Cole released his fifth studio album on April 20 called KOD. He revealed three different meanings for the album title: Kids on Drugs, King Overdose, and Kill Our Demons.

Cole shares his thoughts about different types of addiction. On “Once an Addict (Interlude)”, he shares chilling memories about about his mother battling addiction and how it affect him as a young man. Cole reminisces the days when he would constantly question if his mom needed help.

He shares further thoughts about the up-and-coming generation of young rappers which was addressed on “1985 – Intro to The Fall Off”. “If you exclude the top three rappers in

the game, the most popping rappers all are exaggerated versions of black stereotypes” Cole said. Many people thought these lyrics were directed at 20 year old rapper XXXTentacion,  who early this year made a song dissing Cole.

There is no features on his album except for a myseries “kiLL edward”. Cole later shares on twitter that the mysterious “kiLL edward” is his alter ego, who was inspired by his stepfather Edward. He also described how watching Kendrick Lamar on his DAMN. tour motivated his own album.

KOD is a mature sounding album, portraying J.Cole as a wise man looking back at addictions that affected his life, once again affirming that J. Cole is one of the best rappers alive.  

Overall the album is very good and is worth your time and money. It does dig at some sensitive subject but all good music does. It can be bought on iTunes for $9.99 or streamed on Spotify.