Still waiting on that joint album, though...

J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar are essentially the Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin of today. Their style of rap mesh yet separate as they appeal to similar audiences. Beside the glitz and glamor of their lifestyles, K.Dot and Cole World have actually provided an incredible message to their music: social awareness.

Even though they're seen by fans as just rappers talking a big game, these two artists are actually intelligent artists who use their life experiences as foundations for their music. They are both artists with a true core who have dealt with highs and lows.

At the same time, these two have gone down two different paths. As heard in Kendrick's critically acclaimed album To Pimp a Butterfly, jazz and spoken word have become the foreground of his style as he brought up important issues in today's society. J.Cole, on the other hand, has a sound built more around the beat rather than the instrumental samplings.

Although a song like "Intro" off 2014 Forest Hills Drive and "For Whom The Bell Tolls" off 4 Your Eyez Only has certain jazz elements, J. Cole is best known for his interest in beat making and sounding like the 1990s era of New York hip-hop beats.

However, both Lamar and Cole remain the top lyricists in the game right now because of their interesting wordplay and stories they tell.

A certain example of Kendrick's lyrical prowess is a verse from his finale to the album DAMN., "DUCKWORTH." The story he weaves of two characters who turn out to be his boss and father meeting coincidentally before Kendrick signed with Top Dawg Entertainment is astonishing:

Pay attention, that one decision changed both of they lives
One curse at a time
Reverse the manifest and good karma, and I'll tell you why
You take two strangers and put 'em in random predicaments
Give 'em a soul so they can make their own choices and live with it
Twenty years later, them same strangers, you make 'em meet again
Inside recording studios where they reapin' their benefits
Then you start remindin' them about that chicken incident
Whoever thought the greatest rapper would be from coincidence?
Because if Anthony killed Ducky, Top Dawg could be servin' life
While I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight

While offering views of his perspective throughout his time in Compton, California, Lamar is a young man recounting these experiences as a way of cementing his true self in the music world. On To Pimp A Butterfly, heexplores these experiences in some regard. On the song "u," he desperately reveals the negative situation of his friend dying in the hospital and Lamar not being able to visit:

You ain’t no brother, you ain’t no disciple
You ain’t no friend
A friend never leave Compton for profit
Or leave his best friend, little brother
You promised you’d watch him before they shot him
Where was your antennas?
On the road, bottles and b******
You FaceTimed him one time, that's unforgiven
You even FaceTimed instead of a hospital visit
Guess you thought he would recover well
Third surgery, they couldn't stop the bleeding for real
Then he died, God himself will say, "You f*****’' failed"
You ain't try

Lamar's willingness to open up about certain experiences have made his entire life become a storybook epic of sadness, triumph, lost love, violence, even ties to fantasy. His music videos are something of interest, too, especially "DNA."

(Youtube Credit to KendrickLamarVEVO; swears included that the contributor acknowledges but does not support)

As Lamar soared in 2013, J.Cole was right behind him. Cole's first big song, "Work Out", was a great introduction to Cole's style, especially with the beats. As his 2013 album Born Sinner had many listening to his style, we hear a bit of J.Cole's reflective side on the song "Crooked Smile:"

We don't look nothin' like the people on the screen
You know the movie stars, picture perfect beauty queens
But we got dreams and we got the right to chase 'em
Look at the nation, that's a crooked smile braces couldn't even straighten
Seem like half the race is either on probation
Or in jail; wonder why we inhale
Cause we in hell already - I ask if my skin pale
Would I then sell like Eminem or Adele?
But one more time for the 'Ville
And f*** all of that beef s***, n**** let's make a mil'
Hey officer man, we don't want nobody getting killed
Just open up that cell, let my brother out of jail
I got money for the bail now, well now
If you asking will I tell now? Hey, hell naw - I ain't snitching cause
Man, they get them n***** stitches now
If you was around, then you wouldn't need a witness now
How you like this crooked smile?

Cole's groundbreaking album 2014 Forest Hills Drive cemented him as the '1a' to Lamar's '1' spot as the best rapper of the modern era. The album has become platinum many times, and fans are astounded due to the fact that Cole used no feature artists AT ALL.

The amount of dedication right there to make an album without big names on the same track symbolizes Cole's quest to make it all on his own. And sure, he might have used features such as TLC ("Crooked Smile") and even Kendrick Lamar ("Forbidden Fruit") on his previous album, but to also make a second album with no features again pulls back a layer of Cole's confidence in himself to become a name to remember.

That second album with no features, 4 Your Eyez Only, came out in December 2016 following the release of a new music video, "False Prophets." The video itself shows Cole walking through his hometown in North Carolina as he calls out the artists he looked up to, such as Kanye West, and criticizes the way many rappers such as Drake use 'ghostwriters' instead of making his own rap lyrics.

There was a time when this n**** was my hero, maybe
That's the reason why his fall from grace is hard to take
'Cause I believed him when he said his s*** was purer and he
The type of n**** swear he real but all around him's fake
The women, the *********, you know, the yes men
Nobody with the balls to say somethin' to contest him
So he grows out of control
Into the person that he truly was all along, it's startin' to show
Damn, wonder what happened
Maybe it's my fault for idolizing n*****
Based off the words they be rappin'
But come to find out, these n***** don't even write they s***
Hear some new style bubblin' up, then they bite the s***
Damn, that's what I get for lyin' to myself
Well, f*** it, what's more important is he's cryin' out for help
While the world's eggin' him on, I'm beggin' him to stop
And playin' his old s***, knowin' he won't top it, false prophets

In reality, Cole and Lamar are on the same path. They discuss political issues, social issues like racism and racial profiling, and even the inner conflicts of themselves. However, in another sense, they are slightly different because of their personalities in their songs, their perspectives, and even their opinions of how to combat these social barriers placed in front of them. Their collaborations, such as "Forbidden Fruit" and their "Black Friday" special (where Lamar did an official remix to Cole's "A Tale of 2 Citiez" and Cole did a verse on Lamar's "Alright"), have shown how well they know each other and respect each other. Lamar even brought Cole out in Detroit this past summer during Lamar's DAMN. concert, shown below.

(Youtube credit to Rafael Bolanos; swears included that the contributor acknowledges but does not support)

Opinion: Lamar's best song is hands down "Sing About Me, I'm Dying Thirst", while Cole's is simply "No Role Modelz". Though many other songs are truly incredible, these songs stick out for both artists' truest form coming front and center.

To conclude, these two are clearly in their prime, yet the peak has yet to be achieved. Congrats, Kendrick Lamar and J.Cole, you are truly the two best artists in the game right now.