Since J. Cole’s 2016 release 4 Your Eyez Only, avid Jermaine Cole fans have been anxiously awaiting the next musical installment from the Dreamville artist. After a year and a half of prayers from his most loyal supporters, Cole put social media into a frenzy on Monday, April 26, by posting about a surprise and confidential concert in New York. In the days that followed, word of mouth confirmed suspicions as Cole’s fifth studio album was announced along with an intriguing album cover and track list that spoke volumes.
Aside from the calculated move of dropping the album on the popular 420 holiday, the album’s intro presents the first hints of Cole’s desire to bring attention to mental health and how we address it.
KOD, dubbed as a three-way title meaning Kids on Drugs, King Overdosed and Kill our Demons, first tackles the notion that mainstream artists have succumbed to addictive substances and tendencies which they, in turn, perpetuate to the masses.
The collection provides an honest reflection of how Cole and those who he loves have battled with personal struggles with drugs, addictions and negative habits. The album sprints toward the finish line by preaching for the need to positively conquer life’s traumatic experiences to be free from the clutches of ourselves.
Backed by harmonic sounds and a woman’s soothing voice, fans identify with the lyrics that point out a person’s typical desire to want to mitigate one’s thoughts that are rooted in hurt, fear or uneasiness. From there, we’re introduced to the overarching theme of the album: Choose wisely.
One place Cole has succeeded is by proclaiming that he doesn’t care what the haters say – a character trait many of us wish to adopt. On the second track, “KOD,” he showcases his confidence in his craft and lifestyle by addressing the questions he commonly gets from others which include asking him how he feels now that “he’s made it” and why he doesn’t do what most musicians do by featuring other artists on their projects. In response to the inquisition, he simply provides a response along the likes of saying, “I will do what I want, and my work is so high-level that I’d be ruining it by doing what you want me to do.”
Many of us have experienced this before – being in situations where we’ve received bickering questions and suggestions from others about our actions but realize that the best thing to do to honor our goals and passion is to do exactly what we please.
Also on this track, Cole exposes the album’s ambiguous meaning by mentioning he used to be a “kid on drugs,” someone who smoked and drank lean to numb his pain and enjoy the drug-heavy culture our society and music have birthed. Doubly, it touches on our need to understand how the king has “overdosed” on this addictive culture himself before.
“Photograph” sees Cole flipping social media on its head by exposing how addictive the tool has become in our culture. He dives into how overly fascinated our generation has become with social media outlets, mainly Instagram – a source that was once created as a way to stay connected with peers and highlight our lives but has transformed into a hotbed for lusting after others, shooting shots, creating a cool persona and seeking acceptance and likes from others to be satisfied with ourselves. While millions of people fall in line with the culture of seeking gratification from their profile, Cole tackles a giant piece of our daily life by musically personifying the lifestyles many of us have come to live – one that’s addicted to letting something superficial like the drug of social media dictate how we feel in our reality.
Through “The Cut Off,” Cole talks about the truth that many of us don’t want to accept sometimes – moments will come where you realize who you need to remove from your circle to benefit yourself. So many of us are willing to give so much of ourselves and share what we have with others, but we sometimes refuse to acknowledge the sadness and frustration we feel when others don't reciprocate.
Cole’s relatable spirit exists with the inclusion of “kiLL edward,” his drug-trippin' alter ego who's running from his problems. Whether we choose to admit it, many of us have a part of us that wants to run from our struggles or seek a temporary source of gratification through society’s addictive vices: money, sex, drugs, etc.
“ATM” delivers itself as a gem on the album that infuses energy with introspection while focusing on the addictive relationship people have chasing money. "ATM" is the first song of the album to receive a video treatment. Its visuals accentuate the content by depicting the fantasy world we’re raising our kids to live in where we tell them the dollar is the most important thing to chase in life.
Various elements of the song only help to bolster the emphasis on a money-hungry society – the money-counter sound effect, the gambling scene, the materialistic items such as nice cars and a beautiful girl to spend it with, and the cell plastered with endless dollar bills all sell the point that our generation and culture have become consumers of a lifestyle that will only leave us shortchanged. By giving his two cents to this topic, Cole emphasizes the "money doesn’t buy happiness" saying but also acknowledges it as a necessary evil saying, “can’t take it when you die, but can’t live without it.”
“Motiv8” continues Cole’s exploration into society’s motivation to make people want to get money. Unlike “ATM,” which centers on the addictive measures we take to chase money, this track highlights how we glorify the attainment of government cheese by living the lavish and fast life. Backed by a recurring sample from Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s “Get Money,” Cole explains how private jets, splurge and sudden vacations and sexual encounters with women all comprise a lifestyle that often appears to make one happy one the outside but dead on the inside. Ultimately, his desire to turn to pills to kill the demons he’s facing once again lends credit to the album’s title. With an album open to such different interpretations, I feel that millennials could compare this depiction of the get money lifestyle to the various methods people use to find happiness such as the trend of traveling the world as a way to ignore one’s problems by literally flying away from them.
After initially touching on addictive relationships with “Photograph,” Cole creates a two-way street on “Kevin’s Heart” by singing as a person in love with drugs who can’t get away from the temptation of using. He personifies Xanax as a woman who has a strong hold on his heart. We’re inclined to believe that the song title is a witty play of actor Kevin Hart’s publicized battle with infidelity. Just like the tumultuous relationships we often go through, Cole relates using drugs to cheating on your partner while offering us multiple means to interpreting his trippy take on love. He takes it back to the album title by showing a kid on drugs who's attempting to stay away from the vice they once ran to, a person wanting to kill the demon of lust by fighting the temptation in order to remain loyal and sober and a reference to his own overdose through past mistakes such as cheating with either drugs or women. With such an honest expression of emotional conflicts, Cole digs deep at fans' hearts who have lost their own battles against drugs or with significant others.
Through “BRACKETS,” Cole cooks up a 5-minute documentary exposing how unjust the government and financial structure is through the form of a reality check that recognizes how taxpayers and minorities should have more stake in how their wealth is used. With his millionaire status, Cole has never had a problem proclaiming that the amount of money Uncle Sam takes from him is absurd and unlawful; he points out that people of color aren’t truly benefiting from such a system because the money we give to the country doesn’t improve our standard of living or bolster our school systems.
The last third of the album dives into Cole’s distaste with an addictive culture that includes substance abuse, depression and desperation. Through “Once An Addict,” he unravels the feelings children of addicts often go through seeing their parent abuse drugs or alcohol. He lets his fans in by enlightening them about how he was once desensitized to his mom’s struggles, wished to run from the trauma and has felt regret for not doing more than he felt he did.
“FRIENDS” continues the sentiment with “Once an Addict” by digging at the root of why drugs are such a problem. With his alter ego, kiLL edward, having experienced both drug addiction and abuse, Cole identifies that one’s childhood and the mental health issues they incur can negatively affect people toward believing that a drug addict is all they are when, in reality, everyone can make a healthy change. Also, he identifies the stigma so prevalent in black culture that keeps us from honoring our need for mental and behavioral stability as we often bottled our trauma. By repeating “meditate, don’t medicate," Cole advocates for finding one’s true identity.
The “Window Pain (Outro)” centers in everyone’s tendency to wonder “Why God?” When bad things happen to people, we struggle with the ramifications and endure pain from the circumstances. The track serves as a self-reflective piece where Cole is able to see that solutions he thought would solve his community’s problems haven’t because people are still subjecting themselves to the same gang violence and drug abuse that they were before he became famous. Listening as a fan, I can instantly relate to Cole’s belief that all the success one can achieve doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t incite change or make things better for the ones you love.
Much of the buzz is focused around the album’s final track, “1985 (Intro to Fall Off)" because it is the album’s most self-reflective piece about Cole’s previous actions and the actions of new artists. Like many of us should do, Cole acknowledges his past experiences and mistakes but moves forward with a growth mindset by accepting that he has turned his life around and left those days behind. Unlike most artists who are scared to deliver a state of the union for the rap game, Cole directly addresses the cohort of young artists who are doing the same things he once did years ago. Instead of berating or belittling them, his intention is to provide these young musicians with sound advice about how they are feeding the masses and spreading a negative depiction of black people that will only keep us back. Cole reinstates his position as the king of conscious hip-hop who has already lived the life others are living now while telling them not to make the same mistakes so he doesn’t have to say “I told you so.”
Ultimately, KOD arrives as a conscious album with a twist – one purposed to bring attention to the tripped out culture that we’re feeding our children and ourselves. Cole emerges from his fifth studio album as the polarizing poet who will still field lackluster commentary from some of his following as many will deem his product as boring and void of the boom and bass often preferred.
Yes, the beats and production might be more simplistic than some would like. However, that’s not Cole’s agenda. By mitigating such elements of music, you’re able to connect with his voice in a way that wouldn’t be possible by drowning it out with endless effects. As he’s progressed in his career, Cole has grasped the importance of having it be about more than making money and garnering success. He wants to change lives.
