J. Cole Friday Night Lights Review

It’s been a couple days since the release of J. Cole's Friday Night Lights, and after thoroughly listening it is difficult to put in words the emotion this mixtape evokes. Not in a sense that these songs bring out strong sentimental emotions, although Cole does touch on topics that may. But in a sense that Friday Night Lights puts the listener in shear amazement at the degree of music we unexpectedly receive on a mixtape level. With the exception of Villematic, Back To The Topic, and Looking For Trouble all of the tracks on the mixtape are original tracks. This compilation is easily Classic Hip-Hop Album material and it will surely be a challenge for J. Cole to top Friday Night Lights.

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The mixtape intro rings with a contagious piano tune and a speech from Cole, where he states the theme of the mixtape: "What good is being The One when you’re the only one that knows it". The melodic intro is followed by "To Deep For An Intro" which features an Erikah Badu sample that adds soul to an already soulful track. Erikah Badu herself reached out to J. Cole on twitter to acknowledge the tracks greatness. With the following tracks we get the hungry and aggressive Cole that we have grown to appreciate and love. I have often heard J. Cole described as being soft but listening to the aggression on his tracks I have no idea how anyone could come to this conclusion. Specifically on Before Im Gone and 2Face; I don't think I have ever heard this much aggression combined with emotion on a Cole track. This is what separates him from his peers, because you can truly hear and feel him pouring his heart out on his tracks. Friday Night Lights also includes In The Morning, the J. Cole and Drake collaboration that fans have been waiting for. It isn't the lyrical competition that most had hoped for but nonetheless this song is certified dope and will be a ladies favorite. Cost Me A lot brings on yet another Erikah Badu sample where Cole rhymes on topics of flossin' and materialism, which is not typical of him. The track could easily be a club banger although this is never Cole's objective in the studio. And even when Cole's objective is to floss on the track he still manages to bring in the conscious lyrics that he is known for; 

"Remember when I did a song with Wacka Flack Flame; Felt naked cause the boy had on about a thousand chains; I guess we rock a lot of ice cause we got a lot of pain; Thats 500 years of swelling, Im tryna tell em".

Home For The Holidays brings a sense of cheer and joy to the listener. The lyrics are nostalgic; makes one reminisce about being home for the holidays, this song is especially relatable for college students as the holiday season draws near. On See World J. Cole voices his opinion on the ills of the world. It opens and closes with excerpts of news broadcasts of the unfortunate events that happened to five year old Shaniya Davis in Fayetteville, NC last year. He starts the song off "Getting higher than the soul of little Shaniya; and to the ones that killed her, I hope you burn in fire"…. and ends with "Either you play the game or watch the game play you; And be that broke motherf***er talking bout I stayed true". The lyrics in between are truly touching and hard hitting as the opening and closing, makes you zone out and think. Cole ends the tape with Farewell; his premeditated goodbye to the game, followed by the bonus GOOD Friday track looking for trouble featuring J. Cole's verse, which is arguably one of the best verses of the year.

Mixtape Of The Year two times in a row! J. Cole has produced yet another classic to follow The Come Up (2007) and The Warm Up (2009). As stated earlier this is merely a mixtape but the material is on a much higher level. J. Cole proves that he is indeed "The One"; from his lyrical and delivery similarities to a young Jay-Z to his consistency of putting out quality music. Its going to be tough to top this one but the Hip Hop world is patiently awaiting his debut album that is almost certainly going to be classic. It’s A Cole World… A Real Cole World!!!

Forever Kings Rating:

Friday Night Lights = ♕♕♕♕


Download Friday Night Lights Now!!!