Himanshu (Heems) came to fame as a member of oddball rap duo Das Racist. Now, he releases solo mixtapes and (apparently) reviews J. Cole's Born Sinner for artist-on-artist review site The Talkhouse. Since the website had a watershed moment yesterday via Lou Reed's review of Yeezus it makes sense that the website would want to put out Kanye competitor Cole's album next. In the review, Heems gives a history of indie rock and rap collaborations and let's it be known that he is not a fan of the "Crooked Smile" rapper.
Via:
I think it's a step forward as, historically, rappers listened to the worst rock, and rock dudes listened to the worst rap. Rappers spit about "partying like rock stars" and wore Von Dutch and jeans with rhinestones. Rick Ross hanging out with Bon Iver while working on Kanye's album can't be a bad thing for music. Rap/rock collaborations peaked out the gate with "Walk This Way" and there was a lot of hiccups on the way to indie/rap crossovers like Kanye West successfully collaborating with Justin Vernon. For example, there was Kanye West collaborating with Adam Levine, whatever it was that Korn did, Limp Bizkit and Method Man blessing the world with "'N 2 Gether Now," Jay-Z and Linkin Park's album and both Kanye West and Jay-Z collaborating with their pals in Coldplay.
"She Knows" is Cole's indie/rap crossover joint. We find Cole behind the boards, as he is for most of the album, flipping Cults' "Bad Things" into a song about cheating where he compares himself to Martin Luther King at the club with Coretta in the back of his mind. That made me feel strange inside. Then, for no reason, he goes from rapping about being tempted to cheat on his girl to "Rest in peace to Aaliyah, rest in peace to Left Eye" as if it were a reflex for when things go wrong. Then there's Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors and some guitar shredding for good measure.
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Who listens to J. Cole? Who are his fans?
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He's got punchlines. He can sing all right. He can produce all right. It's clear he's a smart guy. It's clear he works hard. But he's pretty boring. Ultimately, it's nice that he's a rap fan, but I am too, and if I'm spending money on a product that is essentially a human being's identity, I'd prefer it to be fully formed - or at least interesting.
Ouch.
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