From having a dollar and dream to being one of the most talked about music artist, Jermaine Cole aka J.Cole is one of the few artist I respect in the music industry. J.Cole is one the best artist in our generation. For a long time J.Cole was underrated before his 2014 Forest Hills Drive album, but now he has the recognition he deserves. What makes J.Cole special compared to Drake, Kanye, and other rap artists is that J.Cole is a storyteller, he has the talent to tell stories vividly through his lyrics. Cole has the ability to make a person reflect about someone's dream girl, the first time they lost their virginity, their drug abuse issue, or their imperfections. Most of Cole's songs gear people towards light and positivity in songs such as "Crooked Smile" and "Love Yourz." Cole tells his listeners to embrace their imperfection in their lives. Besides positive messages J.Cole also tends to paint the picture of the harsh reality of violence and oppression many individuals face in America through some of his songs such as "Can't Cry" and "Be Free." From analyzing his songs, all what J.Cole wants to do is deliver a message to his audience whether it is informing them about the struggles and pain people go through everyday or encouraging them to become better individuals. Many rap artist today don't rap about positive messages and reality like J.Cole, most of them rap about fame, women, sex, or drugs. Not only is J.Cole a talented lyricist, but an extraordinary artist and person overall.

If you have listen to a lot of J.Cole's songs you may have noticed that he samples a lot of classic instrumentals such as "Hocus Pocus" by Focus, "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul and "Exchange" by Bryson Tiller for songs such as "Blow Up," "Work Out," and "Deja Vu." Although Cole samples instrumentals for some of his songs he manages to make the beat his own by making sure his rap flows and sound unique to the beat. In addition to appreciating other artist's instrumental and making it his own, J.Cole has recycled one of his instrumental in a creative way in which not a lot of people know. On the tour for 4 Your Eyez Only Cole stated that the instrumental for "Neighbors" is the instrumental for "Forbidden Fruit" but in reverse. With the creativity and work Cole has produced through his music, Forest Hills Drive is the first rap album in 25 years to be certified platinum with no guest appearances while 4 Your Eyez Only was certified gold. After the release of Born a Sinner J.Cole has not had any guest featured in his albums but his alternate ego kiLL edward in his song "The Cut Off."

J.Cole is an amazing artist, one of my favorite attributes about him as a live performer is that he performs every song in his album because he believes that the album is a story to tell. To witness one of the greatest rappers in our generation make sure to catch J.Cole live at the Staple Center on August 24, 2018.