J.Cole Explains “Let Nas Down”
June 7, 2013 @ 9:08 AM EDT
News
Last night, J.Cole held a private listening session for Born Sinner in NYC. Before playing the album, he explains the concept and inspiration behind track #15.
the album is a CLASSIC
I thought MMG had stock in Rap Radar but now im starting to think its J. Cole. Cole had about 20 post up here in the past 5 days lol.
Dope
Stop calling it a classic, it was a good album, but not classic…if that was a classic then Kendricks must have been legendary cause it wasnt touching that
^ FOH butthurt kenny stan GKMC was good but far from a classic
This dude is winning…
classic shit, never been so inspired in my life, dudes finally got one!
never called gkmc a classic, just putting it in perspective to Jcole born sinner…and kendricks is def better
^^^^
if GKMC ain’t a modern day classic, than what is my G???
I feel u as far as n!99@$ throwing around the term classic for every other lp but, K.Dot delivered a classic my G…
#noshots
15 min of my life I won’t ever get back. Smh
ehh, calling it a modern classic is debatable, as far as music today I could see people calling it a classic, but when your put it up against the albums of the 90s and early 2000s, like the Kanyes (first 3), the Nas, the Jayz, the Biggies, the Pacs etc i dont think it stands its ground, and wouldnt even be put on the same level.
But calling it a modern day classic, in this day and age of relatively weak ass albums, I could see where you coming from. My only problem with the GKMC, was it had very few repeat tracks, and to be a classic that must be there…for me at least
@ Break Fast
I feel u, but that’s r issue tho. As a matter fact Cole alluded to this on that #CRWN interview…
We as fans won’t let the the new generation live. We’re constantly comparing new school cats to the stars of yesteryear, and it’s not really fair…
Here’s a analogy, it’s like the MJ and LeBron comparisons, it’s ridiculous. Two totally deferent players from two deferent eras. I say let LBJ live, there will never be another Jordan, LBJ can only do him…
#justsayin’
J coles album has almost no repeat tracks, several good tracks, but little replay value imo…these are songs i dont think i’ll be still listening to two weeks or a month down the line. Only one for me with replay value was Power trip, and I didnt even replay that one, although its a good song!
dont even like cole but this is a great story
Was i the only one who thought the hooks on the album were pretty weak ?
cole is selling more than kanye
Theres a difference between basketball and hip hop, Lebron can never play against Jordan cause fathertime doesnt allow it. But when comparing music, albums of old can go up against albums of new, I dont see why not, its not like there was a drastic change in the way rap albums were made. Cause when its all said and done, Jcole and Kendrick are gonna be judge as where they tack up amongst the greats. Music is timeless, regards of which Era
@ Break Fast
Again I feel were u’re coming from bruh, but I have to disagree. I’m 30 yrs old, a grown ass man w/ a wife and kids, my point is that time and era r a major factor in y certain lp’s r called classic. As a teenager Outkast’s ATLiens changed my life and to most that wasn’t their best lp, but for me that shit represented everything I love about hip hop.
Anyway, I say all that bcuz n!99@$ that grew up in the 80’s feel like Rakim & Kane would shit on say a J or Nas. Assuming u came up in the 90’s u’d be like hell nah, but we’re a little bias when it comes to shit we came up on. So as older heads GKMC won’t have the same effect on us as say a Life After Death and vice versa..
To use basketball again, in their prime LBj would smash Jordan 1on1, but bcuz of r biases we’d deny the truth.
And to the dude that said Sideline Story was classic, u’re tripping my G…
^^^ Good Point
@ Break Fast
Get the fuck off this post. You a lame ass nigga. I dont even hear you talking. If you talking early 2000’s I didnt see you mention the chronic 2001, or either of the games first 2 albums. Your just saying the most generic rap list out there. Everyone knows about those. What about Em? haha Putting Ye in that company is a little skeptical even. You know what a classic is? GKMC = Classic. Cole World = Classic. Borner is gonna be some heat rock. In case you didnt know. K.dot on the album. One of only like 5 features. These two dudes are friends, feeding off each other. They got a calbo album in the works. That = Classic. You gonna debate that too?
Why you think J found these dude? I dont see Jigga man endorsing too many others. You know more than him?
B, Your a clown for clowning throwing out the word classic, not ever good album is a classic…what makes a classic for you…and I did say “etc”, leaving room for many other classic album, i not gonna sit down and write them all down for your dumbass
^^ Someone took it up the butt
#stopyourbitchassness
Wait you called Cole World a classic?!?!?!? Im officiallly done with you!
You need to listen to this song on the album, a rapper spitting the truth about their feelings and their art, maybe there is hope yet for Hip Hop
Born Sinner opposite of a winner. biiiiitch.
J.Cole is a guy who wants to become a legend and you can tell he is a fan of hip hop…that being said you can tell that Kanye is his biggest inspiration I like his music because he talks about real things that you can relate to by being himself. to me Drake makes better music but at times he tries too hard to fit in depending on who is with at the time. Kendrick Lamar is dope and I think he’s on more peoples radar because of his potential…. born sinner is a big improvement from Cole World but not classic but I will buy it and support anyway…. but he’s gonna have to start getting cocky for people outside of his core fans to make a bigger splash, not cock like asshole status like Kanye but cocky as in extra confidence.
about to listen to the album for the first time. Im pretty sure its gonna be one of Cole’s best!!!!
cocky
Born sinner is definitely dope. It wasnt as dark as i had hoped but still real and honest. GKMC is the most overrated album of all time. im sick of kendrick and his gremlin lookin ass
Breakfast you lost all credability for not calling Kendrick’s album not a classic. i can honestly say i listen to that album every day, every song has more meaning the more i listen to it. you a butt fuck nigga stfu
btw Cole has not made a classic album yet, both really good- but not a classic.
^cole world is better than section 80 and born sinner is wayy better than gkmc
Nigga Faded suck 10 dipple cover dicks, i said it debatable if GKMC is a modern classic
Cole world was top 5 or 6 greatest freshmen albums off all time. So ya, I think that makes it a classic. Only ones I can think of that were better were snoop, biggie, 50, Ye, and game. And the snoop is debatale depending on what type of rap you like. So it could crack the top 5. Not everbody is a gangsta. Unless you got something better in mind. Dude just spits the realist shit, I hope he stays grounded. GKMC wasnt a freshmen album either. Flames, but not freshmen. Thats why Cole World was solidified as classic right from the jump. And actually, shout out to drake too, he belongs on there somewhere, numbers dont lie
The only thing holding back Born Sinner from being a classic is the production. J Cole is a much better rapper than producer. Until he significantly improves his production he should just stick to rhyming.
Cole World!!
The man just put in work, produced and rapped on a great album but because of this thing we call the Internet…anyone can completely dismiss this body of work. If we had sites and blogs to comment on during the 90’s era, a lot of those “classic albums” would not be classics. Not saying we don’t need the net, artists live off of it as well but people… Try to make fairer assessments of albums…can’t compare Mad city to born sinner on every front except for production and lyricism. The themes, stories, flows are different. Do we want every hip hop album to be carbon copies? And I bet when a rapper attempts to copy another rappers so called “classic album” format.. we would fault them for that too right?
@break fast says GKMC doesn’t have that many tracks that have replay value and then born sinner has less replay value…. (no offence) but FOH, that will always be a matter of individuals’ perspective so no use telling us that
[…] Video of J Cole explaining the ‘Let Down Nas’ record off his ‘Born Sinner’ album at the private listening session in NYC rr […]
crazy story man!
crazy album. coleey cole!!!!!!!!
@ B
Sideline Story top 5 classic freshman album of all-time…..LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Your list is ridiculous, but you got a couple nice picks in there. But Game and Ye top 5 debuts of all time? You must be real young. You got Big and Snoop in there….cool. But you’re smoking if you think J.Cole has put out a better freshman album than Rakim, Krs, Nas, Lupe, Redman, Keith Murray, Tribe, Little Brother, Keith Murray, Public Enemy, Jay-z, Ras Kass, Blackstar, De La, Black Moon, 50, Big Pun, O.C., Pete & CL, Jeru, AZ. I could go on all day. All those guys drop flawless or near flawless first albums. Sideline Story has all kinds of fluff and f%#kery on it. SMH.
Born Sinner Review:
1. Villuminati A- // This is vintage Cole, real hunger rap with good worldplay over an up tempo beat. I really like the strings too. Good way to start the album.
2. Skit
3. Land of Snakes C // Samples OutKasts ‘Da. Art of Storytellin part 1′ and fails. Essentially made the same beat over just not as good. Lyrically average, nothing special.
4. Power Trip: A- // We’ve all heard it before, good choice for a single, great beat and feature.
5. Mo Money Interlude C // Short interlude with looped synthy beat, not very impressive. Subject matter discusses how money rules everything.
6. Trouble C // A decent song, decent beat and lyrics but Cole singings just sounds forced and not good.
7. Runaway B- // Really nice beat, lyrics and concept but Cole singing the hook again is both hard to listen to and boring, kind of reminds me of Mos Def singing just not as good, lol.
8. She Knows B- // Average beat and lyrics but Cole ONCE AGAIN tries to sing and IT DOESNT WORK. Tracks 6-8 in my opinion are all basically the same song.
9. Rich Niggaz B // Nice beat and concept, altho I think the drums are a little weak. Vintage Cole rapping from both his and someone else’s perspective.
10. Skit
11. Forbidden Fruit B+ // Uses same sample as Tribes Electric Relaxation but he makes his own and it works. Concept is good and lyrics also. I understand that he wanted to be the only rapper on the album but a Kendrick verse wouldve helped. Kendrick on the hook works good tho.
12. Chaining Day B // Typical Cole sampled beat, reminds me of songs like ‘Autograph’. Concept is cool, but repetitive in terms of discussing vanity and past Cole songs. Sings the hook again but doesn’t sounds as bad. The beat switch and breakdown towards the end threw me off a little tho.
13. Aint That Some shit (Interlude) D // Probably the worst track on the album. Really annoying beat IMO. Lyrics are really average and basically talks about nothing but fucking bitches.
14. Crooked Smile A- // Another good single with a good message and feature.
15. Let Nas Down B+ // This is the best ‘storytelling’ song on the album. Nice beat, production seems to be No I.D inspired and overall a good song.
16. Born Sinner B // Just a really solid song. Nice cole beat with a good balance of drums synths and live instrumentation. The feature is nice too.
Overall Im a bit disappointed with this album. In terms of lyrical content and subject matter there really was hardly and progression. I was anticipating a big improvement in production but for me it didn’t really show. The middle of the album is kind of a drag but he picks it up towards the end. It does seem this time around Cole got his singles right! But as far as the rest of the album its really just pretty average. I consider myself a big J. Cole fan and was hoping for more but for me it came up short.
6.5/10
@ AyYyyy so born sinner is worst than the sideline story? If you say yes then your life as a j cole fan is over because he didn’t even progress in any aspect…if you say “no” then that means you rated sideline story like a 5/10….lol you sure?
It’s ok to give your review without saying “you’re a fan”, so far you’re the only fan I know who’s rated this album below an 8. This album sounds much better than sideline, some songs on here are much better than some songs on Friday night lights and the warm up….besides you rated the best story telling song on the album Let Nas down (according to you) a B+, below power trip A-, lol c’mon
Even vibe and billboard have given reviews…..
To listen to “Nas Let Me Down” Click on MotaHipHop.com ,Its a Dope Ass Record!
this album definitely makes up for the sideline story. 4/5
villuminatti is a crazy record.
before you critisize, let the album breathe a week, it is a quality album for sure. i’m waiting on the bonus records to judge it completely, but solid album, could sell 300k first week
@One2go I feel what your saying, initially I thought that Born Sinner would be a step up from Sideline but I dont think it is. I think he tried to be more reliant on himself production wise and just musically as a whole compared to the last album and it didn’t really work imo. Like can you honestly say that you think he sounds good when hes singing the hooks? I love Coles music man I really do but he cant sing for shit. He sounds like hes whining half the time. And as far as lyricism and content i think SIdeline is better too. There were a lot more songs with different messages in them than Born Sinner. I understand the concept of the album but when you talk about the same things for a majority of the songs then idk it just get boring to me. A lot of the songs had a lot of different sounds in them too on Born Sinner which is cool but some aspects of them were really distracting to me and took away from what he was saying. Thats kind of why I gave the Let Nas Down track that grade, the saxophone in it is kind of all over the place. I think its just that I was expecting more from him.
Also Im pretty sure the leaked version isnt mixed so that can be why Im not feeling it. If it is actually mixed tho then I probably wont buy it.
gkmc will deff go down as a classic
born sinner sounds good too
@AyYyyy of course it is mixed!!
this is probably even an intended leak. great promo for him.
Listen to the full album stream, just click on my name MotaHipHop.com
YOU MUST BE CAREFUL OF HOW YOU THROW OUT THE WORD CLASSIC.. THAT WORD IS VERY STRONG MEANING…. YEARS FROM NOW THIS SONG OR ALBUM STILL BUMPS AND IS STILL AN ALBUM I CAN MIX WITH NEW MATERIAL… EX. YOU CAN STILL ROCK “CLASSIC JORDANS” STILL DRIVE CLASSIC CARS SUCH AS MUSTANGS AND ROLLS ROYCE ETC.. CAN J COLES ALBUM STILL BE PLAYED AS SOMETHING YOU CAN CHERISH AND REMEMBER 5 YEARS FROM NOW? CHRONIC, COLLEGE DROP OUT, BIG’S 2 ALBUMS, REASONABLE DOUBT ILLMATIC ARE AMONG THOSE ALBUMS THAT PEOPLE STILL ROCK.. PAY ATTENTION.
Reading these comments… WTF it leaked, ALREADY!? I was expecting that to happen on Wednesday or Thursday.
Fuck it I’m waiting til next Tuesday.
Man this shit burns me!
Here is the disengenuous thing about what @AyYyyy just wrote. He decides to listen to every song on the illegal leak and then has the balls to say if the mix quality isnt better, then he may not buy it. WTF????
Dude! You are the SOLE fucking problem with the whole game being fucked up right now. You are an accomplis to a fucking thief, then you have the fucking audacity to act lke you’re too good to spend $15 on the kids work after listening to the whole prject. What a fucking piece of garbage your mother raised. After your long ass review, you should buy it on Hip Hop general pinciples you piece of shit. And Dad must not have been around or plugged any integrity into you if he was.
Now on your poor ass quantitative skills, you also get a fucking zero. You do all this analysis and then aggregate the total score lower than the scores of its individual parts. That’s some BS math you got going on there chump. You do all this scoring then place your finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing to come up with a final score. Just count Dumb bitch. Now below is your own fucking score…or damn near close to it based on REAL Alphabet to Number scoring. Man if you dont buy this CD then just kill ya self and slap your mother.
A = 95
A- =91
B+ =89
B =85
B- =81
C+ =79
C =75
C- = 71
D+ = 69
D = 65
D- = 61
—————-
Based on your own score it totals 1,158 points / 14 songs = 82.7% of 100% or 8.2/10
That’s worth buying you bitchazz faggot!
–Truth WIll Out!
@One2go you are correct. No one has rated the album below an 8, and neither did @AyyYyyy. He just cannot add. His own score actually gives it above an 8.
—Truth WIll Out
Im not sure where the comparison of GKMC vs Born Sinner comes from but umm can I ask. … Are Blue Print and StillMatic classics??? … So why cant both be Classics!? GKMD is a Definite Classic as well as Born Sinner! The content of a days journey in the life of Kendrick Lamar back in the day is VERY classical …. The subject matter that Cole tackles in Born Sinner … The temptation to sell out for your dreams of living a better and the corruption in the business of this Music game now IS A DEFINITE classic! Yeezus and WTWTSO and The Gifted may go down as classics too! Certainly this Era is Classic!!!
BTW i stopped reading AyAyyy comments lmbo! Even Cole said Sideline Story had nothing on Born Sinner!
I agrree with all @True Music says…….
I think what ppl consider classic depends on what classic albums u have. I have a ton classics so i dnt say every dope album is a classic. Ne way gkmc is dope n if drake wasnt on the album n chad hugo wasnt on the hook on pharrell track its classic. Wit the addition of black boy fly.compare 2the wack shit these days i c why ppl say its classic. The concept is classic. Far as born sinner im wait 2 buy it b4 i judge. Sideline story was dope but had sum flaws.i expected more cuz friday night was classic.
Comment section need 2do a top 15classic album so we know who got real taste. I hear the same classics n every debate. I dnt hear epmd,gangstarr,scarface ghetto boys. Low end theory,east1999 eternal, ugk riding dirty,cuban linx,36chambers,nwa,predator,big daddy thang n many other real classics. We know bigs,illmatic, jays,Dres,doggystyle etc
just waiting on the album…. www_1117brand_com
Lol @ truth Will out. Gotta support hiphop.keep the culture alive.cole deserve them sales not a download.
Listened to the album and was very impressed. People grade Cole extra hard because he’s so talented and has enough people on his team they feel like they have to bash him just to be different. What TruthWillOut said was funny as fuck and probably the truest shit on this whole thread. I won’t call it a classic yet because I don’t want to be a prisoner of the moment and want to let the shit breath for a sec…But it is the best thing he’s made since The Warm Up (which is a classic album even though it was only a mixtape. I heard progression and as a fan what more can you ask for?
Smokin a blunt takin it all in I’m feelin it so far
J.Cole
Nipsey Hussle
Kendrick Lamar
School Boy Q
KR Mack
My only fear for this album is that it might not win Cole many “new” fans. With the story telling and style of music Cole makes I don’t think it will grab the ears of casual listeners or convert people who already dislike his style.
For me the album is real good and Cole deserves props for maintaining his artistic integrity better this time around (even if that is probably as much the labels fault that Sideline turned out how it did). Saying that, this shits not even out for another week so lets not start calling it a classic quite yet!
An if you downloaded that bitch go spend for $10 or whatever to actually buy a copy you cheap ass and then the record label might actually support more artists making this kinda music instead of all that molly shit
drake>
I’m gonna be honest. This album is very wack.
It’s really sad to see @AyYyyy get attacked for what was an honest, largely accurate anaylysis IMO.
Thematically, the album wasn’t cohesive AT ALL. I mean, what is the thematic link between ‘Forbidden Fruit’ (a song predominantly about lust and pussy) & ‘Chaining Day’?
What is the link between ‘Crooked Smile’ & ‘Let Nas Down’?
What purpose do the skits serve (since they fail to adequately link one concept to the next)?
Why is 2/3rds of the album about fucking women/ cole whining for the umpteenth time about cheating on his long-term girlfriend? Where is the social commentary? i.e. The ‘I Get Ups’, The ‘2faces’, The ‘Breakdowns’, The ‘Get Free Cole Worlds’, The ‘Kenny Loftons’.
Why are there no rap features? Rap features are very important. They could have at least offered a perspective which differed from Cole’s limited, repetitive one.
Why do songs like ‘Land of the Snakes’, ‘Trouble’ & ‘Rich Niggaz’ have titles that have nothing to do with the main material? Why are the hooks and verses about 2 completely different things? In other words, why is the writing so sloppy/disjointed/unfocused?
Finally……………. HOW IN THE WORLD did Cole manage to make an album even more underwhelming than his debut???
@ the brain trust
OUCH…
It hurts my heart to agree w/ u. I fux w/ Cole heavy, but c’mon b, wtf…
I’ll still support the lp when it drops tho, it’s still better than a lot of the bullshit out there.
Ay Jermaine, there’s no need to put all that pressure on urself, use ur resources, fuck ur pride… N!99@$ out here want to see u win, obviously. U’re going away from what got u to this point. Remember, u’re the voice of the ppl(New Pac)…
l think if j cole had signed with pple like DRE he would have done it with Nas type anywae
J Cole got mad skillz, dez dayz very few niggz can articualate storyz from da begining-middle- end… Classikz,radio play & fillerz, most ignorant niggz dont understand.. BIGG UPZ 2 da FUTURE J.C,Kendrick,Lupe,Wiz & loca azz Ye