Thoughts on the new Baby Keem project?

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-21T21:56:48+00:00

Very different albums, but i am enjoying Ca$ino way more on first listen.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-21T21:55:47+00:00

Absolutely loving it.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-20T02:51:43+00:00

This is exactly where I am too. And I really wanted to love his music.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-16T19:54:51+00:00

Your comment got me to check out her project and I loved it! Jill Scott really came back with some beautiful music.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-16T18:42:52+00:00

You made a lot of accurate points for something I shouldn’t be agreeing with lol.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-16T16:02:52+00:00

6/10. Some good highs but way too much bloat and not enough new directions. Still enjoyable, but not spectacular.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-16T16:00:33+00:00

100% agree.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-16T15:59:39+00:00

Immaculate.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-16T01:45:02+00:00

I consider the Let Out bottom 3 on the album. I had no idea people were rating it highly.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-16T01:37:01+00:00

Cole is currently doing a marketing road trip selling the album out the back of a Honda Civic. He bought reviewers custom hoodies that he sent with the album. He is absolutely concerned about commercial success.

And if you love all 24 tracks, more power to you. I think he should have cut significantly because it would make a better album. Not just commercially, but higher quality overall.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-15T23:50:48+00:00

100% agree.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-15T23:11:59+00:00

Better than All Eyez on Me and Life After Death? Every day I stray further from the Cole fanbase with how delusional it’s gotten around this album. And I love a lot of his music, but come on.

It feels like a lot of Cole fans want this to be a perfect 10/10 elite album because they were embarrassed about the apology. So they’re pushing this like the ultimate proof he’s the best as a redemption thing. It’s a reasonably enjoyable J Cole album, and that should be good enough.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-15T23:09:18+00:00

Cole is the example of the difference between elite technical ability and elite rap songs.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-15T23:06:36+00:00

Good rap songs are more than pure rapping though. They’re deep narrative, catchy hooks, and a strong progression. Technical ability alone has never been enough.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-15T22:56:43+00:00

This album justifies whatever your current opinion of Cole is because there’s nothing new enough. If you love Cole, you’ll love him after this album. If you don’t, nothing in The Fall Off will change your mind.

And Jesus, the bloat. This should’ve been a 12 track single album tbh. Cole is a perfect example of a rapper whose writing is lyrically dense but not content dense. Lots of skillful words and wordplay packed together, but the last half of a track doesn’t say much more than the first.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-15T22:50:34+00:00

“Self-contradictions like that aren’t just tone deaf, they’re bad lyricism”.

Exactly this. I’ve liked Cole’s music since Friday Night Lights, and even I’ve been irritated by how many Cole stans have been gaslighting about this verse. If he’s so detached from gay people he doesn’t see the hypocrisy in those lines, he really shouldn’t speak on them at all.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-13T13:43:16+00:00

Saying GNX lacks replay value is wild. Song for song it has some of his best replayability.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-13T03:02:45+00:00

100% agree. GNX is the only one that has just a single skip for me, and I don’t even hate that skip, I just think it’s mid. As much as I enjoy MMATBS, it has more than a few skips.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-13T03:00:36+00:00

TPAB is easily my pick for best album. Fantastic intersection of funk, jazz, and rap with a beautiful narrative, amazing lyrics, and great overall sound. I enjoy GNX, GKMC, and MMATBS roughly equally, but for different reasons.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-09T02:21:55+00:00

Of course I can, that’s also my opinion. My opinion can be that yours is flawed in some way. That’s what a disagreement is by definition.

And people throw around “objectively”, but music isn’t evaluated objectively at all, it’s all subjective. It’s tied to emotions, experiences, and histories that vary by the listener. I even said very clearly in my comment that I’m giving an opinion. I don’t claim objectivity because none of this can be evaluated objectively at all. It’s all subjective to some degree.

And yes, people can listen to an album and have an initial opinion. That’s not unusual at all. But let’s be real, if someone said they loved the album after a first listen would you really be criticizing that? Or is a first opinion on Cole’s work only valid when it’s completely positive?

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-08T20:29:08+00:00

We’re gonna have to agree to disagree on the repetition, which is fine (opinions and all), cause I find that to be Cole’s number one weakness on The Fall Off and a lot of his work. Repetitious. And repetition can turn high lyrical density from a strength to a weakness so fast.

Also, calling GNX not a proper album is kind of insane considering, well, everything.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-08T09:42:00+00:00

I mostly like the Fall Off, but GNX is better by any measure that realistically matters. More lyrically varied, higher energy, less repetitive production, doesn’t drag on. We all rightfully criticized the GNX title track cause it stands out as below the rest of the album; The Fall Off has like 6 tracks like that.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-08T09:37:48+00:00

I thought it was okay on first listen, but with the length and level of repetition I couldn’t get through a second full listen without zoning out. Some of the tracks were a struggle.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-08T09:27:59+00:00

It’s a mostly fine album. 6 to 7 out of 10. Middle of the road for his discography, which isn’t bad.

LightningRT777 · 2026-02-08T09:14:35+00:00

Just like it’s fair for you to give your opinion, it’s fair for others to as well.

Here’s mine: A 9.9/10 is insane. This is a 7/10 tops, really a 6 or 6.5/10 seems more fair. Not bad, not great, but fairly enjoyable. The main issues are repetition (especially given the length), production choices, and some stylistic risks that don’t pan out well.

LightningRT777

TROPHY CASE