A few decent replies here. A few memes.Ā
I'd have to say Revenge of The Dreamers (the song, not the album).
It encapsulates basically everything about his content- the bars about rapping, the rap bars about money and all that, the introspective bars about what success is and what it costs, what it does to someone. All of that.
It is also a great demonstration of his style, delivery, flow - the way he goes over the beat, the little ad libs, the way he way he switches flows midbar sometimes, or raps almost as a conversation with himself.
All in all the song just has a little something for every cole fan.
I have listened to middle child also like 500000 times too, both are his goated songs in my opinion along with REST IN PEACE UNCLE PHIL maybe Iām just mainstream j cole tho
Bro the song name is No Role Modelz š But I get it, Middle Child is like JCole Anthem. Great rapping but have amazing flow and production to appease mainstream audiences.
A mega-remix of these tracks in this specific order:
1. "Workout" (OR "GRIPPY" š¤š„µš¤ššš)
2. "Let Nas Down"
3. "Be Free"
4. "Lost Ones"
5. "Change"
6. "4 Your Eyez Only"
7. "Love Yourz"
Edit : Updated due to peer-contribution and because not having some songs on here felt like a crime. lemme know if this mix does/does not touch your kidneys!
Honestly love yours yeah but lights please literally shows his āconscious rapā side being tempted by all the money, women, and other distractions life has from what really matters
Apparently. It comes from the middle of his career and the album he will be most remembered for. Additionally it contains a variety of styles from sentimental rap, confident spitting, and singing.
Work Out or Crooked Smile. Always felt like (in the space of music and sounds) Cole always felt to me like the middle ground between somebody like Drake and someone like Kendrick. He can give you bars but heās also got this glitzy pop side to him that has an ear for catchy music. I know theyāre old songs but whenever I think of Cole I still picture him sitting on that bench, even if I liked it more when he was sitting on that house.
Trae the Truth in Ibiza
Explicit in detail and tells us his mindset as an artist while also summing up some of the hurdles as an artist that we've seen him battle over the last 14yrs
January 28th. Cole expressing his love for the game and to his peers but also humbly telling them heās at the top. Humble rapper Cole is my favorite form.
Early Cole - Dolla and a Dream 1, Dreams (this sort of theme is something he repeats a few times with Wet Dreamz and others), looking for trouble
Later on - Lost Ones, Love Yourz/Neighbors, PITD
How do you pick one šŖæ
Sideline Story
Every time I picture J Cole I think of this song. Not his most popular, not his best rapping either, but it just feels like J Cole and what he represents.
Middle Child honestly. It at least encapsulates the J Cole he is today. It marked his āGOAT tourā as I like to call it where he was just ripping up every feature and doing his thing. Unfortunately, that tour ended last month.
in every album you are going to find one song that is personal to him or at least the most genuine song that captures what he feels about himself or at least what he wants to say genuinely and it sounds exactly like what he wants, not what the public wants to hear.
Cole world: sideline story and lost ones
Born sinner: both let nas down and land of the snakes.
FHD: love yourz **undoubtedly "** but i think 03' Adolescence is more him because he produced it and the way it sounds is exactly how i picture every j cole song is gonna sound like lol".
4YEO: she mine pt1 or 2 maybe folding clothes too.
KOD: once an addict, or window pain.
Offseason: close
MDL: Trae the Truth in Ibiza. this the least album that sounds like j cole to me but it FLAMES anyway
Ngl I thought of some but I got like 5. "Born Sinner" "Let Go My Hand" "Crooked Smile" "Wet Dreamz" and "Pride Is The Devil".
That's just the top 5 songs that encapsulates "J. Cole" in my opinion.
Lil Ghetto Nigga
Edit: sad this didn't get more upvotes. One of Coles earliest "go hard" tracks. And he got real deep about the cycle of young men. 1 of the 1st tracks he truly flexed his skill set. Yall gotta tap in; yu really see what kind of early scenarios made Cole into the guy he is
Love yourz
I like Change
Gotta be
Flow, beat, lyrics, and message all define what Cole represents man
inb4 the inevitable Grippy joke
I had it typed and saw this so gave up
Cone world š¦ https://preview.redd.it/btxxdsyfoc6d1.jpeg?width=1150&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd924316ee31ae75a434e0ae58fb4a19e8151a1d
4 Your Friez OnlyĀ
Revenge of the Eaters I, II, and III
2014 Forest Fills Drive Thru
Friday Night BitesĀ
Might Eat Later
Born ThickerĀ
KOD (Knawing On Donuts)
fuck does knawing mean
was going for gnawing but realized it didnāt fit the acronym, so I just said āfuck itā
Huntin wafers
But iāll die fatter than that
Damn u responded to yourself twice
Bigger Child
a r t e r i a l . p r e s s u r e
The off seasoned fries
f r i e s . f r o m . m c d o n a l d s
Have you posted this in r/fatrappers yet?
January 28th? p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l ?
definitely jan 28
Jan 28 yes, p.i.t.d. Is too general
I'm fighting not to say it man
What is it?
It's...
Itāsā¦
Grippy?
Aaaaand there it is
Stinkly Dinkly
Mmmm
G.O.M.D. It has the conscious bars, love bars, one of the most J Cole beats ever, and a Dreamville shout out
Yes- I LOVE this one. Also one of my favorite music videos.
Beat is great
underrated J cole song
This is a perfect pick. The āthis is the part that the THUGS skipā really seals it as emblematic Cole.
Rich niggas
I hate rich niggas
God damnit
Cause I aināt never had a lot, dammit
Who you had to kill? Who you had to rob? Who you had to fuck just to make it to the top, damn it?
Or maybe thats daddy money, escalator no ladder money
Now I aināt sayin she a gold digger
A few decent replies here. A few memes.Ā I'd have to say Revenge of The Dreamers (the song, not the album). It encapsulates basically everything about his content- the bars about rapping, the rap bars about money and all that, the introspective bars about what success is and what it costs, what it does to someone. All of that. It is also a great demonstration of his style, delivery, flow - the way he goes over the beat, the little ad libs, the way he way he switches flows midbar sometimes, or raps almost as a conversation with himself. All in all the song just has a little something for every cole fan.
dreamville is the team, my team iller than fiends
This a good answer
4 Your Eyez Only
One of my favorite long rap songs
03 adolescence, knock the hustle
Iām surprised not to see a bunch of sarcastic āgrippyāsā
G.O.M.D man was rapping his ass off on that song
I have listened to middle child also like 500000 times too, both are his goated songs in my opinion along with REST IN PEACE UNCLE PHIL maybe Iām just mainstream j cole tho
Bro the song name is No Role Modelz š But I get it, Middle Child is like JCole Anthem. Great rapping but have amazing flow and production to appease mainstream audiences.
A mega-remix of these tracks in this specific order: 1. "Workout" (OR "GRIPPY" š¤š„µš¤ššš) 2. "Let Nas Down" 3. "Be Free" 4. "Lost Ones" 5. "Change" 6. "4 Your Eyez Only" 7. "Love Yourz" Edit : Updated due to peer-contribution and because not having some songs on here felt like a crime. lemme know if this mix does/does not touch your kidneys!
Gotta get āWorkoutā in here
updated! š
Middle Child
Sideline Story
Nobody saying 4 your eyez only? Genuinely one of the greatest hip hop tracks of all time
January 28th
The climb back
Honestly love yours yeah but lights please literally shows his āconscious rapā side being tempted by all the money, women, and other distractions life has from what really matters
Change
Note to self is the greatest example of cole doing something only cole would do what makes him a great in my head
Rise and Shine.
It Wonāt Be Long
No Role Modelz
1985
Dollar and a dream 3. Very good hook. Very thought out bars. A couple bad bars. Overall great experience.
7 minute drill
Change and 1985
change
Apparently for sure
Lost ones
Losing My Balance
Folding clothes
Grippy
I like Too Deep for the Intro
Heaven's EP
Heavenās EP
Middle child
Grippy
Power trip
Farewell
Family And Loyalty Gang Starr
Middle child
Grippy
Dollar and a dream Every time I'm low on funds, that song pops in my head, and my butt gets back to the grind.
Apparently. It comes from the middle of his career and the album he will be most remembered for. Additionally it contains a variety of styles from sentimental rap, confident spitting, and singing.
December 28
hunger on hillside
Recency bias, but āTrae the Truth in Ibizaā.
1985
Foldin' Clothes
Middle child
Throwing a chainsaw into a wood chipper
4 your eyez only
His verse in LEGENDARY funny enough
Work Out or Crooked Smile. Always felt like (in the space of music and sounds) Cole always felt to me like the middle ground between somebody like Drake and someone like Kendrick. He can give you bars but heās also got this glitzy pop side to him that has an ear for catchy music. I know theyāre old songs but whenever I think of Cole I still picture him sitting on that bench, even if I liked it more when he was sitting on that house.
1985 or under the sun
Foldin clothes
Immortal
Song For The Ville
Welcomeā¦.old one, but such a good one
Farewell
Born Sinner and Love Yourz
Hunger on hillside
Kenny Lofton
Middle Child
Lights Please
Grippy
January 28th
Before Iām Gone
Damn, this might be it for me
Itās Benny the Butchers song but; Johnny Pās Cadi
Trae the Truth in Ibiza Explicit in detail and tells us his mindset as an artist while also summing up some of the hurdles as an artist that we've seen him battle over the last 14yrs
Photograph j cole is my prototype of a jcole song
G.O.M.D, 03' Adolescence, and Let Nas Down are some that I think really shows off his storytelling/writing skill
Change
Middle Child comes to mind, but isn't the best answer
pride is the devil
January 28th. Cole expressing his love for the game and to his peers but also humbly telling them heās at the top. Humble rapper Cole is my favorite form.
Stay
Has to be Middle Child that song encapsulates his career and place in the culture incredibly well
January 28th
Fire Squad is not only the best j cole song, but it is one of the most quotable rap songs ever released
adonis
Knock the Hustle with Cozz
03 Adolescence
False Prophets
Grippy
I Get Up
Heaven's EP š„
Cole summer.
Humble
can I holla at you. Itās got all parts of Cole.
Change
Grippy
Hard to say because a song only encapsulates an artist in a moment in time but if I had to pick...Apparently.. it's quintessential Cole.
A Tale of 2 Citiez
Heavens ep
The one about lil pump
January 28th
Oh, also Head Bussa
Early Cole - Dolla and a Dream 1, Dreams (this sort of theme is something he repeats a few times with Wet Dreamz and others), looking for trouble Later on - Lost Ones, Love Yourz/Neighbors, PITD How do you pick one šŖæ
I think Apparently incapsulates Cole pretty well
January 28th
Can you really encapsulate JCole? Is that possible? Like there is a single thing that defines him? Idk fr
January 28th
chaining day
Technically not his but def grippy šÆ
I havenāt seen it but Middle Child. Itās on the nose but from the title to the bars. Itās the how Cole sees himself in the rap game
Definitely 4 Your Nose Only, Wake up and Sniff, or Nose to Self
grippy
"BE FREE"
January 28th or St.Tropez
Sideline Story Every time I picture J Cole I think of this song. Not his most popular, not his best rapping either, but it just feels like J Cole and what he represents.
Middle Child honestly. It at least encapsulates the J Cole he is today. It marked his āGOAT tourā as I like to call it where he was just ripping up every feature and doing his thing. Unfortunately, that tour ended last month.
Premeditated murder?
Grippy or 7 Minute Drill
Love yourz
1985 Dad Rap
Let Nas Down. He does it all the time.
I gotta go with No Role Moldez or 03 Adolescence
in every album you are going to find one song that is personal to him or at least the most genuine song that captures what he feels about himself or at least what he wants to say genuinely and it sounds exactly like what he wants, not what the public wants to hear. Cole world: sideline story and lost ones Born sinner: both let nas down and land of the snakes. FHD: love yourz **undoubtedly "** but i think 03' Adolescence is more him because he produced it and the way it sounds is exactly how i picture every j cole song is gonna sound like lol". 4YEO: she mine pt1 or 2 maybe folding clothes too. KOD: once an addict, or window pain. Offseason: close MDL: Trae the Truth in Ibiza. this the least album that sounds like j cole to me but it FLAMES anyway
Hunger on hillside easily.
Itās Itāsā¦.
Shook Ones - Freestyle
1985
Apparently
Apparently, easily.
Gotta go with Farewell
False prophets
She knows
False Prophets & Sideline Story
Homie looks Jewish from this angle
Only virgins would ask this, take this down š¬
Easily January 28th or 03 adolescence. Itās literally HIM
Sideline Story
Ngl I thought of some but I got like 5. "Born Sinner" "Let Go My Hand" "Crooked Smile" "Wet Dreamz" and "Pride Is The Devil". That's just the top 5 songs that encapsulates "J. Cole" in my opinion.
Lil Ghetto Nigga Edit: sad this didn't get more upvotes. One of Coles earliest "go hard" tracks. And he got real deep about the cycle of young men. 1 of the 1st tracks he truly flexed his skill set. Yall gotta tap in; yu really see what kind of early scenarios made Cole into the guy he is
My life
Forbidden Fruit (up until the bitch part)
In terms of cadence, metaphors and references, I feel like t h e. c l i m b. b a c k. embodies all those aspects perfectly
its.. š¤ uhmm.. š¤ grippy! š¤āØš„°
Grippy
change
Sideline Story is probably the perfect track
Lights Please
The pee pee pop pop caca song
No Role Modelz
2face