S. Samuel
With J. Cole staring down the release of his Born Sinner sophomore album, SOHH chopped it up with fellow North Carolina-bred rapper Ricky Ruckus for his take on the Roc Nation star's success.
After recently calling him one of the best rappers on Twitter, Ruckus explained why Cole embodies the characteristics of a timeless emcee.
“I wouldn’t go as far as to say J. Cole is the greatest of all time, but he’s definitely one of the greats. He’s so underrated,” Ruckus told SOHH. “His first album was one of my favorite albums of the last five years. Out of all time, Nas is my favorite artist, he mirrors Nas a lot, to me. Just past him being from North Carolina, lyrically and content-wise, his shows [are incredible]. If you’ve ever been to one of his shows, it’s great. I don’t see any bad things about the whole J. Cole brand. And to me, that’s what makes you great. If you’ve got great lyrics, you put out a great album, you put in work, he’s been grinding. He’s been under Jay[-Z] for four years, we heard about him but before is album came out he was with him for three or four years.” (SOHH)
Cole recently told fans why he may have prematurely announced his sophomore album’s release date.
Part of the reason that “Born Sinner’s” release date may well be pushed back is because of Cole’s increased promotional muscle. The rapper mentions that he’s eyeing different branding opportunities to coincide with the album, as well as a short film — “something way more expansive than a music video,” he claims — that will begin shooting in December. (Billboard)
The North Carolina emcee also said fans can expect a more serious vibe on this album.
Whenever “Born Sinner” arrives (Cole predicts sometime early in 2013), the album will likely be a more serious effort than “Cole World,” which debuted at No. 1 upon its release last year. The album will detail “the story of corruption — corruption of an artist when commercial appeal is involved, or corruption of a relationship when temptation is involved, or corruption of a government when capitalism is involved. It’s a lot of things. I don’t want anybody to think it’s so heavy, but it deals with those things.” (Billboard)
In early November, Cole briefly addressed his dramatic sophomore album announcement.
“The beauty of the announcement is that the real MOMENT happened only once. Only the 15 or so thousand who sat in that Ustream know what that really felt like. Here’s to new albums and new approaches. See you soon.” – J. Cole (Life + Times)
