KOD: A Revisitation

Whew.

I forgot I knew how to write!

That’s a lie, my professors make sure that never happens.

But, this is my first blog post in many a moon. I have not stopped creating as I have started to think about getting ready to podcast as well as shoot videos for Youtube so the creative juices have definitely been flowing. I also never stopped writing as I write scripts for both the pod episodes and the Youtube videos. Really all of these ‘pieces’ could be any of the three mediums, video, audio, or written piece. I take solace in knowing that the reason I made this blog (about a year ago, wow), is to get my feelings out of my head and into the world and whether I’m speaking or writing that release is satisfying.

Wait, we’re still talking about popular culture right?

I want to do my first album revisitation in a while.

J. Cole’s fifth studio album caught be at probably the most perfect time.

I was a junior in high school at the time and my life was mostly revolving around my relationship with my friends. I had gotten into a relationship fairly recently and had actually gotten my first job a few weeks earlier than when the album came out. I was in a pre-calculus class when I saw on Twitter and Instagram that J. Cole had changed his profile to a solid purple canvas. J. Cole, being my favorite rapper at the time and still is to this day, had not released a full album in over a year, since December 2016, to be exact. In the time since 4 Your Eyez Only, I had a lot of time to interest myself in a lot of different rappers and artists.

The year of 2017 led to an infatuation with Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, and Chance the Rapper, all of which I saw in concert in Cole’s absence. Not to mention Drake dropped More Life, which I’ve already revisited, SZA dropped Ctrl, which I still listen to like it came out yesterday. And it was my junior year of high school. To make a long story short, I wasn’t exactly checking for J. Cole during that time. I wanted him to release music of course, but 4 Your Eyez Only had aged so well and other artists were filling that void at the same time so if he wanted to take his time, I wasn’t mad at him.

All of that went out of the window when he tweeted that a ‘new album’ called ‘KOD’ would be released on 4/20, which was a Friday in 2018. Not only was I elated that Cole willingly circumvented the long rollout route that Drake and others have painstakingly employed over and over, but he was going to release a new album only a few days before my birthday.

I’ll get more into how I felt about the album when I go through the songs but, plainly, I did not love KOD upon first listen. I stayed up until midnight on the night of the 19th to listen to it as I got ready for the birthday celebration my family was throwing me that Saturday. But, by the time I was back in my pre-calculus class about 14 hours later, I was in love with every track.

1. Intro :

J. Cole’s introductions are perennially… interesting. They are never true songs, at least not in the way the other tracks are. They’re mostly like interludes, fragmented tracks to ease the listener into the album. Cole’s intros are some of the best in the business and KOD’s intro may be the most enigmatic he’s done. Just under two minutes long, this is the first intro of Cole’s albums that doesn’t include his own speaking or rapping voice. Instead, it’s a warped, dreary version of Cole that preludes a soft, yet entrancing woman’s voice sandwiched in between Cole’s slowed yearnings for inner peace. The woman warns us about the fragility of emotion:

“Life can bring much pain, there are many ways to deal with this pain. Choose Wisely.”

This would be the running theme of the whole album. Even I was caught slipping by this intro, it sounded like something off To Pimp A Butterfly: Fayetteville Edition. I knew from the little information and the beautiful artwork shown in relation to the project that it would be called “KOD” for many reasons, all centered on dependence, whether it be on drugs, money, fame. And that doesn’t veer too far away from Cole’s usual subject matter, but the sound on the intro was… unexpected to say the least.

Goodness, that artwork is immaculate.

2. KOD

A few days before the album officially dropped, Cole had a private concert or showing in some city I was too far away from where he played the album for a select few early. "KOD", the title track, was the main song that made its way from someone’s cell phone through the internet before it really came out. So that, coupled with the fact that it was past midnight, resulted in my less-than-turnt reaction to the very exciting switch from "Intro" to the opening drums of "KOD". However, Cole’s second verse on this track let me know that this was not just another concept album he was using to push a social message (well it was, but he had me fooled for a second). Not only did he say rappers are not worthy to be on his music, an allusion to his moniker as the ‘double platinum with no features’ guy in the first verse, but he got into a really technical, tongue twister vibe that we rarely see from Cole in more than a couple of lines.

“If practice makes perfect, I’m practice’s baby”

You have no idea how hard I tried to fit that into a caption for an Instagram video of me working out. This song became one of the most popular on the album and for good reason, it’s not too long, has a catchy hook, and probably goes crazy performed live. My favorite part of this song though, and really the whole album is how Cole is able to channel sentiments that we all know he does not carry himself. That second verse is really lyrically impressive but Cole’s second act of his career has been about how he desires the absolute opposite of everything he praises, he’s speaking from another perspective but because he’s so good, you barely recognize it.

3. Photograph

"Photograph" is KOD’s "Wet Dreams".

Is it a bad song? Of course not.

Does it fit the aesthetic of the album? Sure.

Can I count on one hand the number of times I have typed this into my Apple Music search bar to specifically listen to it? Yes, I can.

It’s a fine track and honestly, it makes me think of my girl who I listened to it with after school a few days after it was released. It talks frankly about dating and love in the social media age which, admittedly, is not the most romantic concept in and of itself.

I did a podcast recently about how famous people from Carolina seem a lot older than their peers even if they’re the same age, and Cole sounds like an older, out of touch, married man talking about courtship in the late 2010s, which, if he’s still married, he shouldn’t have much firsthand experience in and it kind of shows. He even said “What if I shoot my shot and it brick?”

Someone like Drake could have executed this concept a lot better because Drake has a lot younger of an audience and in turn, has a lot younger of a personality to where he has probably “fell in love through photograph” and can convey that. With Cole, though his wordplay and skills are obvious, this never really connected the way other songs on KOD did.

4. The Cut Off

Unfortunately, one of the more forgotten tracks on this album is one of the best ones as well. I bought a physical copy of KOD not too long after they were put on shelves and "The Cut Off" was one song I rarely skipped. It’s the longest song so far on the album, but it fits so seamlessly in-between "Photograph" and the next track that I would be driving with the disc in my stereo, the song would come and go and I would barely even notice it. But, not because it was average or insignificant. It wasn’t in-your-face amazing sonically, or noticeably impressive lyrically. It was a breathable track that I could place myself into while coming from work.

“I know Heaven is a mind state, I’ve been a couple times”

The muddied, edited voice of Cole known here as ‘Kill Edward’ from the intro makes a return. Cole floats comfortably on this lowkey drum-riddled beat. Everything about this song is believable, relatable, and easy to take in. It mentions frustrations with those close to you, reconciling your desires with your better judgment, and eventually surrendering to the fact that you really can’t control any of it.

5. ATM

It’s crazy how certain songs can take you back to a certain specific moment in the past. Remember that job I had at this time in 2018? It was my first real job ever and, therefore, my first form of regular income. I have gotten allowances and the occasional $20 bill to go to the mall on Saturdays but to have my own money that I worked for, myself, was a different feeling.

And it was a lot more than $20.

I usually got paid every other Thursday and what I would do was I would go pick up my check from the pizza place I was working at and then head straight to the bank. What did I play in my car every other Thursday on the way to the bank? This joint right here.

Again, not the most thoughtful or serious track, but crazy catchy and super insertable to my flex-filled instances. The piano melody “Will I fall, Will I fly, Heal my soul, Fulfill my high” is so vibe-able, while being substantiated by the drums that Cole experimented with a lot in this project. What gets lost in this really narrow subject matter that is "ATM" is that J. Cole again shows his lyrically prowess in a sort of sneaky way. He only uses two rhyme schemes in the first verse but paints such a vivid picture of the theme of this song. The ‘big bills’ bridge puts me back in my Dad’s old Cadillac's drivers seat every time. Much like "KOD", the ghastly background singers that open and close, frame this seemingly frivilant hype track with the anchoring downside of everything Cole is supposedly championing.

6. Motiv8

I have a similar story about this song.

This was, by far, my favorite song of the album after my first few listens and really through the first few weeks. Though it’s just over two minutes long, it hit me severely from the moment I heard it.

Later that Friday the 20th, I had to work. I had scheduled off the next day because of my birthday celebration as well as a shindig my girl and I were scheduled to attend. I was supposed to work until closing but the restaurant was dead, so I was asked to head home before the sun went down.

Anyone who's ever worked in food knows how great that feeling is.

When I tell you I listened to "Motivt8" so freely and happily gliding out of that parking lot, it was a moment I won’t soon forget. I felt truly blessed that not only was I seeing money I’d never seen before, not only did I have a celebration with my family and friends scheduled (which is probably my favorite thing in the world), but my favorite living artist gave me the soundtrack to it all.

Cole was so new on this album. Not new as the opposite of old but he was extremely different than his usual sound. The first verse on this track is so Young Thug esque. He’s slow, yet choppy. Pronounced, yet rugged. I am so surprised every time that this song is so short because even though its just two verses, he says a lot of valuable things in both.

This still might be my personal favorite.

7. Kevin’s Heart

"Kevin’s Heart" in my opinion is the best song J. Cole has released since "4 Your Eyez Only" the title track of his previous album. Produced by T-Minus, this being the latest iteration of artists trying to recreate "Hotline Bling", the music achieves something completely different and, to me, a lot better than Drake’s 2015 world-stopper. The old-timely, telephone-y, chime-y hook is not something that takes away from the substance of the record but adds to the layered meaning of (in)fidelity and temptation because, in a way, what we give into to chase that desire seems as harmless and inviting as the ringtone that leads into this record.

My favorite part of this song is the pre-chorus-type lines before the “Slip me a xanny at once.”

“All in your mind with fears that would come true, The back of my mind the back of my mind was you.”

I don’t know if I’ve said this publicly but Cole’s singing is one of his best skills as an artist and a song creator. He is not as vocally talented as Bryson Tiller but his authentic and, almost universally shared, ability to carry a tune, coupled with his less than universal skill as a producer, makes for his hooks and songs to act as uninterrupted streams of consciousness from his own mind, from his own soul. In "Kevin’s Heart', though Cole is speaking from another perspective again, the listener is put into Cole’s shoes because he put himself in someone’s shoes other than himself. In other words, his bag as a music maker can get so variable that it allows anyone and everyone to connect their stories to his words.

8. BRACKETS

Alright, back to 'social justice Cole'.

I rapped the end of this song for my uncle last summer in defense of this generation of rap music. Was he convinced or not? I don’t know and don’t care. But it’s fun to sound like you know what you’re talking about. This is why I started this blog and why Cole wrote this song.

The track starts out with a recording of an old Richard Pryor show. Cole did something like this before when he played a Mike Epps stand up joke before his 2013 song "Runaway". Then and now, comedy is used as a segway into a much more solemn topic. And contrary to the previous track about money," ATM", "BRACKETS" shows that getting money and spending it goes much deeper than the surface.

I’m sure Cole wrote this song in reverse order than it's presented. So I will attack from the end and use the beginning to tie a bow around it.

But before all of that, we must acknowledge the return of ‘Lil Cole’! You may most famously remember this high-pitched version of Cole from "Forbidden Fruit" on 2013’s Born Sinner where he was on a quest for a Rose Gold Jesus piece. Lil Cole returns on a phone call with his ‘Uncle Sam’ who is asking him for half of his first million-dollar check; a hyperbolic representation of how the elation of new money quickly turns into the grudgingly painful act of paying taxes on it.

Before Lil Cole tells his Uncle to do something absolutely hilarious at the end of his moment, Big Cole uses a lowkey instrumental to explain the many wars accumulating money creates. Not only is he fighting voices from his personal life trying to ride his coattails or hate on him because of his rise to fame, but he’s also dumbfounded by how much of the money he’s making goes straight back to the government.

I can honestly say I have never, ever heard of an entire song about the actual wasteland that is paying taxes. It’s a concept people don’t want to hear about in their real lives, let alone in music.

What J. Cole exhibits in these last five songs is the peak performance of concept album curation and rap storytelling. This is how you create a world and make it mean something to people.

I learned more about taxes in the last two minutes of "BRACKETS" than I’ve learned in 15 years of public education. Seriously.

First, we see where Cole is coming from in his paying taxes and wondering where this money goes when he signs it away. Much like many of us, he figures it goes to building roads and schools and, ultimately, upholding the American infrastructure as we know it. However, this is seen from his point of view, a more than well-off music artist.

Where you begin to have to think and follow the story is when Cole speculates. or reveals that not only do these tax dollars go to roads and schools but they contribute to companies that make weapons and guns that eventually find their way back to impoverished communities and, consequently, result in loss of life in these predominantly minority filled places. That raises the question: Where do these people in less-than communities get these automated weapons in the first place?

I was floored the first time I really sat back and listened to this track and eloquently Cole was able to illustrate this complex and disgusting picture.

9. Once an Addict (Interlude)

I was blessed to grow up with two parents who loved me and proved it to me on a daily basis, not only with their words but with their actions as well. For that reason, I can not begin to empathize with children of parents who did not or were not able to share that love as often. "Once an Addict" does not automatically give me the ability to do that, but it comes very close. Like “Breakdown” from Cole’s debut in 2011, this track is extremely soul-bearing and expository of his, at times, excruciatingly painful childhood. Being the oldest boy in a home that often lacked a strong father figure and included his mother who struggled with substance abuse, his pre-maturely requisite need for strength and compartmentalization is spelled out in this three minute interlude.

The album name KOD stands for ‘Kids On Drugs’, ‘King Overdosed’, and ‘‘Kill Our Demons’. How these meanings truly fit into the intended message of every song on this project will remain a mystery until I have my tell-all Meghan/Oprah style sit down with Jermaine himself in the near future. But from my many times listening to it front to back and analyzing it cognitively and now on paper, this is the climax of the album. This is what the album was made for. This story, this recollection, this potential warning to anyone going through something similar. The perfectly heartbreaking peak of this hauntingly beautiful album. And it only gets better as it winds down.

10. FRIENDS

Cole performed this on the BET Awards later that year. I rushed home to catch it because it was reported like an hour before the show that he would be opening it. I felt it was important he performed this song in front of that audience because I think the black community was an audience he had in mind when writing this particular song. Granted, any human with drug addiction problems could probably, if not definitely, find themselves in this song; but one of the lyrics in this song that stuck with me from the get-go is one that reminds me of Tupac’s acronym for “THUG LIFE”

“There’s all sorts of drama from trauma that children see.

Type of sh*t that normally would call for therapy.

But you know just how it go in our community.

Keep that sh*t inside you no matter how hard it be."

I had a lot of friends and family that I thought of when hearing this song. People that had been wronged or mistreated as a child and resorted to drugs or worse as an escape from that still piercing pain. I also dealt with things that I ran to to escape from my past mistakes or times I was wronged. We all deal with things regardless of our background, but I think, especially in the black community, it isn’t considered the best move to regurgitate those memories in an effort to confront them.

Especially not to no doctor.

Cole makes it clear that he is not some other-minded human that does not see the allure in all of these escapes. But, as he gets older, he has found better ways to transfer that feeling of pain into something productive, rather than something potentially implosive.

11. Window Pain

You know when your seventh grade teacher was teaching you how to write a paper and the conclusion had to kind of summarize everything you had just talked about in the body paragraphs?

See; this outro.

Cole touches on almost everything he visited in the body of the album. God, fame, money, sex, violence, drugs, alcohol, everything.

In one verse.

In writing this, I tried to figure out why this song was called "Window Pain". I didn’t have to look far to notice in the first line that Cole writes this song while staring out of the window of his Range Rover; hence ‘Window Pain’. My next thought was; did he write this whole verse in one fell swoop in his car? If so, how was he able to mention all of these running themes of his album in a singular thought process? Did the rest of the album come before the window pain or after?

Bottom line is, rappers like Cole are truly, truly geniuses.

The song starts out with a young child telling a story of how their cousin had been shot and they had witnessed it. Similar to the child on "Ville Mentality", who had a similar story about their father. This transitions into an ambivalent chorus that shows Cole seesawing from wanting to enjoy the fruits of his labor and live a frivolous rapper’s life to dealing with the realities of existence like regrets and saying goodbye to loved ones. In the verse, Cole revisits the state of the friends he left behind in the Ville. Though he has made it out, those who did not continue to follow a path that includes violence, gang activity, careless sex and drug abuse. All of this leading back to the present state of the troubled child he is having a conversation with.

The best thing about J. Cole’s stories is that they are often cyclical. Every aspect affects another. The fact that Cole is able to sit in a Range and write raps has indirectly led to the trials and tribulations of this child. At least in his mind. It causes you to think about the people you give up on or leave in pursuit of what makes you happy. We all affect each other in some way shape or form and just because you have made it out of a situation doesn’t mean that situation is done with you.

12. 1985

There has been so much commentary on this song. You know what the record is about. These new lil rappers aren't Cole’s favorite. And this was a song that was created to cause commentary and conversation rather than be a great song so I won’t get too much into the composition. It’s a funny and clever response to the many younger artists that (sarcastically?) detested the sentiments that hip-hop is supposed to ‘mean something’ as the old heads like to say. Cole warns that the alternative results in a short career and a style based on fickle trends. A fair and proven point.

Cordae released a retort to Cole on the same beat not long after called “Old N*****s” that I thought made some fair points as well. I have been caught in the middle of this debate often. When I argue music with people my age, I am constantly defending the older, more lyrical style a la J. Cole. But, when I argue with my father or older brother, I find myself on the side of the younger generation. If I have to side with one or the other, I believe Cordae won this ‘dispute’. Certain artists see music as an avenue for life change more so than a passion these days. The same is happening in sports. That’s not to say that they don’t love it or that they are not as good, but the reason they do the things that older generations may not is because they know it will make them money and change their life.

People ask me often if I think music was better ten or fifteen years ago than it is now. And I always say no, because I’m positive the same arguments were being made about the previous generation ten or fifteen years ago when J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar were the lil homies.

KOD is the last physical album I purchased myself and I missed an opportunity to see Cole perform it several times. It is very close to my heart because of when it came out, the importance of its message, and I love J. Cole. Much like Kendrick the year before with DAMN., we have not heard a solo album from Cole since. Though both have done joint albums with their respective labels and done multiple notable features in the years since, we are still patiently waiting for whatever the hell ‘The Fall Off’ is.

But yeah, keep making basketball shoes I guess.

credit: Anthony Supreme

Written by Bill Listyl

April 21, 2021