Born Sinner and Yeezus Review

Before the anticipation of the 8th of June leaked away along with both albums, when J Cole moved his release date forward to compete with the highly controversially titled product of Kanye's that is Yeezus, Born Sinner suddenly became top of my to-do list as I was fascinated to see if what J Cole had produced was actually worthy enough to compete against King Kanye (or more appropriately Lord Yeezus) or if it was just a cleverly thought out marketing ploy to boost Mr Cole's sales because of the public's newly provoked curiosity to compare. I thought it was probably going to be the latter...Miss America dissapointed me and although Power Trip was a great record, I felt J Cole had a long way to go before he was on Yeezy's level, especially since Kanye's latest deliveries came in the form of Watch the Throne and Cruel Summer - some of Hip Hops heaviest.

Turns out all my assumptions were wrong.

I was expecting more from Yeezus, and my expectations grew when the hype all down my Twitter timeline from the aftermath of the Yeezus leak was much more immense than any of what I had come across following the Born Sinner leak.

Soul Culture's interview with J Cole as part of their #OkayNotToBeOkay campaign revealed that the making of Born Sinner helped him overcome a phase of depression. This naturally led me to expect a whole lot of emotion and a trace or two of darkness packed into the album, but compared to Yeezus, Born Sinner is dusk.

No track fades into the background and lets you subconsciously nod your head to the beat while you get along with your day. Instead your back is against the wall and you are forced to listen to his screams which accompany, what I feel, is a battle of his sins. You are submerged into a chaotic sea of of unpleasurable listening with clashing instrumentals, samples that just don't fit and sour lyrics. It finishes with your ears thinking "Why Kanyeezy?". Is it that the displeasure and exhaustion that is caused is a punishment? I would say it's a punishment to us (which it kind of is) but I doubt Kanye even stopped to consider his fans with this record. Instead, he reaches the heights of vanity and reinvents himself as God, or Yeezus, allowing him to look down on himself, and punish himself for his sins, without actually damaging his ego because he still holds the title of Yeezus...God...the highest figure of power of all.

Now I don't like to be all negative. With my iPod on shuffle, I stumble on upon some of the tracks and on their own and they're actually decent. Put together, however, is too overwhelming for me. Maybe I've misunderstood and didn't catch on to Kanye's artistic genius. I'll attempt to try again and translate his vision...when I have the energy.

It came as a relief to listen to something on the other side of the spectrum - Born Sinner.

After Good Kid MAAd City, I was worried that Kendrick was possibly going to push J Cole over to the sideline (lolz...Sideline...J Cole...) especially as nothing J Cole released so far seemed really strong and it seemed for a while like he was getting forgotten. Born Sinner proved my worries were pointless, because J Cole has come back on top form and ticked every box on his way up. Unlike the unsurity surrounding what Kanye was trying to achieve with Yeezus, Born Sinner is a definite self reflection and checkedy-checking himself before he wrecks himself. While addressing his own personal needs through his music, he hasn't failed to address the needs of his fans by bringing out - yeah I'm gunna say it - the best Hip Hop album of 2013?

J Cole still possesses his fantastic ability as a skilled storyteller which adds a sense of intimacy and a resultant connection can be built with this album - even if you can't relate to his life, you can feel the real. The beats are alright, his lyricism is intelligent and interesting - from touching on topics such as homophobia to letting his idol down - ,his flow is tight tight tight, and he has kept it trillllllll. From the direction of the Power Trip video to the production of most of the instrumentals, this whole album is an exploration of Cole's creativity and capabilities as an artist. Okay maybe he hasn't quite mastered the art of production - but he has scored highly everywhere else (face included). What he has presented is a product of his progression and I'm pleasantly surprised.