Hey guys, CDTVProductions here, and let’s just start this one by saying RIP to Jimmy
Cole.
Smokepurpp absolutely murdered him with an ether level diss yesterday, so it’s only
right we pay respects.
Now Johnathan Cole is a rapper that I do enjoy quite a lot, and this was a bit of a difficult
list to compile as he’s laid down his fair share of strong verses.
To make it a little easier, I’ve excluded guest verses and features from this video,
as I could make a whole other video talking about those.
But yeah, I’ve managed to come up with a list of my personal favourite verses from
the man known as Jackie Cole.
So with that being said guys, this is CDTVProductions, and let’s get right into this video.
1985 (Verse 1):
Why not start with something off of Cole’s newest album, KOD.
This song was one verse long, and served partially as a diss track, but more so an advice track
to a particular rapper, but could also be seen as just talking about new age trap rappers
in general.
I think one of the greatest things about this verse is that it started up so much discussion.
One of the hottest talking points from the KOD album was “who is Jackson Cole targeting
on 1985?”, and obviously the most likely main target of the song is Lil Pump, but a
lot of these lyrics could apply to numerous SoundCloud rappers.
It contained some solid casual insults at these rappers, gave them advice that they
really should take, and on top of all that, this really was a conversation starter.
Fire Squad (Verse 3):
Now let’s take it back to another track where Cole called out some rappers.
Now Cole has made it clear that this verse isn’t really a diss either, but is more
just his perspective on the state of hip hop and what’s going
on in it.
He pretty much covers the topic of white people getting more and more involved with hip hop
music, and actually having an advantage because they are white, naming popular rappers like
Eminem, Macklemore and Iggy Azalea getting involved with the culture, and winning awards
they might not necessarily deserve.
It’s just a very raw verse, whilst still being a little light hearted, and it’s probably
the hardest set of bars on 2014 Forest Hills Drive.
False Prophets (Verse 1):
I think you might be seeing a bit of a pattern here.
Whenever Cole offers his observations on rappers or superstardom, it typically makes for a
good verse.
It’s assumed that this verse mainly talks about Kanye West, as it talks about a rapper
who has so much pressure on them due to the fact that everyone is always watching him.
He talks about how being a star has let his ego grow out of control, and says it’s something
that could eventually bring around his downfall, with Cole begging him to stop before he has
a breakdown.
And at its heart, it’s really about the disappointment when you idolise these people
only to find out they really aren’t that invincible.
Let Nas Down (Verse 2):
And now let’s talk about one that is aimed directly at another rapper, but definitely
isn’t anything even resembling a diss track.
The story behind the song is that Nas was disappointed in Jason Cole when he heard his
radio single, Work Out.
Nas felt that Cole was straying away from his lyrical roots, and Cole being a massive
fan of Nas felt quite hurt when he heard this.
So this song is a message to Nas from Cole.
In this second verse, he explains to Nas why he made the song, saying that he wasn’t
sacrificing his lyricism or going pop or anything like that, it was just that his label needed
a single to promote his album, and Cole could use a big single that doesn’t really have
a deep meaning to draw listeners to his album, where the true deep meaning lies.
He even brings up the fact that Nas himself made a radio hit that got bashed quite a lot
for following radio trends.
This story has a really happy ending though, as Nas remixed this song, and titled it “Made
Nas Proud”.
BRACKETS (Verse 2):
I feel a lot of people can agree with me when I say this was the strongest verse on the
KOD album.
Here, Cole tackles the issues that come with paying his taxes, specifically questioning
why he can’t choose where that money goes.
It’s incredibly well laid out in my opinion, and I agree with the sentiment.
To some degree, we should be able to choose what kind of area our tax money goes to.
He really hits this home at the end of the verse with a story of how tax money can essentially
come full circle to funding murder in poor neighbourhoods.
Obviously I can’t cover every single detail he hits in the verse here, but I think it’s
an incredibly powerful one and it’s one that’s gonna connect with a lot of people
due to its subject matter.
‘03 Adolescence (Verse 2):
‘03 Adolescence might just be my favourite Julian Cole song on Forest Hills Drive, as
it’s one of the most powerful and almost cinematic in a way.
In this verse, Cole talks about his life when he was 18 years old and just dreaming to get
rich fast.
He talks about how during school he was really focussed on his education and did pretty damn
well for himself, but he still associated with people who were selling drugs to get
by.
Later in the verse, Cole goes to the house of one of his drug dealing friends, and there
they relax and just kinda talk about their lives.
Then Cole, with his desire to get rich, tells his friend that he wants to get in the drug
dealing game, a suggestion which is immediately shot down by Cole’s friend.
His friend lectures him, giving him a powerful speech, telling Cole that he’s intelligent
and that the drug dealing game isn’t gonna get him as far as his mind will.
His friend explains why he sells drugs, it’s not something he wants to do, but his situation
has almost forced him to provide for himself because his mother doesn’t care about him.
Cole realises from this that he’s actually blessed to be in the stable situation that
he’s in, and if he didn’t have this conversation or if this friend showed Cole how to get involved
in the drug game, his life could have went in a very different direction.
4 Your Eyez Only (Verse 4):
Now whilst I mostly disliked the 4 Your Eyez Only album, I did like the story behind it,
and the entirety of this track basically explains the story.
It’s really hit home in this final verse, where Cole tells us that this whole album
wasn’t actually from his perspective and was not his story, but is actually from the
point of view of James, a friend of Cole that died when he was 22.
In this verse, it is revealed that the whole album is basically Cole narrating the story
of Jame’s life to his daughter, which is what James requested of Cole.
He requested this because he could sense his death coming, and he wanted his daughter to
know that he loved her.
So Cole followed through, and made this album to tell James’ daughter about who her father
was.
It’s for her eyes only, revealing what the album title means.
I wish I found this album less dull so I could repeatedly listen to it, because I do love
the story, but nonetheless it doesn’t take away from how great this verse is.
(Outro)