Hip Hop 50th Anniversary

J. Cole: No Emcee Equal

J. Cole is still one of the most underrated rappers in the game

J. Cole dropped his first mixtape in 2009 and still feels like he is the most underrated emcee in Hip Hop.

He has only gotten stronger over the years. Ridiculously stronger. Check out this slept-on feature on Benny The Butcher’s Johnny P’s Caddy.

Cole’s verse starts with a ridiculously colorful description of his origins.

On the night I was born, the rain was pourin’, God was cryin’/ Lightnin’ struck, power outage, sparks was flyin’/ The real ones here, the young boy that walks with lions/ Around the outlines of chalk where the corpse is lyin’./

Then, the song turns into a classic braggadocious rant about how ill his style is. It’s absolutely perfect.

I’m higher than n****s/and don’t need a bag full of reefer/ some see the glass as empty/ I see a glass full of ether/ collectin’ his bread en masse/ like he a Catholic preacher/ just to count a n**** cash/you might need a calculus teacher/ Eureka!/ Einstein on the brink of/ the theory of relativity/ really/ no emcee equal./

- J. Cole, Johnny P’s Caddy

Need I say more?

Honestly,

Ed.

I am a poet, essayist, and civic strategist based in Birmingham, Alabama. Get to know me better here. Celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop.