J. Cole - The Warm Up [Mixtape Review]

One of my favorite new artists right now is J. Cole. His new mixtape, The Warm Up was released today. Click the photo to download.

Fresh off inking his first major label deal with Roc Nation (a label headed by hip hop mogul, Jay-Z), J. Cole drops The Warm Up. For all intents and purposes, The Warm Up has the vibe and feel of an actual album. Often times rappers release random tracks and, in an attempt to piece them together for notariety, release these tracks for public consumption. Usually what happens in this scenario is there will be one or two standout records while the rest of the album is a series of C-grade verses or freestyles over stolen instrumentals.

This isnt the case with this.

J.Cole's mixtape has a centralized theme and an overall tone that gives the listener the sense that his best is yet to come. The mixtape is littered with lyricism, insight, forethought, and rhymes based in real life situations able to provide a listener or critic an actual mental picture of what he means.

The Warm Up features tracks revisited from his previous mixtape The Come Up. He tackles Dollar and a Dream, Dead Presidents, and Simba with lyrical mastery. With 22 Tracks, The Warm Up is an easy listen as well as a peek into the ambition of a young black male. There is definitely more to come the man who can't wait to be the king.