The Warm-Up Mixtape by J.Cole: A Review

A lot of attention has been paid recently to a virtually unknown aspiring rapper by the name of J. Cole. And why not? Out of all the aspiring and veteran rappers in the music industry, Jay-Z, who notably passed on the newest white wunderkind Asher Roth when he was head of Def Jam, signed J. Cole first to his new Roc Nation venture. Not any of the Roc-A-Fella artists, not even loyal-to-the-end Memphis Bleek. Not first string, but critically overlooked talent like Pharoahe Monch. Not even a fellow Brooklynite like Talib Kweli. No, instead Jay-Z opts for a North Carolinian with little existing buzz. You have to wonder where Hova's head is, what exactly he heard that convinced him that this kid is the future when you have unsigned talent out there like Cory Gunz, and artists in label limbo like Charles Hamilton and B.o.B.

Similar in style and appearance to rap's newest sensation Drake, J. Cole's a gifted and melodious songwriter, though his preoccupations with questions of mortality come across as a bit clichéd (Can I Live), particularly as he seems to strive to slough off any conceptions he might have a criminal past. His preoccupation with fame also grows a bit tedious early on. It could be because that is the subject of practically all 21 tracks - that, and girls.

And while he is skilled with metaphor and simile, I have heard Young Chris, of Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella based State Property clique, spit more inspiring and passionate lines about ambition. You can clearly hear this young artist's influences: Tupac on I Get Up, Talib Kweli on Can I Live, Jay-Z throughout. He also is clearly influenced by mid-nineties hip-hop, as this mixtape draws deeply from that sonic and lyrical palette.

There is also little musical innovation or musical ambition on display here...there are familiar instrumentals here such as Souls of Mischief's '93 til Infinity, Outkast's Royal Flush, and B.I.G.'s Warning. He performs neither remarkably better nor worse than a raft of other mixtape rappers, though there are some potent moments. I Get Up would have been a radio hit circa 1995, when skills and social journalism mattered. And on a belabored skit, he talks about how detractors told him to rap better over Jay-Z's instrumental for Dead Presidents, and he truly turns in a couple of impressive verses on this go round. If he rapped like this the entire mixtape, he might have more heads turning.

Where he does succeed however is in his storytelling ability. When he externalizes his ambition through stories, his lyrics resonate, even haunt, such as Dollar & A Dream II. He is not quite Nas or Scarface, let alone Slick Rick, but he could come close if he kept at it.

The biggest issue is that J. Cole's persona simply is not that compelling. It might have been pre-Kanye, but in these, the heady days of emo-rap, where every everyman rapper has at the very least an online following and half a dozen mixtapes to their credit, if not a record deal (see the aforementioned Charles Hamilton), this simply is not enough. Maybe "compelling "is less the right word than "distinct." He is not an innovator like B.o.B, he is not neurotic like Charles Hamilton. You finish The Warm Up feeling you have no idea who he is.

Now one of the first issues of The Source I ever bought had the four-mic review (out of five) of Jay-Z's debut Reasonable Doubt (read review). Beyond some minor carping, the sum and substance of the review was: "This is a good album. But it's nothing new. B.I.G. does hustling albums, and he does them better. So does Raekwon, etc...""And of course, there was a critical re-evaluation of his work after he became a superstar. Now there may be one of J. Cole someday, but if this is all he has to offer, then when the industry dilutes his debut with Auto-Tune and appearances from Lil Wayne, Rihanna and Akon, what's left? What does he rap about when he finds the fame (and girls)?

Despite his affiliation with Jay-Z, he will likely simply be overshadowed by Drake (in fact it is Drake, not J. Cole, who will reportedly be on a single off of Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 album).These days, being nice simply is not enough. The music is not enough. The Warm-Up, while a solid enough effort, does not itself single the arrival of a rapper artistically mature enough to be the next breakout star in today's fragmented industry.