Every so often, you can feel how much of his or her self an artist has put into their work. Usually, the feeling only lasts as long as a song, or even just a verse, but when we’re lucky, the feeling lasts for an entire album. This is the case with Cole World: The Sideline Story.

It’s been two years since J. Cole signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and was subsequently dubbed “Hova’s protégé.” In that time, Colie Cole has given us two classic mix tapes, The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights. Cole World fits in perfectly with these. And you know what? That’s not a bad thing by any means, because those two mixtapes were already album-quality music.

While the majority of rappers talk about the standard — money, bitches, weed — Cole focuses on his struggle, his education (he graduated magna cum laude from St. John’s University where he was on academic scholarship) and even voices his opinion on abortion. In this regard, the early highlight of the album is “Lights Please,” where Cole laments about the fact that women shouldn’t just be well-versed sexually, but that their intellect should be up to par also. Many seasoned fans already know this, as “Lights Please” was one of a few songs on the album released on a previous mixtape. 

Cole also does a great job of including some awesome feature artists, including Trey Songz, Drake, Missy Elliot and Jay-Z,  without being overshadowed by any of them. While the two best songs on the album are arguably “In the Morning” ft. Drake and “Nobody’s Perfect” ft. Missy Elliot, Jermaine has quality also solo tracks that stand out just as much.

The best example of this would be the first of two title tracks, “Sideline Story.” Produced by Cole (as is the majority of the album), the song used an awesome jazz sample as Cole tells his audience just what it’s like to be him: from his academic dedication to the judgment passed by white middle-class men on his appearance. It’s really simple, as Cole explains: “I came up in here to take advantage of the shit ya’ll take for granted.”

Another one of the better songs is “Breakdown,” sampling a ’60s jazz song, Jermaine runs though a few different scenarios: Cole’s meeting with his nonexistent father, his mother’s drug addiction, and the hypothetical of a woman struggling to stay loyal to her man in jail. The longest verse is the first. Cole has frequently mentioned the father that he wished he had, saying: “Maybe I should be tellin’ you fuck you ‘cause you selfish/But I want a father so bad I can’t help but break down.”

From beginning to end, front to back, whatever way you want to put it, J. Cole has given the public a classic debut album. Everything just works: from the production to the lyrics to the features and the song selection, it all just works. While the album may have its flaws, which vary from fan to fan, one must remember that this is a debut album. Jermaine Cole will be in the rap game for quite some time, and I’d bet the farm the he’s going to deliver an A+ album very soon.