The degradation of urban music according to J. Cole

In this rare 15-minute 2015 interview with Sway, J. Cole, opens up about all things music, Dreamville and breaks down his current mind state.

Sway catches up with him in his dressing room after his Forest Hills Drive show in San Diego, CA.

Cole drops some solid gems around the 8-minute mark when he begins to talk about the importance of his art, and why he doesn’t follow the  industry-set standard of becoming successful.

The draw here really was his thorough understanding of the direction urban music(particularly hip-hop) was taking. As Sway expresses a subtle discontentment with a lot of new hiphop/rap acts and how the culture seemed to be losing value in style and message, Cole interjects diplomatically. As he puts it, he has come to identify with two generations: the golden era of 90s/00s hiphop, while still understanding the place and time of new school hip-hop, its cohorts -- and where it all stems from (He gets it!). I think this video forms a foundation for his early 2019 single "Middle Child," were as we know, explained his position as a cursed child of 'conflict' (little brother, big brother). Suffice to say, the narrative of Cole as a sort of "Godfather guide" for most of these young Gen-Z kids who soundcloud their way into the life of fame, has been on for 2 some years now. Remember, he also schools them on "1985," a track off his 2018 album, KOD.

Cole didn't close out this hard-boiled mesh, without analyzing how urban music compromises itself in popular demand. He takes record of a "corny" downward spiral from the 1970s and 1980s down to what we get now, in manners of mainstream content.

J. Cole, contrary to popular thought, is open and anticipating for what might come after a 40 year stretch of hip-hop's dominance in modern music. So again, he gets it! . 

Watch !