My personalized account of J.Cole’s Friday Night Lights
-Vitality
Owning my own business, working and having a life leaves me with little time to sit on the internet and download music and listen to it everyday. Back in the day, that was my LIFE. Everyone came to me for music, mixtapes and leaked albums (don’t tell the feds). Now it’s different story, luckily I work in radio, I have a boyfriend who’s fully immersed in the music industry and a best friend (logikalinskey) who both keep me up on my music game.
Once in a while there’s a mixtape or album that catches me and goes to constant repeat until everyone around me is sick of it. Friday Night Lights is that mixtape.
I’ve always been a big J.Cole fan since The Come Up & The Warm Up and put numerous folks onto the MC from NC. After seeing him live in Tampa, talking to his manager and seeing the crowd reaction it was clear that this man is actually going to make it. He’s going to be known by the masses and Friday Night Lights is a step in that direction.
The second I heard ‘Too Deep For The Intro’ I was in love… the Erykah Badu ‘Didn’t Cha Know’ sample is just impeccable. It really was too deep for the intro and properly placed at #2 on the tracklist. Let the goosebumps begin! I must say I’m partially biased because I love Badu and I love samples so this mixtape is extremely appealing to me already… going through the rest of the tracks, some oldies but goodies, some new tracks I realize this mixtape is J.Cole’s state of mind, there’s not too much hoes, money, cars talk, it’s REAL. Loyalty, struggles, friends, virginity, education, rising success, relationships, dreams… a full insight into his J.Cole’s life as a rising star. “Before I’m Gone” is almost like a full account of what’s going on through his head… his mind is dark, complicated, perceptive and extremely intelligent and that’s what makes this mixtape so exceptional. “Back to the Topic Freestyle” “Villematic” “Premedidated Murder” “Blow Up” and “Higher” were all super necessary to add to the mixtape, even though they were all previously released they were all amazing and needed to be on an official compilation for the world to hear. “Best Friend” and “Cost Me A Lot” are 2 notable songs that I will lastly say that amazed me… that Missy/Aaliayah sample really set it off for me. And “Cost Me A Lot” has a gift and a curse theme…. ‘I don’t love no material thing, but I’m in love with the feelings they bring’. J.Cole is so good at imagery, symbolism and storytelling you can feel everything in his lyrics.
I know I didn’t nitpick every song and lyric but wanted to share some of my favorite things about this mixtape and my excitement to see J.Cole on the rise. It’s refreshing to say that I officially have a new favorite mixtape, which doesn’t happen very often (with the exception of Lil Wayne’s No Ceilings, Laws 5:01 Overtime). I’m curious to hear your feedback! Post your comments and tell us your favorite tracks!
Comments
As a fellow NC male that left the state to chase my dreams, I relate to his music more than any other artist ever. I love the mixtape and in my opinion FAREWELL is the best song on it. It tells my story and so many others. BTW I enjoyed reading your thoughts
*thumbs up*
Great review!
As you stated, J Cole does an excellent job at capturing the listener and introducing them into his world. Being an avid follower of current events, I was already aware of the horrible murder of 5 yr old Shaniya Davis which occured in NC. To hear how Cole was able to fuse that story along with Tupac’s “So Much Pain” sample was really impressive, insightful and just all around dope. His 2nd verse on “2Face” really painted a vivid picture of a moment in time when he was face to face with death and how he reacted to it and how his upbringing and environment groomed him for such and event. I can appreciate songs like “Enchanted” and “Farewell” because he touched on so many themes that the average sub-middle class adolescent comes in contact with on a regular basis. All while telling these stories, he never skips a beat and maintains his incredible level of lyricism. On “Love Me Not”, he said “So I’mma keep it honest/ I think it’s a lil ironic if I hit another chick, it’s gonna bruise you”. Also in “Cost Me Alot”, he dropped the lines “My chain heavy and my b*tches look very thorough/ Must be the money like Deion with the jheri curl”. That was a rewind moment for me considering Deion Sanders video for Must Be The Money dropped in 1994. Just crazy.