J. Cole is a Great Average Rapper

By now it's no secret that J. Cole went double platinum with no features. But, there's a problem. People still don't recognize J. Cole as a great Rapper. That's right, J. Cole is a great rapper. It's not not because he has incredible production like Kanye West or he's lyrical like Kendrick Lamar. It's because he's super average. I know that sounds crazy, but follow me.

Lyrically he's not extraordinary. Don't get me wrong, the man has bars on occasion. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a lot of filler bars thrown in the mix. Take for example his song "Return of Simba." In the track Cole raps:

Yeah, I stunt, but I’m a li’l more realer. When it come from the heart, don’t it feel mo’ iller? Watch my flow go bananas, I’m a li’l gorilla[...] I only made classics, now what that take? Timing, Cole under pressure, what that make? Diamonds

That's right, Cole rapped about being a little gorilla and finished with a quadruple entendre. This proves Cole is average because the greatness of a quadruple entendre is erased bars about being a little gorilla. It's like getting an A+ on a test and am F- on another one. You're coming out with a C, maybe a C+ depending on the grader. J. Cole is the most consistent rapper of all time because he's always giving you C grade content. Nas has some great albums, but we're not going to act like they're all good albums, he's got a lot of trash ones too. The same thing can be said for majority of great rappers. The only rapper to never drop a bad album is Jay Electronica, because he doesn't drop albums.

What about production? Cole has some incredibly produced tracks. Both for himself and others. Cole also has some horrible tracks. For every meticulously crafted from scratch song like "Dollar and a Dream," There's a song like "LAnd of The Snakes" where he makes minor alterations to someone else's track just enough that it's a J. Cole original.

There's also the fact that he has an average life. While most rappers subscribe to the classic Jay Z quote of "Money, Cash, Hoes." J. Cole has none of that. He's a married man who still rides the bus when weather is to harsh to ride his bicycle. People can relate to that. That draws people in. On top of that, he's got student loans. That's a super average thing to do because even of you get scholarships you're probably going to still have a few loans because college is so expensive these days. Most of us have jobs where we work for 40 hours a week. That's Cole. He's a rapper doing 40 hours a week. The man is just waiting for his boss to ask why he's taking so long with those reports. Other rappers rap about their incredible lives. Cole has raps where he thinks about leaving his wife for a shot at the one that got away. That's average.

J. Cole is a great rapper because he's consistently average at everything. He's not really good at anything but giving you what you expect from him. If you like one Cole project, you're probably going to like them all. The themes, style and content may all be different, but it's still the same. J. Cole didn't go double platinum with no features because he releases mind blowing content. It's because he's average and it's good background noise. J. Cole is a great rapper because no matter how average he is, he's the most consistent rapper of all time.

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs or Skyrim
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