Subscribe

* indicates required
Okayplayer News

To continue reading

Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Big Ghost gives his review of J. Cole's "Born Sinner."
Big Ghost gives his review of J. Cole's "Born Sinner."

Big Ghost Reviews J. Cole - 'Born Sinner'

J. Cole Born SinnerJ. Cole Born Sinner review by Big Ghost

J. Cole Born Sinner album review by Big Ghost

Ayo whattup you now in the presence of the divine colossal Lord of Lasers aka the mighty Hands of Zeus aka the grand imperial Cocaine Biceps aka Sir Isaac Broccoli Bundles aka the majestic luxurious Phantom Raviolis the god...otherwise known as the magnificent Galaxy Knuckles or Shampoo Bracelets the panty melter aka the one n only Volcano Hands but you can call me Big Ghost namsayin. Word is bond I been hearin birds chirpin talmbout this n that...yo what happened to the god n why he aint bless us wit no turkeys lately? Ya kno...this that n the third. But chill yo...I was here stackin my nuggets up n gettin shit poppin in bigger n better ways...tryin to get my weight up ya kno....maximizin my outlets n kickin down these garbage cans in the alleyways to reverse gentrify these rich communities up n such. Doin Gods work. While yalls was at ya jobs flippin waffles n pushin brooms n whatever I was on my grind n findin my own way n shit. I do that for the arts. But thats neither here nor there my dude...thats jus how live ni**as do. Which brings us to this album imma be discussin n shit. First ima hit em with the boilerplate:

The views n what have you in this muthafucka is all my owns…so that aint in no way a reflection of nobody other than myself n whatever else b. No other man or woman or child represented heretofore n such hereby is sharin the opinion of the gentleman who be sayin the shit contained within namsayin. This muthafucka do be containin foul language n shit that might offend small children n old people n shit too. It should be noted by all those who is present today here today before God that yall here on ya own accord n if anybody not cool wit that they should leave now or forever hold they peace…

Now then. This that joint all the ni**as wit the white iphones been waitin on... This the shit all the females who hate rap music been dyin to fuckin hear. This that shit the dudes round the way who be tiltin they heads n pointin they chins down in pictures n smilin wit they mouths open been prayin to the heavens for. Ayo all the ni**as out there who cant fit they hands in they pockets n rock half a best friends charm on they necklaces stand the fuck up...its yall moment. If you cant take no more of these rappers wit dignity n confidence n wanna hear some vulnerable ass shit right bout now put ya candles in the air... I wanna see those beaded bracelets n $85 watches up so I kno yall appreciatin this shit. Jermaine a dude who came from the bottom. That ni**a use to dwell in the swamps of Fayetteville North Carolina aka the Ville namsayin...shit was treacherous. While yalls was eatin 3 hot meals a day n havin luxuries like furniture n toilets inside the crib my ni**a Cole was catchin fish wit his teeth in the river n shit like that. Son use to have the one pair of pants he had to take turns wearin wit his brother. So when yall wonder why son rapped bout his come up for 3 mixtapes n 1 album straight yall got ya answers now namsayin. Thats a hard pill to swallow b. Son went to NYC wit nothin but $4 in his pocket n a dream. Ni**a came back to Fayettenam wit the #1 album in the country. Son sold damn near 600k albums so far n only had the backing of the biggest rapper on the planet n distribution from Sony n shit nahmean. They was callin him the second coming of Nas bruh...like this shit was not a game yo. Bruh bruh had mad expectations... n he damn near almost kinda but not really came close to sorta achievin 1 or 2 of em namsayin. So without further ado lemme see how this shit compares to the disappointing mediocreness of the last Cole album...

1. "Villuminati" - Ok...ok...aight...I see what Jermaine doin...settin the tone n shit. Beat soundin kinda like a darker version of Madonna's Vogue n shit. Aight...yeah yeah...word...I see what he bout...Ok now he spittin some bars. Naw wait...ok nah he jus repeatin the phrase "Sometimes I brag like Hov"....ok aight. Ok now he spittin.

Get ya weight up...fake ni**as get sprayed up /My verbal AK slay f**gots../ n Ion mean no disrespect when I say f**got...ok f**got? /Dont be so sensitive..if you wanna get fucked in the ass / Thats between you n whoever dick it is / Pause...maybe that line was too far / Jus a little joke to show you how homophobic you are

Aight so... "pause". Lets jus take a minute to break this shit down yo. First off...I aint een gon say nothin bout the fact that dawg said "verbal AK" like its 1991 n niggas is really still comparin they rhymes to muthafuckin weapons n shit. Second...homie said "fa**ot" n then went on to explain why he aint mean no offense by it n how muthafuckas need to not be so sensitive bout his use of the word. THIS dude....

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.J. Cole Born Sinner review by Big Ghost

All good yo at least I got nominated....fuck that ni**a tho

Now that Young Eeeyore done gave us a lesson on how to not be so uptight he givin yall ni**as the ok to g'head n fuck each other in the ass n whatever... Its almost like son jus backed hisself into a corner. Son was like...YO IMMA USE MY VERBAL AK TO SLAY F**GOTS IN THIS LINE! YO WAIT HOL UP THO... IS IT COOL IF I SAY F**GOT THO? NI**AS IS TYPE SENSITIVE BOUT THAT WORD THESE DAYS B...I AINT TRYNA SEE MY SHIT GET PULLED OFF THE SHELF AT WAL MART OR HAVE THE GAY COMMUNITY AT MY NECK LIKE HOW THEY DID AZEALIA BANKS N SHIT... OK IMMA JUS MAKE A JOKE OUTTA THIS SHIT SO WONT BE NO BACKLASH....AW FUCK NOW I DONE SAID IT 2 EXTRA TIMES N DREW MORE ATTENTION TO IT BRUH....OK IMMA JUS THROW IT OUT THERE THAT ITS COOL IF NI**AS WANNA FUCK EACH OTHER IN THEY ASS SO THEY DONT THINK IM A HOMOPHOBE YO....WAIT WAIT THO...I HAD BETTER PAUSE THAT SHIT THO OTHERWISE NI**AS GON THINK IM PRO HOMO N SHIT...I BE LIKIN THESE B**CHES THO...CUZ IM STRAIGHT N SHIT...IMMA JUS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I MIGHTA TOOK THAT SHIT TOO FAR THO SO THEY SEE COLEWORLD IS REMORSEFUL BOUT THAT SHIT... BETTER YET IMMA FLIP IT ON EM SAY THAT THEEEEEEY THE ONES THATS HOMOPHOBIC THO. WORD YO I BE OUT-THINKIN THESE NI**AS...HI FIVE ON THE BEIGE HAND SIDE TO ME...WOOOOOOOOO...

As you can see from that shit son more than likely jus let the shit spin outta control. But deep down he aint mean no harm. So its all good yo. Other thing I was thinkin was this song is damn near all bout Jay-Z. But its cool...at least he not spittin too many reheated lasagna bars on this muthafucka...oh shit spoke too soon. "You ni**as couldnt blow wit C4 strapped to ya belly"... ok bruh. Now he singin the bridge talmbout "My ni**a...I aint never lettin you go again" like he wanna make up for the homophobic shit from verse 1. Ionno man...the rest of this shit he talmbout how he aint no illuminati member (I hear the fuckin gasps n sounds of muthafuckas jaws hittin the floor all over the world right now) n how he switched his target audience along the way n name droppin pretty much half the music industry. I probably wont listen to this ever again in my life but shit is aight...

2. "Kerney Sermon (skit)" - Shit is terrible duke...terrible... Son een gave this shit its own track like he was really really feelin it when he coulda tagged it onto the end of the last song. Whatever tho.

3. "Land of the Snakes" - I jus wanna say that Outkast's Aquemini is probably one of the 20 greatest hip hop albums ever yo...on anybody list. Unless you jus freestyled over some shit for a mixtape or whatever...you would gotta be like a top 5 rapper in the game to really use one of the beats from that album n throw it on ya own joint n have that shit be cool. Like to jus take the whole beat n spit on that like you Cam'ron or Mos Def n claim that shit as ya own nahmean... To do that wit a joint off Aquemini you would gotta be like the illest ni**a doin it b. But if you jus some subpar mediocre youtube type rapper who happen to get a deal you might wanna chill n jus not disrespect the niggas who made that ultra glorious shit. Like unless you bangin out a classic album yaself then maybe you dont wanna een draw those comparisons n shit neither anyways. But the simple fact is you shouldnt walk on that white velvet carpet wit ya dirty ass shoes b. Cole really jussa gumboot rapper yo...he dont float over this shit like established n credible rappers or whatever. Thats all Im sayin. No disrespect. Like had he took a Petey Pablo or Shyne beat nobody woulda gave a fuck. They on his level n vice versa so its all good. Go get you that 'This Is Why Im Hot' beat by that ni**a Mims or some shit like that. Get at the ni**a Memphis Bleek n tell him you wanna use some shit from his vast catalog of ok shit n he gon give you that nod ya kno...he gon hit off lovely like YO WORD YOU GOT MY BLESSINGS DAWG...I TILT MY DURAG UNDER MY FITTED TO YOU CUZ YOU N ME WE CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH MY NI**A HOLLA. Thats jus some shit to think bout Jermaine. Especially if you spittin bars like "I came out the womb wit my dick hard"...

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.J. Cole Born Sinner review by Big Ghost

4. "Power Trip" f/ Miguel - Not eem gon front yo...yung did his thing on this shit right here bruh. Sons beats usually be havin that amateur aura to em (minus a couple joints) but Jermaine got his Hii Power on for this shit...n judgin by this makin of video son is feelin it/hisself too...

But hol up...lets jus talk bout the subject matter here for a minute my ni**a. First I thought the shit was bout how he lovesick over a broad. I mean whatever son...we all human n shit. Ni**as got emotions n whatever whatever...I guess. But then I read this shit was a metaphor for hip hop. Im like naw...thats jus some next level dick eatery cuz Common already made the definitive joint for that metaphor wit I Used To Love Her yo. But then I seen the video n I finally figured out what son was on...this is basically Marvin's Room (the Drake song not the Leonardo Dicaprio movie) all over again. Except dawg is actually sober while he plottin n thinkin all this sucker shit. To make shit worse...n more sad n lonely...in the video the ni**a Jermaine actually a damn stalker who cant cope wit the fact the chick he in love wit got a dude already...so he murked that ni**a. Basically shit is a continuation of the Dreams track off the Warm Up mixtape. Anyways yo...other than the fact that shit is really jussa stalker anthem I aint mad at this track namsayin.

5. "Mo Money (Interlude)" - Son is this shit G Funk? But yo... how this ni**a gon go in like this n the shit barely a minute long. Smarten up Jermaine.

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.J. Cole Born Sinner review by Big Ghost

6. Trouble - This beat kinda cold. Im halfway fuckin wit this shit yo. If it wasnt for the fact he spittin shit like "No way Jose...could write a book called "The Things Hoes Say" I might could... Like you fuckin kiddin me my nigga? Then this muthafucka doin basic shit all in the hook like...

 I said set it off on my left...set it off on my right / I said liquor all in my breath...b**ches all in my sight /I said real ni**as tryna fuck...fuck ni**as wanna fight / I said gun shots into the air....but I aint scared for my life

Shit is overflowin wit back to the drawing boardness yo but the beat makin this shit more easy to tolerate.

7. "Runaway" - This shit kinda jazzy... Some cool shit. I mean I dig it but at the same time it aint really nothin special neither. Its AIGHT nahmean. Shit jus aint impact me like that. One question tho...I mean its funny enough how son wanted to drop his album the same day as Kanye but why would son make a song called Runaway knowin damn well Kanye already made not only a SONG called Runaway but he released it as a SINGLE witta VIDEO n a damn SHORT FILM...n that muthafuckin SONG was either #1 or #2 on most year end lists in 2010 in shit like Rolling Stone, Complex, MTV, Pitchfork, NY Times etc...Im sayin the song was a big deal yo. But here you go Jermaine...emphasizin ya own aight-ness...ya own limitations as a artist n shit. Im sayin tho..cant ey'body be a musical genius n capture the attention of the world off one joint like that. But you aint gotta highlight that shit bruh bruh. This is like goin to the Sistine Chapel n lookin up at the ceiling n doin a little sketch in ya notebook n standin outside the chapel tellin muthafuckas YO YALL AINT NEED TO GO INSIDE N LOOK AT THE CEILING CUZ I DREW MY OWN SHIT RIGHT HERE IN MY BOOK AIGHT! Im sayin tho...watch this fool make a song called Jesus Walks next. WATCH.

8. "She Knows" - Man remember when this ni**a jus use to rap? Wasnt all this gentle harmonizin n shit. Thats when son was most focused. Wasnt no shit like "I kno them other niggas love trickin...on some BMX shit"... Stop it Jermaine.What happened to the hungry little ni**a who made Simba? Remember that shit son? Son this shit right here ALL the way bitchmade. Ayo if Nas was disappointed in you for 'Work Out' he probably jus straight hate you for THIS shit b. How many coconut daquiris you down before this shit seemed like a good idea to you my dude? Im embarrassed FOR YOU bruh. Ayo no joke...some swans started tappin on my window while I was playin this shit forreal...muthafuckas was like yo whats that shit you listenin to? This shit really, literally attracted swans to my front door my ni**a. You need to Ctrl + Z this hoe shit son.

9. "Rich Ni**az" - When this joint came on I was like YO WHY COLE GOTTA SONG CALLED RICH NI**AZ THO? PRETTY SURE SON NETWORTH IS LIKE $8,000 N SHIT OHHHHHHHHHHHH...HE SAYIN HE HAAAAATE RICH NI**AZ...that shit made more sense. This song boring as shit dawg... shit felt like it was 17 mins n shit bruh. I actually think Cole should donate this joint to science or NASA n shit...as some kinda evidence of how you can use a salty ni**as music to slow the time space continuum down by like 8 trillion gigavolts n shit yo.

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.Young King Cole

10. "Where's Jermaine (Skit)" - Unnecessary as fuck...tack this shit onto the end of the last track if you really feel like this shit necessary b.

11. "Forbidden Fruit" (f/ Kendrick Lamar) - I kno yall hip hop purists is mad bout this shit...probably expectin the god to wanna throw a refrigerator thru like 8 layers of walls n shit over the fact he disrespected A Tribe Called Quest n jacked one of they most popular joints for this shit knowin good n damn well his muthafuckin adolescent female fanbase dont got no damn idea or frame of muthafuckin reference for what the fuck a Tribe thats called Quest is or what the significance of this group that dropped 3 classic albums in a damn row within a 3 year period n completely changed the face of hip hop FOREVER is n probably only familiar wit Q-Tip as that dude that Fergie let rap on her song for the Great Gatsby soundtrack n not tryin to find out more bout him cuz they dont really fuck wit rap like that anyways since when they not bangin Cole music they fucks wit One Direction n Selena Gomez type shit all day namsayin but fuck it...let homie do his thing. I aint mad. Hopefully at the end of the day the right dudes get those royalty checks in the mail. Do the knowledge son...

12. "Chaining Day" - Fam lemme jus get this out the way right quick...this gotta be one of the most laziest n stupid ideas for a song title ever yo. Chaining Day? Like Training Day but witta chain... Son this is almost makin me hate this shit off the strength of a bullshit ass song title yo. The concept cool... Like yeah whatever...chains dont make you special or whatever the fuck he tryna say here. I was cool wit this shit until he started to OD on all that wack ass singin towards the end n shit. Son shoulda faded this shit out like 2 mins sooner bruh.

13. "Aint That Some Shit (Interlude)" - Son really drop a bounce joint spittin some double time shit over a beat that sound like it was made in 2001 n use to feature Bubba Sparxxx n shit? This muthafucka is 2 n a half minutes...why he callin it a interlude?

14. "Crooked Smile" (f/ TLC) - Fuckouttahere

J. Cole Born Sinner album review by Big GhostJ. Cole Born Sinner album review by Big Ghost

15. "Let Nas Down" - Son this shit right here is like the best AND the worst song on the whole damn album yo. First off I wish No I.D. produced the whole damn album b...straight up. Havin this shit on here jus reminds you how dope a producer son really is n how Cole kinda got a long way to go as a beat maker (minus a couple joints thats straight fire)... The beat for this shit is all types of ridiculous yo. But HOW you gon make a song talmbout yo I let this ni**a down? Fuck all this vulnerable shit bruh. You bein a grade A lame talmbout "You made 'You Owe Me' dawg.. I thought you could relate...". Word. But kno what else he made? Illmatic. Son made 'Lifes A Bitch' n 'NY State of Mind' nahmean. He also made 'I Gave You Power'. He made 'Ether'. 'MADE YOU LOOK'...AND he made the whole Life Is Good album... Talmbout "I thought you could relate"...Stop it b. Remember how you was runnin wit that whole Villematic idea n lettin muthafuckas think you REALLY had what it took to be the next Nas? But how you the next Nas if you cant even ether Diggy Simmons bruh? Good thing the beat is incredible n Cole actually spittin on this shit...cuz I actually do FUCKS WIT THIS SHIT HEAVY yo.

16. "Born Sinner" - Imma keeps it 1,000,000HUNNA wit yall like I always be doin. This shit boring as fuck son... Word is bond I think I jus had some Sideline Story flashbacks nahmean. This shit made my eyelids heavy yo. Shit is like sonic chloroform nahmean. This basically that same type of shit that had ni**as dozin n noddin off back in 2011 namsayin...Ion eem wanna try n force myself to understand why this shit any good.

Aight so half these shits is like etch a sketch music (enjoy it n then shake it off n never fuck wit it again) n half these shits is some cool joints I can appreciate. Couple tracks is like audio anesthesia n summa them was jus wild corny. Cant help but feel like the Roc Nation team (lookin at you first n foremost Jay) really jus dont give a fuck what this ni**a Cole wanna do on his albums.  Its almost like they dont eem like homie.

J. Cole Born Sinner album review by Big GhostOpen letter to J. Cole from the Roc Nation team: "Dear Waterboy..."

Anyways yo I fucks wit this shit... Not like its my favorite shit of all time but its bout 10 x better than Cole World nahmean.

Aight Peace.

I give this shit 3 Zeus Slaps outta 5

Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, Lion Babe, Thundercat, SZA & More Rock The Afropunk Festival 2015 in Brooklyn, NY.