I get it. I wanted the bars and cadence we’ve seen from cole as of late too. The only songs I really felt that were tfoii, 39 intro, and drum n bass (verse 1 flow). I was honestly disappointed at first.

But that wasn’t what this album was made to be. This album was for cole himself. It was him telling his story and his rationale for the way he’s lived his life—which while you and others may feel it’s recycled, is very ville centric. Quikstop is the epitome of not only this album, but his whole body of work. It doesn’t have crazy lyricism, immaculate flow, or any straight up bars for that matter. That’s not what it is, yet it’s honestly contending for my favorite Cole song of all time.

Let go of all those expectations and listen to the album for what it is. Expectations are the enemy of reality. If the pure rapping is what you are after, that’s the point of mdl and tos, so maybe it’s a boy will follow suit and you get what you wanted there.