It was a night to remember in Columbus, Ohio on September 23rd where Jaden Smith and Young Thug acted as stellar supporting acts for J.Cole on his KOD Tour. It was Smith who eagerly entered the crowd for a memorable performance of the top 10 hit “Icon” which pretty much set the tone for the entire night.
Cole puts on a show for the ages, while simultaneously giving out some life lessons as if Cole was having a one on one conversation with everyone in the audience. As exhilarating as that was, the most memorable part of his set for us was when Cole talked about one’s journey to success: not just in the rap industry, but whatever your dream job may be. He talked about how it’s not as enjoyable to go “0-100″ – meaning nobody should want to be an overnight success as it’s the journey that makes the pursuit of your dream worthwhile.
Well, we couldn’t help but hear Cole say he’s only at an “88.” Yes, that means he is greatly successful and has already had a legendary career.. but only an 88? So, what does that mean? It means, he isn’t completely satisfied with his career just yet and believes there’s more to accomplish. So how does someone that has two classic mixtapes and arguably at least three classic studio albums have anything left to accomplish?
Perhaps, another classic album puts him alone at the top. There’s always mixed answers when debating who the best rapper is in today’s industry. Usually, you get a mixture of Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Drake answers. Almost every project Cole has released has been excellent. But, it was his 2014 release Forest Hills Drive that solidified his name with the all-time greats. Becoming the first rapper ever to be certified platinum with no features on the album. Most recently, “KOD” became Cole’s fifth consecutive album to reach no.1 on the charts.
So let’s say his next mission in mind isn’t another classic solo album with no features. Maybe it’s actually a collaboration album with another highly regarded rapper. Cole’s been rumored to either already finished or has been working on a joint project with Lamar. In fact, a week ago recent Dreamville signees Earthgang tweeted out, “Wassup Mufuckas. Cole left his laptop open so before we leak this new Cole X Kendrick album check this link.” Of course, the link was their latest single, but it’s gotten everyone speculating once again. More than likely it was to get his followers to check out his new group, but hey one can dream.
Despite his continued growth as an artist, there is still some room for Cole to reach an even higher status. His show in Columbus was absolutely incredible and just adds to his already impeccable resume. He just recently cracked the top 5 on Forbes’ highest paid rappers’ list ($35.5 million) which is higher than Dr. Dre, Kanye West, Nas amongst many more all-time greats. He’s only 33 so all that’s left to prove is that he’ll continue to progress as an artist. He’s already shown he can have an exceptional album without anyone else on it, but all he’s missing is a collaboration album. It’s a scenario where he can’t lose. Obviously, if it’s great he’s a genius. If it doesn’t work out, he can just go back to “No Feature Cole.” No harm, no foul. The world has been waiting for this album for years. It’ll break so many records if it ever really happens.
