"Born Sinner" as a theme is subtly identifiable throughout most of the songs, with references to preachers, Adam and Eve, liberal sprinklings of choirs and some well-balanced confessionals. Cole improves upon "Cole World" – it's ambitious, a more unified sound is present throughout, lyrically he's spitting like the underground Cole that earned his following in the first place, and it's certainly vastly less marketed (cynically) towards the females. Cole has learnt from his bland debut album, and whilst it is a step in the right direction, can "Born Sinner" be considered a classic or even anywhere near 2006's "Doctor's Advocate" (which still bumps pretty damn hard)? But the common ground between them is clear.
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Cole likes to produce his own music, whereas The Game knows how to get good beats for his budget Cole is a touch better as an MC in certain respects The Game at his peak was arguably more charismatic.
They sound eerily similar at times they both namedrop insecurely about legends/mentors they both know how to put together a good album both also seem convinced they are the new Tupac Shakur. Cole comes across as this decade's version of The Game. Make no mistake: this little tête-à-tête is not in the same league. Since then, Kanye has gone from strength to strength, with 50 treating the rap game as a mere passing interest. It's fair to say that the limited advance offerings from either artist have failed to match the commercial might of the epic media takeover of West vs. Cole returns with his sophomore, lining up his release date to go toe-to-toe with Kanye West's "Yeezus" (both albums are due to drop on June 18th).
Following his somewhat bland debut "Cole World: The Sideline Story" J. There is no doubt that the art of making an album has taken a backseat over the last decade – however, a few artists still take this shit seriously, and whilst tastes vary, we've certainly received excellent long plays from Kendrick Lamar and Drake, in particular. We used to get classic social commentary nowadays, it's more like social network comments. A handful of other numbers carry that same weight, making Born Sinner a daring step forward for Cole and an exciting attempt at mastering Jay's Blueprint style.Oh, Hip Hop. Still, "Crooked Smile" with special guests TLC is a genuine, mature step in the right direction and will have no trouble reaching vintage age. All this bold borrowing is backed up by lyrics that flow fine until their shocking twists ("She raisin' that guy's kids while she swallowin' mine"), while "She Knows" with Dirty Projectors vocalist Amber Coffman is shameless enough to spit "This is Martin Luther King in the Club/With a bad bitch in his ear/Saying that she down for whatever/In the back of his mind is Coretta." It's snide, smart-ass stuff and when it comes to sublime/ridiculous balancing act that his heroes Jay-Z and Nas have mastered, Cole is a little short on the sublime side here to be considered classic. Cole is the one who produced most of the album himself with his Kanye-sense of sampling (work songs, gospel, old soul, etc.) and his love of hard bass (check "Trouble," "Chaining Day," or infectious single "Power Trip" for some great low end) both returning from before, but it's his love of jazz that provides the greatest rewards as "Forbidden Fruit" (it's like Erykah Baduh meets Ice Cube on this soulful dude cut with guest Kendrick Lamar) and "Let Nas Down" (a pledge to honor the man with better rhymes and less pop) are both driven by their Blue Note-inspried backbeats. No spoiler alert required for that one as the opening "Villuminati" has the gall to sample Biggie's classic "Juicy" while using Jay's nickname as a mantra by repeating "Sometimes I brag like Hov," but besides this, Born Sinner is the a more self-confessional and word-filled effort than before, all of it very busy and Black Album minus the references to Beyoncé and the beats from Rick Rubin.
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Cole bringing the sound of Drake down to the streets, the Roc Nation rapper's sophomore effort finds him going for the full Illuminati and attempting an ambitious, multi-faceted album in the style of his label boss, Jay-Z.