{"id":2444549,"date":"2019-05-23T16:42:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T22:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=839387"},"modified":"2019-05-23T16:42:58","modified_gmt":"2019-05-23T22:42:58","slug":"j-cole-outrapped-young-thug-i-dont-know-how-to-feel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/j-cole-outrapped-young-thug-i-dont-know-how-to-feel\/","title":{"rendered":"J. Cole Outrapped Young Thug. I Don\u2019t Know How to Feel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Avengers-style posse cut arrived today, unexpectedly. On it, J. Cole<\/a> outrapped Young Thug<\/a>. Merely looking at that sentence is painful. Up until this point, the only person to indisputably best Jeffery Lamar Williams on a song was Rich Homie Quan, about half a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Then \u201cThe London\u201d happened.<\/p>\n

Produced by T-Minus and also featuring Travis Scott<\/a> on moody chorus duties, the track is a prime example of how far Cole has ventured from his curmudgeonly comfort zone and into interesting stylistic territory. His single \u201cMiddle Child\u201d<\/a> is among the most commercially successful of the year, and he\u2019s conducting rap camps, performing at NBA All Star games and gracing the cover of magazines. Long one of the technically most gifted rappers in the world, it seems like he\u2019s finally having fun. The approach is paying off; during a verse that has a cringe-inducing and borderline offensive reference to the 2002 romantic comedy, Juwanna Man<\/em>, Cole outraps the most thrilling figure of hip-hop\u2019s last decade.<\/p>\n

To his credit, Cole is an artist who knows how to make the most<\/a> of a feature. He has a way of getting in quickly and (crucially) getting out memorably, leaving a slew of punchlines in his wake. At the verse\u2019s peak, Jermaine sings through AutoTune, borrowing the tool Thug and Travis have helped elevate into its own modern artform. When Cole warbles through the assertion, \u201cA verse from me is like I left a purge\/I did the math it\u2019s like 2000 dollars every word\u201d a realization sets in: J. Cole sounds right at home.<\/p>\n