Today is probably the closest we will ever get to world peace, and its all because of a plant. No today has nothing to do with Earth Day, well maybe a little but not for the reason you think. Today is 4/20 the national day for weed smokers to celebrate the plant that brings them peace. Most people indulge on this day while others voice their opinion against it. But Cole gave us a different perspective on his album Kod.
One year ago today Jcole was social media most hated artist. Many people thought his last album ”4yeo” was boring because it wasn’t his story he was telling. But KOD was different, this album was not only a surprise but its threefold meaning (Kids on Drugs, King of Overdose, Kill our demons) let the album mean something different to each listener. This 12 track album included two features from one unknown artist kiLL Edward( which was later to be releaved as jcole alter ego) which is rare because Jcole went double platinum with no features on 2 albums. Kod is a different Cole but it was his “To Pimp A Butterfly“, in the sense that its culture-changing especially looking back on it a year later. The message he was sending becomes more important as the increase of drug overdoses became more prominent.
The Intro talks of learning how to deal with pain as “Chose wisely” is echoed at the end. This album second track was everything the public wanted, Jcole talking his shit to the industry ” Wow, niggas been crampin my style/ Blowin my high, they wanna reply/ The number one question is How?” followed by ” How come you wont get a few features, I think you should, How bout I dont/ How bout you get the fuck off my dick/ How bout you listen and never forget, Only gon say this one time, then I’ll dip/ Niggas ain’t worthy to be on my shit” this bar alone set most fans off becasue it answered a very popular question ” Does Cole need features on his next ablum in order for it not to be boring? But then Cole ends the track with an interesting bar ” Power, Greed, Money, Molly, Weed, Percs, Xanny’s, Lean, Fame, and the strongest drug of them all Love”
These two tracks became the catalyst of the whole project as each track after geared toward every human desire and popular drug. The Track ” Photograph“, Cole Illustrate how people in this generation fall in love from pictures aka sosocial media. He tells how he is fantasizing about this person from Instagram and how he can slide in her DM’S properly. Followed by a radio station hit “ATM‘ that has money as the focus. The video tells the concept Cole was trying to convey his listeners.
The next drug is the power of Greed, on the track “Motiv8“, this track is the mindset of a person who only cares about material things and being able to flex, with each line ending with getting Money! The next drug is Lust with Kevin Heart being the subject of discussion. During this time Kevin Hart was in the middle of a cheating scandal, so Cole made a track about how men can be in love but still cheat.
Cole then give his take on the goverment tax bracket and how the goverment is robbing us. On “Bracket” questions how the tax money is used only for what the government wants and not really the things citizens need. Cole has a way of taking his story and making it pertain to everybody and that exactly what he does on ” Once an Addict“. Cole has talked about his mother past addiction but on this, he tells how this burden him. This feeling is exafeel how most people with drug-induced parents feel. The thought of being helpless to the person you love the most, the thought of trying to understand their pain and inner demons.
The next track “Friends” is the result of being in a toxic situation. Cole raps about the trauma most black kids experience but are told to never speak about it. He talks about how many of us don’t deal with our demons but instead we use drugs to run away from them. People come from traumatic backgrounds but we’re all told the same thing ” It could be worse”,” Be Grateful”, ” Stop being a baby”, and many other lines that make our trauma less than it is. We’re taught to sweep our trauma under the rug or use drugs to medicate and elevate our problems and numb our feelings. There are other ways to deal with pain and Cole is trying to encourage everybody to find a different way.
On “Window Pain“, Cole is talking to a girl about a tramutic experience that happen to her,while also reflecting on his past and desires. With the track ending with “Chose Wisley” as she and Cole continue their conversation about her brother getting shot but God saving him. The last track and peoples personal favorite “1985” was what had the music industry up in flames because it began the question “Who is Jcole throwing shots at? which one of these young artist pissed Jcole off so much he released a diss track. Many people thought it was about Lil Pump or X or pretty much any rapper that was part of the “Fuck Jcole” trend that was happing at the moment. But Cole said it wasn’t about anybody stating ” I wrote this track a year prior”, I don’t believe it but the speculation was good while it lasted.
The reason why I think KOD stands in the same vein as “To Pimp A Butterfly” is because as times goes on the message becomes more and more powerful. Society has it where not only are our feelings and pain ignored it also downplayed. Many of the traumatic experience montoires deal with is basically called a non-issue in the government eyes, even though many white people go through a lesser version of it but receive all kinds of support and help to deal with it. People only listen to the last track of KOD and think that’s the concept of the whole album, but it wasn’t. I’m not saying its better than 2014 Forest Hills Drive but in 5 years people will be ranking it as a very close second, especially if drug over usage continues to be a problem.