Few debut albums since the advent of the Internet have nearly caused the hip-hop blogosphere to explode with anticipation. The long, strange journey of Jermaine Lamarr Cole and the odyssey surrounding the release of his first album are too intricate and confusing to explain here, but suffice it to say Cole World: The Sideline Story is one of those albums. And as its title may suggest, J. Cole’s debut finds the rapper heavily reflecting on the road that’s brought him (hopefully) to the brink of stardom.

The first song on Cole’s first album is esoterically titled “Dolla And A Dream III.” The first two “D&D”’s were released on Cole’s first two mixtapes, and it’s this type of knowledge of the discography that can both enhance and spoil the listening experience. Fans of the North Carolina MC’s three tapes already know that Cole has more to say than the average MC before he tells us that “there’s so much on my mind, I wonder how it fits in my brain” two lines into his first verse. No one was hoping this would be among the best releases of the year. We were expecting it. So the only meaningful way to evaluate the disc is in comparison to the artist’s own work.

This method means that “Can’t Get Enough,” the album’s lead single, fares poorly. “Lead single” is actually a misleading term; Cole’s two previous, failed radio grabs (the underrated “Who Dat” and the misguided “Work Out”) were downgraded to bonus tracks here. The song that follows, “Lights Please,” sounds much more in line with mixtape Cole because, well, it is, having originally appeared on The Warm Up in 2009. Most artists would hesitate to risk having a two-year-old, previously released track called the best on their debut album, but if Cole doesn’t mind, neither should his fans, right?

The fact that the only other contender for “best song on the disc” is another previously released song, Friday Night Lights’ “In The Morning,” is the perfect example of why Cole World is both great and somewhat disappointing. None of the tracks would immediately disqualify the track from “classic” status, but at the same time none are the transcendent climaxes that need to appear a few times on a truly legendary album.

The lack of an “Oh shit!” moment is most attributable to Cole’s insistence on providing the bulk of the production. The laidback guitar and piano vibe perfectly compliments the virtuosic lyrical performance on “Sideline Story.” But when he laments, “I wish somebody made guidelines/ On how to get up off the sidelines,” you want to shout back, “Don’t make so many of the songs sound the same!” Cole has the talent and charisma to be the best American hip-hop artist since Kanye West. He just has to stop trying to be Kanye West. Still, Cole World stands as the second best release in J. Cole’s discography after Friday Night Lights. And that’s better than most can aspire to.

4 / 5 bars

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