Mar 1, 2016 If we're talking projects, yes I'd agree. I really liked FHD but FNL & TWU are better. As an artist/producer though I think he's continued to improve, just a matter of him putting it all together.
Mar 1, 2016 Nah definitely not just talking about his projects half his best s--- from that era is just unreleased and leaked stuff. He used to upload a lot of tracks on their own until his debut.
Mar 1, 2016 That's fair, his unreleased material was great back then. Seems like the delay of his debut made him second guess what made him great in the first place, and he tried changing his sound to what people (label, media etc) wanted him to be. FHD was a step back in the right direction, but there's no doubt everything before CWSS was his best era.
Mar 1, 2016 Yeah. At least he was open about it though. He always said publicly that he'd do what it takes to blow up. I think the comparison he made was something like he wanted to be a "Jay-Z tier" not "Common tier" rapper when it came it sales and mainstream notice. His music since is still quite good, he did the transition well. But his older tracks are so much better. There's a rawness to a lot of them.
Mar 1, 2016 Yup. It's not so much he was doing something we hadn't seen before, but it was fresh and he was hungry. s--- like this takes me back.
Mar 2, 2016 Cole will never be the same as he was back then, he is passed that. We as fans gotta grow with him, or move on tbh. Or as Jay said, listen to my old s---. Listen to his old s---.
Mar 2, 2016 not a big fan but it seems kinda tru.. I think i liked forest hills tho more than older projects
Mar 6, 2016 I don't think Cole has peaked yet. Back then he was broke and hungry trying to make it, he didn't have to worry about making music for the masses, but music for himself. Everything pre-Cole World was organic, he took his time with TWU and FNL projects. FNL was practically his debut album, but he didn't have a hit(which he did in "Higher"), imagine him/Jay green lighting Higher and it actually taking off then we would have gotten FNL as a debut album. How High and It Won't Be Long would of been on the debut as well, but s--- happens ...when you drop your original debut as a mixtape in Nov '10 then release your actual debut 10 months later, it won't be as good because it was rushed and forced.
Mar 6, 2016 I think just about everyone would agree. Of the top of my head, return of simba is probably my favorite song by him.