born sinner

Drake & J Cole Stock Up On “Born Sinner” CDs In Old Clip From Drizzy’s “100 GIGS” Website

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Fans aren’t really clear on whether or not J. Cole and Drake are still cool with each other after the Kendrick Lamar battle this year. However, a new batch of footage that the latter released on his “100 GIGS” website suggests that it’s all still love. Moreover, he included an old video that many fans might recognize, showing the “First Person Shooter” duo buying a lot of Cole’s Born Sinner CDs at a New York Best Buy back when it dropped in 2013. Along with some other commonly accessible footage, some fans cheekily wonder why the 6ix God is sharing this stuff from the vault when a quick YouTube search is just as effective. To make matters even more ironic, the video is literally on Cole’s page.

Nevertheless, that’s a nit-picky and irrelevant argument to make if you want to add that to your Drake hater resumé. Jokes aside, another example of this is his inclusion of a classic clip of Kanye West at OVO Fest 2013. In the video, Ye credits the Toronto superstar for inspiring him and Jay-Z to make Watch The Throne together after the “pressure” that he was putting on them and the rap game at the time.

Read More: Drake Gets His Fans Riled Up With Loads Of New Music Teases On Instagram

Drake & J. Cole Go On A CD Shopping Spree

Elsewhere, though, it seems like J. Cole might continue to be a “MIDDLE CHILD” when it comes to Drake, a situation he found himself in during March and April of this year. Many fans clowned the Dreamville MC’s decision to retract his Kendrick Lamar disss, thus placing him in between of two warring colleagues. But at the end of the day, it’s probably the most humanistic, honest, and respectable moment to emerge out of this entire saga. Regardless, the reason why he might be stuck between two worlds again is not only because of his feature on Future and Metro Boomin’s WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU, but because of a supposed collab with A$AP Rocky that will land on the Harlem creative’s next album.

Meanwhile, all these new Drake drops (and shots at his opps) sharply contrast his rival Kendrick Lamar’s silence these days. He might release something soon according to a couple of unverifiable sources, but you’ve been hearing that all year, if not all decade. At least that whole situation didn’t seem to impact Drizzy and J. Cole’s bond, if this re-uploaded Best Buy video is any indication. But some fans will not stop their speculations until their relationship is as clear as day.

Read More: J Cole Makes Young Fans’ Day With Generous Gift

The post Drake & J Cole Stock Up On “Born Sinner” CDs In Old Clip From Drizzy’s “100 GIGS” Website appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

J. Cole’s “Born Sinner” Turns 10

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This year marks the 10th anniversary of J. Cole’s second studio album, Born Sinner. The album was released on June 18 via ByStorm, Columbia, and Roc Nation. In addition to those labels, Born Sinner was the first album released on Cole’s Dreamville Records. Before he notoriously went Platinum without features for three albums straight, Born Sinner was the last album of his to have features until 2021. The album notably contains features from the likes of Miguel, Kendrick Lamar, TLC, James Fauntleroy, 50 Cent, Jhené Aiko, and more. Like most of his albums, J. Cole produced most of Born Sinner alongside Jake One, Elite, Syience, and Christian Rich. 

Born Sinner ranks high among J. Cole’s consistent discography and is currently sitting at 2x Platinum status, making for his second biggest album behind 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Singles like “Power Trip” and “She Knows” remain some of J. Cole’s biggest songs. We’re looking back at J. Cole’s Born Sinner for its 10th anniversary.

J. Cole Reached New Heights With Born Sinner

J. Cole’s 2011 debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story was a culmination of the artistic potential he showed on his mixtapes. The album spawned multiple hit singles, including “Work Out” and “Can’t Get Enough.” He fulfilled his potential with major cosigns and songs with Missy Elliott and JAY-Z on his major label debut. Born Sinner was a turning point creatively for J. Cole, ending the basketball theme of his albums and mixtapes until The Off-Season. 

With an impressive tracklist with high replay value, Born Sinner has it all: introspective tracks, clever rhymes, and catchy hit records. J. Cole’s versatility can be highlighted in the album’s opening bars. He raps, “Sometimes I brag like Hov, sometimes I’m real like Pac / Sometimes I focus on the flow to show the skills I got / Sometimes I focus on the dough, look at these bills I got.” These lyrics come from the song “Villuminati,” which arguably still remains one of J. Cole’s all-time best rap performances. 

While Cole World: The Sideline Story is on par with the sound and theme of his mixtapes, Born Sinner can be described as more artistic than Cole World. When promoting the album, J. Cole said that he had more creative freedom making this album than his debut. The album’s title track speaks to the entire album. He raps, “Born sinner, was never born to be perfect.” In addition to the title track, album highlights like “Crooked Smile” also embrace one’s imperfections and look inward to J. Cole’s own personal feelings to spread a powerful message. The music on the album is true to its title as choirs contribute stunning vocal performances on standout tracks like “Trouble,” “Crooked Smile,” and “Born Sinner.”

J. Cole Positioned Himself As A Hip Hop Great

Making a name for himself with a JAY-Z cosign and the hit singles from his debut album, J. Cole had proven himself a promising name, but he positioned himself as one of the greats with Born Sinner. In addition to the quality of the music, J. Cole aligned himself with the legends when he moved his album release date a week early to compete with Kanye West’s Yeezus. He raps about the decision to move the date on “Forbidden Fruit.”

While Kanye did beat J. Cole in first-week sales, Born Sinner continued to climb the sales charts, eventually overtaking Yeezus. Born Sinner featured respected names like 50 Cent, who appeared on “New York Times,” as well as “Forbidden Fruit” with Kendrick Lamar, who only does the hook because Cole had to turn the album in. The project is riddled with classic hip hop samples on tracks like “Forbidden Fruit,” “Land of the Snakes,” and “Sparks Will Fly.”

He Made Nas Proud

One major highlight of Born Sinner is the song “Let Nas Down,” which begins with a sample of “Nas Is Like.” Cole raps about idolizing Nas at an early age before meeting him for the first time. After feeling pressure from his label, J. Cole dropped his first hit with “Work Out” but felt gutted after hearing that Nas didn’t like the song. In the second and third verses, Cole raps about what Nas’s music meant to him and how he is committed to not sacrificing his music for anything, writing from the heart.

As a result of letting Nas down, Cole raps about re-adjusting his target audience on “Villuminati” after trying to chase a hit and losing sight of his core fanbase. Nas’s response to “Let Nas Down” was nothing short of positive, releasing a remix titled “Made Nas Proud,” giving J. Cole the ultimate stamp of approval. Overall, Born Sinner lives up to the hype created by his debut, surpassing it in quality. It was the first glimpse of J. Cole at legend status.

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The post J. Cole’s “Born Sinner” Turns 10 appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

J. Cole Announces 10th Anniversary “Born Sinner” Gold Deluxe Vinyl Edition

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German-born rapper J. Cole has announced that he plans to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of his second studio album, Born Sinner. The artist plans to celebrate the anniversary by releasing a gold deluxe vinyl edition of the album, which is available for preorder now. The special edition albums will ship on June 16, 2023. Dreamville Records, founded by J. Cole, announced the special edition on Instagram yesterday.

The post also gives fans a sneak peek of the special edition vinyl, featuring the album’s cover art along with an exclusive gold pressing. The caption reads, “Born Sinner turns 10 next month!” It then goes on to say, “in celebration we’re releasing a gold deluxe vinyl edition available for preorder now! #Dreamville #ColeWorld.”

J. Cole Celebrates The Anniversary Of Born Sinner

Earlier this year, Chicago rapper Lil Durk announced he would collaborate with Cole on the single “All My Life.” Lil Durk announced the collaboration on April 1, leading many fans to believe the announcement was an April Fools’ Joke. The announcement from Lil Durk took place at Cole’s label’s Dreamville Fest during a sit-down panel. The speculation proved to be untrue, as Lil Durk shared the song along with an accompanying music video last week. “All My Life” will appear on Lil Durk’s upcoming album, Almost Healed. Almost Healed is set to be released May 26 of this year. The track has also been met with high praise, receiving shout outs from people like DJ Akademiks.

Cole also collaborated with BTS’ J-Hope on the song “On The Street.” The song has lyrics in both English and Korean, melding the artists’ two worlds together. During a conversation on the Lead By Example podcast, Cole shared that he is “envious of people who don’t have a strong desire or strong vision.” He went on to claim that “They live a peaceful life and an enjoyable life.” He also criticized “Hustle culture,” describing how “people could feel almost guilty or insufficient for not having some great dream to dream.” Cole then later called it “a blessing to be satisfied, to be at peace, to be content with life.”

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