practically nothing is going on.

In the backrooms

1. Idk, i think it is. What more can you ask of someone?

2. For some issues, a reformed fuckup is actually the ONLY person i wanna hear from. I don't want to hear "just say no" from someone who's never taken any drugs. I say- experience over purity!

Kendrick and Cole are able to promote a monogamous commitment specifically because they cop to their previous behavior. If they'd always been on the straight and narrow, the message would've been preachy and condescending.

A story of regret has empathy implicitly. The artist approaches you vulnerable, exposes their ugliness and you get to feel relief that the ugliness you observe in yourself is not perversely unique. Meanwhile, a story of a clean slate is like the artist approaching you chest out, looking down their nose, shoulders raised aggressively. Why would you be receptive to that? Did you listen to the cop in the DARE assemblies?

And i guess ultimately, it comes down to power and the redundancy of echo chambers. You have to show us you're strong before it'll be meaningful for you to promote being passive and vulnerable. You have to tell us about mistakes you've made before you can warn us about the ones we might make. Not saying it'll work, sometimes we just have to experience it for our dumb little selves. But this way, the message at least has a shot of getting thru.

We'll hear the story of The Scorpion and the Frog and go "ah yes. I can't change my nature"

...no, you're the frog. That's not up for debate, it's not a matter of interpretation. You're the frog in this story.

Now take a modern example. Fight Club. If you think you're Tyler Durden, who does that mean you actually are? Think really hard about it. Who's the frog in Fight Club?

* initially posted after 2 listens. Now updating after a couple days, probably about 6 listens. I've warmed to it alot! I also appreciate them updating it so the fts are displayed*

Disc 29

• 29 Intro

2: carolina, ok.

6: lovely start to the album.

• Two Six

2: nervous when he sounds a bit like drake...this one's got some bars tho

6: yea the main hook still puts drake in my head in a way i dont like. But overall ive done a 180 on this song. I love it now

• SAFETY

2: eyy ok he's warmin up now

6: fucking great

• Run A Train

2: jermaine? Jermaine cole?? Ok i love these verses. A lil eh on the hook but thats also how i initially felt about alot of The Off Season and now i belt those out

6: yep, just like TOS, these choruses hit after a few listens. And the verses are better than i first thought

• Poor Thang

2: oof the drake choruses again...punk bitch bit is alright. The skit at the end is pretty funny.

6: initially hated the "young pup playing war games". What seemed drake-ish about it was this preposterous macho bravado. Speaking like a soldier when you aren't one is cringe. But that was me misreading it. "playing war games" has a level of irony to it. Yes, rap or gang shit is serious like war...but its also a game like war. Doesn't bother me at all now. Dope song.

• Legacy

2: fun lovie dovie one. The singing style tho...like Glover gets away w that cuz he has an incredible singing voice. But cole...

6: i suspect I'll still feel this way about some of the more aggregious examples in later tracks, but i dont mind the singing on this one so much. And when the beat comes in for the verse. Yea love it.

• Bunce Road Blues

2: the "im a broken record cuz i come from the brokest of home"...hanging a lantern on it a bit there. Like bad movies dont get points for having lines about bad movies in them. Having a brand with 5 buzzwords that get done to death IS getting old. Also when did this kind of autone unironically return? Oh god not the "if these walls could talk" reference. Bro this is not the moment to evoke a kendrick comparison.

6: nah idk what i was on. Its a good line in a good song. My awareness of the kitsch of cole and dreamville's brand has ofcourse grown since i was a starry eyed stan. But its not exactly fair to bemoan an earnest-albeit-corny sendoff after an earnest-albeit-corny career. You can't get the earnestness without some collateral corny, fair enough.

• WHO TF IZ U

2: ugh more drake hooks. But fuck, once he gets going, some great bars. Also, the sentiment of the title is an overused excuse. If stans want to pretend the work of a rapper or film director or politician isn't ass, they'll say this to critics. I don't think being able to personally do better is a fair prerequisite for pointing out flaws

6: Growing on me a bit but still think some of the aura farming misses on this one.

• Drum n Bass

2 "whatyoutalkinbout" reminding me of better songs by kendrick 😬

6: that bit misses in the beginning for me but hits after the skit. This a grower too.

• The Let Out

2: i like the "gtfo" hook, but the other singing less so. Yknow how eventually comedians don't have anything to talk about except coffee shops and hotels? Kinda how i feel hearing about some shit popping off at the club. You don't wanna change the scenery a lil? Its not 2014 anymore, we've got secret police killing ppl in the streets rn. Surely the conversation has to move on. Feels like kendrick and jid responded to the shift by going more mythological, and cole has stayed sorta literal.

6: i fucking love the majority of this...but yea hooks feel off idk

• Bombs in the Ville/Hit the Gas

2: oh this is like Grippy level cringe....and then just totally pivots and hits a great verse at the end. Wtf man.

6: yep still cringed at the first half. Bridge a bit better. And then yea kills it. I wish this was two tracks cuz i would mute bombs in the ville. Hit the Gas as an interlude slaps.

• Lonely at the Top (Bonus)

2: why is this just a bonus track, this is the best song of disc 1

6: yep love

Disc 39

• 39 intro

2: kinda wish he just hired gambino for this stuff...that orion's belt line was terrible. This is a rough start to the B side. Ooh but i am a sucker for a pink floyd esque breakdown. The third person stuff is cringe. Ok yep more drake shit. Even within songs it keeps flip flopping between gold and crap. I cant keep up.

6: all my hate for this is the first verse. Stand by that, thats terrible. The middle thru to the beat drop is dope. "Ima go in (hes going in)" feels like some drake poser shit. But then the verse 🔥

• The Fall Off is Inevitable

2: easily the best track so far. Music video was incredible too. This verse for me is up there with the best in hip hop history, right next to 4 Your Eyez Only. I do tend to like narratives that play with the structure of time like this one (nolan movies, vonnegut novels). But even outside of that, i love this.

6: obvi still love this. I think i was overall unfair on this album first few listens. Whole project doesnt feel like it flows for me as a cohesive concept album the way tpab or 4yeo do. But it's got some incredible tracks. A couple skips is forgivable.

• The Villest

2: the outkast hook highlights how much better it is than the other hooks on this album tbh. 2nd verse is fantastic tho.

6: nope wack. This song fire start to finish. Why was i tripping friday night?

• Old Dog

2: logic ahh beat, dorky coke references. Hometown shit that completely misses. This isn't straight outta compton, it's runnin thru the 6 with my woes. I dont think his rap ability has fallen off...but his sense of cool certainly has. There was a peak window from about Born Sinner to KOD where his adlibs were on point. But he's just not in sync with that sorta thing anymore. But hey atleast he's self aware about it.

6: oof no this one getting muted

• Life Sentence

2: don't hit for me but i bet his wife loves this. Reminds me of that song method man did with mary j blige. Referencing the diddy fight again makes me think that is the only fight he's been in.

6: grown on me quick. Love the dmx games goin down bit. Song feels like mos. Fun lighthearted track.

• Only You

2: oof the nasal whining. Sweet message tho. Cute. Fair enough.

6: i like the content in theory but just not hitting. Think this is a mute.

• Man Up Above

2: sigh.

6: im starting to like this song...except the "man up above" line.

• I Love Her Again

2: is fucking incredible

6: yep. There are atleast 3 songs on this album that are HallofFame and this for sure one.

• What If

2: is too holy shit has it all been this good am i crazy

6: i mean yea partly. I still think it's a mixed bag but i was too quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater on this album. This obviously the 3rd HallofFame track. What a phenomenal way to go after KvD.

• Quik Stop

2: Ok this one is like a bell curve; starts and ends with a chorus that feels indulgent and corny, but the middle is packed with gems. I don't love the trope of dramatically repeating the last line, but otherwise a great verse.

6: "we gotta change our ways" still a bit up its own ass but god this song is solid.

• and the whole world is the Ville

2: ...is like an AI generared cole song. Just says the ville a million times with some chase your dreams bs you'd see on a cc poster. Execution isn't bad, i think I've just overheard this formula at this point.

6: yea ive softened on this too, it's sweet. An onthenose optimistic message in FHD spoke deeply to me when i needed it. Isnt fair to suddenly turn my nose up at TFO for the same kitsch.

• Ocean Way (Bonus)

2: ....oh no. Its happened. The titles not an ironic misnomer. My rap hero is unc/cooked, which means so am i. It's over.

6: god i really was softening on this one...until that candlewick in rain line. Instantaneously falls right off (pun intended) a cliff god i wish he didn't include this track. The world is the ville would've been a fine closer.

THE FALL OFF

2: i'm sure my perspective on it will evolve. Rn I'd say it's not a great album, but there are great songs on it. Will always love Cole. Grateful that he shared.

6: this albums really growing on me! The Off Season was like that too, took some digesting. Overall tho, Cole's discography to me starts as a mixed bag, then he has a run that is pretty close to perfect from FHD to KOD (and the fts around that time), and then from there its been a mixed bag again. A decline in ft quality culminating in Grippy. Might Delete Later had some great beats with some of his worst songs ever on them, and an ill-advised kendrick diss track where he calls out one of the only artists with a track record better than his own for not being prolific enough.