Tag: trap

Day 25: MIDDLE CHILD by J. Cole

Oh boy, new J. Cole is sounding fire on a Friday! Released on Wednesday (it’s new music, let me off the hook please), the title is a reference to where he sees himself in the rap game, citing in the song that he feels like a “little bro and big bro all at once”, referencing working with 21 Savage on his song A Lot and going for lunch with Jay-Z. J. Cole falls into a generation with some esteemed company; the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Drake all rose up in a similar time frame and this is the battle he faces on the track.

The song itself is very well written. Each line feels iconic and reflects J. Cole’s quiet evolution he has gone through as he has matured. From 2014 Forest Hill Drive, to his bold single False Prophets and his complex, textured and downright brilliant 2018 album KOD, the song has a sense of graduation about it. 2019 could be the year that J. Cole finally breaks into the mainstream by rapping his way. There has always been a gulf between chart-topping Drake’s style and J. Cole, with Drake very focused on producing hits whilst J. Cole has always spoken his mind. Kendrick falls in between the two, more towards J. Cole’s end of the spectrum historically (although his Taylor Swift collab followed Drake’s school of thought more).

J. Cole has been very open and honest on his views of the new generation of rappers. The last song on KOD was called 1985 – Intro to “The Fall Off” and detailed his feelings towards these freshmen. He has discussed the career of 6ix9ine with hip-hop and radio royalty Angie Martinez and has released a video discussing the state of rap with Lil Pump. This song is capturing his current views, after the aforementioned 21 Savage studio session, talking with Kodak Black and his recent recording sessions for his collaborative project Revenge of the Dreamers III, chalked for release this year, with a myriad of artists. It is exciting to see a rapper’s views on a subject evolve as time goes by, and to discover it through songs from an artist as expressive as J. Cole makes it all the better.

T-Minus and J. Cole produced, the beat is typical Cole and is the first frame in the J. Cole movie that 2019 is going to be. The dreaded, North Carolina rapper is going from strength to strength, and this year is his to lose.

 

Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex

 

Day 24: New Patek by Lil Uzi Vert

LeBron James is a great source for hip-hop. Being really matey with all the artists means his Instagram Stories of his daily workouts are soundtracked by new Tunechi, Drizzy, Yeezy and Hove. A few months back, it was Lil Uzi Vert’s New Patek that graced the ears of his 46.6 million followers.

Philly born and raised, Symere Woods began rapping as Lil Uzi Vert in 2014 at the age of 24. He became well established within the trap movement as it rose to prominence and got his first break into the mainstream spotlight with his Migos collaboration, Bad and Boujee. New Patek was the first single to tease upcoming album Eternal Awake, but as of 11th January it was still unreleased when the rapper claimed he wanted to go back a few years and quit music, leading to taking his music off streaming services.

The song is still a banger though, referring to the luxury watch brand Patek Philippe. It is creative in it’s lyricism, and blisteringly fast (a godsend really; at six minutes long, who knows how long Uzi would have spat for at a mere mortal’s pace), capturing the essence of him as an artist and why so many were devastated when he announced his premature retirement. Drawing, as many of the new breed of trap-rappers do, from the punk world, it is quintessentially chaotic and infectiously destructive, especially (I assume) when performed live.

It will be interesting to see if and when Lil Uzi Vert returns to music. His sudden announcement shows there is a strong desire from the community for him to retake his place within it, but only time will tell. I pray we get Eternal Awake at some point in the future, especially if New Patek is anything to go by.

 

Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex