After constant questions from fans and the media alike about a new album, Jermaine Cole aka J. Cole finally dropped Might Delete Later. Cole’s last album The Off-Season left fans hungry for more as the general consensus was it was not his best work and that “he could do better.”
The first song, “Pricey,” is an amazing opening to the album. Honestly, it is one of my favorite opening songs of all time. “Pricey” sets up your expectations for this album as a well produced, lyrical, Jermaine Cole album. I really like the two different choruses, especially the one Ari Lennox participates in.
“Crocodile Tearz” is a very hype song in my opinion. The beginning of the song starts with J. Cole saying “I’m powered up” and he throws bars using his signature flow. After a while, “Crocodile Tearz” starts getting faster and faster, then reaches an insane pace that made me jump out of my chair and bob my head back and forth, but I hate how the last thirty seconds is just the instrumental. I felt like Cole could have spit a few more bars before wrapping the song up. However, the slow thirty seconds might have been intentional for the next song.
In “Ready ‘24” you only get thirty seconds of calmness before getting hype again. The production of the song reminds me of 2000’s Kanye West with the high-pitched vocals in the back. The feature is also great with Cam’ron’s very monotone voice.
“Huntin’ Wabbitz” is my least favorite song on the album. I’m not sure what it was, but I just do not like the way it sounds. J. Cole dropped the ball from the beginning starting with the Elmer Fudd quote, “Be very, very quiet. I’m huntin’ wabbits.” I took off my earbuds after listening to it for a minute.
“Fever” reminds me of a Drake song because J. Cole starts to sing while rapping. Unlike Drake in “For All the Dogs” though, J. Cole sounds stellar. “Sticks N Stones” is a top-four song from the album for sure. It’s a fun listen especially while driving because of how easy it is to sing. I like the jazz aesthetic they went with in “Pi.” I started listening to Ab-Soul’s discography because of it.
One song I do not like on the album is “Stealth Mode.” I wish this song went stealth from the album because it gives no value to Might Delete Later. Even though Bas was featured on this song, I didn’t like the fact that it was drill music.
On the other hand, “Trae The Truth in Ibiza” is an amazing song. Much like how “Fever” reminded me of a Drake song because of his singing, “Trae The Truth in Ibiza” reminds me of “8am in Charlotte” by Drake: cold bars with Cole’s signature flow.
“7 Minute Drill” is where J. Cole responds to Kendrick Lamar’s diss to him and Drake. He responds by saying Kendrick’s career is horrible and doesn’t deserve the praise he gets from his last albums, calling them mediocre at best. “Your last one was trash but they gassed it,” is the hardest line from the entire song if not the album. A fashionable way to close out the album and to continue the civil war going on in the rap scene.
Cole later apologized to Kendrick for what he said, making this album just a fun listen instead of another piece in the rap civil war. Overall, the album is definitely worth a listen.
