Music

So the past few months have been almost life changing. I do not care to go into detail, but it has left me looking for outlets to express myself and go back to finding who I am and what I need in my life.  Music has been a source of escape that has allowed me to be engulfed in whatever is playing through my speakers. I feel one thing to help me use music as more therapy to focus my attention on something less stressful is to start giving my own reviews.

Recently, I found a new artist that I think has a lot of potential to bring good hip hop back.  Im not talking about rap. Im talking about hip hop. There is a major difference at least in my eyes.  Rap is all about blunts, 40s, and bitches. It lacks substance, but might have a great beat and a few really good hooks and play on words.  Hip hop is the counterpart that uses the beat to rhyme about something more meaningful. Most of the time really good hip hop is underground or just not as corporate as rap because of its realistic nature.  If you really want to hear a difference listen to a lot of stuff on the radio then listen to some artists like Talib Kweli, Common, Illa J, etc... Those are just a couple of my top hip hop MCs.

Anyways this new artist I feel has a lot of potential to possibly mainstream some good hip hop and help revive the game.  J Cole and his new album Cole World: Sideline Story are pretty nice for his first album to a major label.  The album has a really nice chill flow with a couple songs that really hit some real word subjects and a few that can help gain popularity as a solid party track.  The tracks that I enjoy the most off the album are Can't Get Enough, Lights Please, Sideline Story, Lost Ones, Nobody's Perfect, Never Told, and Breakdown.  The other tracks aren't bad they just don't quite capture that feeling that I constantly want to listen to them.  These songs really show the artists skill set and his ability to tell stories. He has a down south flow, but being signed to Roc Nation he was able to add a New York style for a unique sound.  I definitely look forward and hope that he can follow up his debut album with some equal as good if not better.