole is speaking from his Hollywood perspective, and realizing that the life that’s so romanticized is one that he does not want. “G.O.M.D.” is one of my favorites off the album. He tells himself to “man up” and pursue what he wants or he will never achieve his dreams. In “Fire Squad”, Cole is having a conversation with himself. Every review I’ve read says the same - this is a hype mix song. “Fire Squad” showcases Cole’s technical talent (Pitchfork) and is “a banger” (HipHopScotch). The Ville voice speaks on the struggles that underprivileged kids go through and how working the streets is less of a choice and more of an expectation.
The perspectives switch between a voice from Forest Hills and a voice in the Ville. In “A Tale of 2 Citiez” (z!!!), Cole flips between two perspectives - one of a kid in the good part of time trying to make it and one of a kid caught up in the street life. Through a conversation with a friend, he realizes that he’s not taking advantage of the life he’s living. He explains that as a teenager/young adult, he was always shy. He speaks about where he grew up and how interpersonal relationships worked when he was a young man. On the next few songs, Cole details his adolescence - his personal growth and how his environment shaped who he was. They set up the broad theme of the album (remember: love, money, happiness). These first three songs are a kind of story about J. I digress. “Wet Dreamz” is the story about J. That’s literally why I know 90% of the words.
The hold that this song had over Musical.ly…. It drifts to “January 28th”, a track about Cole’s childhood, his changing status in rap, and the racial inequality he’s had to face in America. The album starts with “Intro”, a 2-minute track that outlines the predominant themes of the album - love, happiness, and money. He realizes his wrongdoings and works to fix them, and by the end, is the Cole that society recognizes as one of the greatest rappers of this day. The basis of the album is a narrative - a young boy who fantasizes being a rapper, becomes said rapper, and gets caught up in the pleasures of the life. HipHopScotch says that the production of this album is spot-on, calling it “very piano and soul sample heavy with a small jazz influence found throughout”. He uses z’s instead of s’s the way 2Pac did on All Eyez on Me. He shot the cover at his childhood home the way Eminem did on the Marshall Mathers LP. Pitchfork calls the album’s energy as a “nostalgic self-mythology” similar to Jay-Z’s Black Album. Cole literally wrote down the most successful/distinguishable parts of every great rapper’s career and incorporated it into his album. In 2014 Forest Hills Drive, I’m pretty sure J. Cole but I would say that I have obsessively deep-dived into all of his projects and was flabbergasted and mindblown by Dreamville.
0 kommentar(er)
