However, after hearing this album several times, I’ve come to a conclusion. You’re going to be in one of three camps after hearing this. One, you’re going to love because Cole’s calling out the government and the state of hip-hop while still embracing tropes of the “new era.” Two, you’re going to kinda consider it to be a “meh” effort from an artist that we’ve grown to expect a lot from. Or, like me, you could be in the middle. It’s an album that has a few bops on it, and the message is great. The execution, however, is where I fall off the bus a bit. It’s like he tried to do a more-serious DROGAS Light at points. Songs like “KOD” show this awkward transition to a conscious turn-up track and it doesn’t fully work. 

As I said, I love J. Cole’s music. Whenever his stuff drops, I’m listening to it several times, just to get everything, even if it isn’t all that great. But, I’m no Stan for the man. I think that this is a decent effort from him. However, I’d be hard-pressed to say it’s better than anything else he’s put out, even going back to his mixtapes. I’m all for artistic evolution, but I’m unsure if this is the right step after something like 4 Your Eyez Only (which I didn’t fully review and possibly never will).

Is KOD worthy of the SOTB stamp of approval? That’s what you’re probably asking after my “eh, it’s dope at some points” discussion on the album. Truth be told, even though it’s only dope at some points, it’s still a decent effort from Cole. I like that he tried something different–even if it didn’t pan out completely (to me). Check it out for yourselves and remember to support dope music in all its forms.