"Just Copped a Maroon 5 No Adam Levine"

Now that J Cole's upcoming album Born Sinner has all the sudden become readily available on the internet, it's time to start dissecting it a bit. I'll start tonight by posting his subtly aggressive lyrical assault on Forbidden Fruit. If you can get past the vulgarity and sexual references, there's a lot of lyrical creativity through metaphors and wordplay that will probably get overlooked. If it were up to me, I would have been thrilled to hear Kendrick pitch in more than just a hook, but you can't always get whatcha want.

Born Sinner is scheduled to hit iTunes on June 18th, so if you're on the fence about purchasing, feel free to stream the whole album here. I don't have an informed enough of an opinion to pass judgment, so stay tuned for more to come...#BornSinner

J Cole feat Kendrick Lamar - Forbidden Fruit

J Cole Says Be Proud of That Crooked Smile

The only way to conquer negativity is with never-ending positivity. That opinion may as well be the tag line for J Cole's new single below featuring TLC. In fact, Cole recently sat down with Esteban Serrano of Fuse to talk about the inspiration behind the track...

Money may get you a lot of things in life, but it doesn't always buy you happiness because with money comes envy and scrutiny. The type of scrutiny that would make anyone self-conscious about their looks. The world could use more songs like Crooked Smile that empowered people to be themselves in a world full of hate. Keep the positivity comin' and take'em to church Cole! Only two more weeks til one of the most highly anticipated albums drops...#BornSinner

J Cole feat TLC - Crooked Smile

Videos of the Week May 31st

This week's top five videos run the gamut of emotion from depression to thoughtful to downright buckwild. The most real video by far come from J Cole who opened up in a very real and accessible way about depression and the impact it has had on him. Not many rappers would be caught dead keeping it that real about personal struggles, but the ones that do like Cole and Drake make the "hard" rappers look insecure. Kudos for keepin' it 100, I'm infinitely more excited for Born Sinner now that I know how rooted in emotion it will be.

I enjoyed B.O.B.'s characteristically tour clip heavy video for his hope filled track Chandelier with Lauriana Mae. Aside from the two aforementioned videos, it's all about partying and more specifically booty. Wild and Hello have a party feel to them, but the slightly NSFW video for Bubble Butt definitely wins the award for most booty per capita in a video this year. Well...at least we're back to accepting as a culture that curvy behinds are the preferred choice...#BubbleButt
Jessie J feat Big Sean & Dizzee Rascal - Wild (Video)

J.Cole - Born Sinner: From Depression To Happiness #OKNotToBeOK (Interview)

Stafford Brothers feat Lil Wayne & Christina Milian - Hello (Video)

B.O.B. feat Lauriana Mae - Chandelier (Video)

Major Lazer feat Bruno Mars, 2 Chainz, Tyga & Mystic - Bubble Butt (Video)

It's About to be a Cole Summer

With Born Sinner on the horizon, the forecast for this summer just got a little bit Coler. Even though his newest track below isn't supposed to make the cut for his new album, it did surface on his latest mixtape, Yours Truly 2 EP. I wouldn't call the track single worthy, which is why it probably got cut, but nonetheless, it serves as a reminder of much more to come in the next month before Born Sinner drops on June 25th...#BornSinner

J Cole - Cole Summer

Born Sinner on a Power Trip

Seems like Hip Hop artists are in the giving mood these days with free singles and free EPs. The latest of which @JColeNC let loose with a nice five track Yours Truly EP. The EP will serve as more of a hype generator for Cole's upcoming sophomore album Born Sinner, due out later this year.

I say it'll be a hype generator because the lead single off Born Sinner, Power Trip, just hit iTunes on Thursday. The sheer fact that Cole already letting loose extras from his upcoming album is downright exciting. Album cuts implies finality, which combined with a lead single release leads this blogger to believe Born Sinner is coming more sooner than later. If anybody watched the Grammys they are now very familiar with @MiguelUnlimited, which makes the hook on the track below that much more noteworthy. All I gotta ask is "Would you believe me if I said I was in love?"...#YoursTruly

J Cole feat Miguel - Power Trip

"Miss America, Petty Thoughts"

I've repeated stated over the past year that @JColeNC is without question in my top five favorite artists in Hip Hop. I've always struggled trying to pinpoint which of his abilities I have more of a respect for, his lyrical talent or his ability to produce his own music. Part of me appreciates his realness and penchant for storytelling, but what really set him apart from the rest is his ability to take song from start to finish.

And that's even more evident with new lead single Miss America off his upcoming album Born Sinner due out on January 28th. On the track Cole takes a critical angle at things like the government and other Hip Hop artists with lines like, "Rap game changed, this is embarrassing sh*t/Bunch of b*tches posin’ on some old Miss America sh*t." Beat wise, the rolling percussion heavy beat comes off sounding like a formidable march. In essence, the track achieves what it needs to as a lead single by being loud and memorable. It's more than enough to have me excited for his new album...#BornSinner

J Cole - Miss America
|iTunes