J. Cole's Report Card? | Dead End Hip Hop Conversations

[@JFreitas0937]

I like this series, but I think this would be better if every category had a clear definition and every number rating had a clear meaning that all the guys agree on. I think it would make it so that all the guys are on the same page and are comparing apples to apples. Sometimes they give scores that mean different things to each other in categories that mean different things to each other and it’s comparing apples to oranges. Cool conversations either way tho

[@REDANDSILVER741]

I agree heavily, originality was a wild one because I don’t know who else sounds like him. Someone needs to create a doc with clear understanding of what you are looking for.

[@naveeth8867]

100% agree. I love this series and I gave the inconsistency a bit of a pass because it was relatively new. But they've done enough now that they should really all have an agreed definition of what each means

[@BT30191]

​@@REDANDSILVER741lol the fuck J cole is original how?!

[@Okkotsu86275]

This was actually more complimerary then I originally expected

[@anustart1934]

Yeah i think Cole has done a lot of interesting things in the last 5 years, but if they did this back in 2018 after KOD, it would've been very different lmao

[@Okkotsu86275]

@@anustart1934 That's true, Cole has changed their opinion on him in recent years

[@theshortone52095]

Would love to see a Lil Wayne report card

[@NickA_1992]

Man I'm curious to see what they would give him on the album score. Wayne had a stretch of amazing projects then a stretch of very bad projects.

[@user-fs7zm6zc7s]

@@NickA_1992 never had a stretch of bad projects

[@birdmanfancy9627]

Don’t give them suggestions… the stuff you ask for the most is gonna be behind a paywall… I want the free content to make me wanna buy

[@NickA_1992]

@@user-fs7zm6zc7s Rebirth? I not human being 2? Free Weezy Album? And some subpar mixtapes like dedication 4. Come on now I'm a Wayne fan but there was a drop off.

[@user-fs7zm6zc7s]

@@NickA_1992 you're out of your mind if you think free weezy album is bad. That album is some of the best technical rapping of Wayne's career. I refuse to believe anyone who says that album isn't good actually listened to it

[@dexenationgracey1979]

The way I look at it, originality is like being an inventer, while innovation is like bringing something new to a thing that already exists. For example, Kool Herc would be an originator as he introduced turntablism to hip-hop while Grandmaster Flash would be an innovator as he brought a new approach to a technique that already exists.

[@BrianGlaze]

Excellent way of presenting that

[@OGNICKMARSH]

LMAO "Mr. Modest" is an amazing stripper name

[@unimpressedalchemist]

I like how much Myke has leaned into the ad libs recently

[@iDewThis4Yu]

I literally hate that shit, it use to be funny here and there but now it’s like after anybody says anything “Just asking how ya day going man” Myke: daymn😂 like nigga shut up.

[@unimpressedalchemist]

@@iDewThis4Yu it's so bad it's good type humor to me. I'm also like "shut the fuck up" but I'm laughing

[@gintoki_sakata__]

​@@iDewThis4Yuhe does it for you 😂

[@lovecomestoeveryone]

LMAO Ken spittin facts! “it’s unusual not really innovative” 😂

[@Mithilan01]

Whenever I think of Delivery in a rapper I immediately think of someone like Ransom. He makes sure each word he says is heard and felt with such urgency.

[@ideozublake8036]

pusha t comes to mind when i think delivery

[@jroameverywhere]

Love this series fellas, I think beat selection should be a factor also!

[@fuzzydunlop4513]

AGREED

[@kJ-gk5qu]

Feefo: Think about it, you’re more than halfway to the next 5 ken:🤨🧐 That had me rolling!

[@srtoushh.9773]

He had a point tho. He meant that Cole is not above average, Cole can be described as a pretty good rapper by giving him 8/10

[@pollopollo5658]

@@srtoushh.9773 N that's above average was there point

[@srtoushh.9773]

@@pollopollo5658 by above average they meant 6/10

[@pollopollo5658]

@@srtoushh.9773 Yeah both are above average

[@chuckdalybeatz]

Hey been a fan since the early days….seeing the progress and growth is inspiring and I want to thank you guys for your perspective, honesty, and laughs of course….god bless y’all

[@Dologaming24]

Pretty accurate If you ask me. I’d love to see a Andre 3000, Lil Wayne or Busta Rhymes report card.

[@kevincastillo868]

Hopefully we can get a Lupe Fiasco report card . .... It be funny to see Ab- soul next too since he has a song called "No report card" lol

[@Giggsboson]

A Jay-Z cosign and rocnation was an huge help imo

[@manjotsethi3131]

Gotta do a K Dot Report Card! That would be damn near flawless scores

[@brendenjohnson4614]

Cap, he has no originality. His voice is just "diffrent". Name one intreting thing he's done that someone didn't do 5-10 years prior. I'll wait. (To pimp a butterfly was a classic though)

[@manjotsethi3131]

@@brendenjohnson4614 he might not be the most original I’m not saying that but his score for that still would be higher than J Cole’s and so many others in Hip Hop. He literally is the epitome of the perfect MC for people who care about conscience music while still being accessible for mainstream audiences. He is the most different artist in the Hip Hop scene today with how much of a impact he has on the culture without sacrificing his integrity in any way and makes music for the culture not just to produce hits.

[@brendenjohnson4614]

@Manjot Sethi your really going to pretend that Andre 3000 never existed? Smh, he's not even the best at any one trait he's just well rounded. He's a bit even that high tier of a lyricist. Maybe, the top 100 bet definitely not top 50. His flow is maybe in the top 50. No way, he's getting a perfect score. He's hype on a good day

[@brendenjohnson4614]

Oh and how can I forget he's not even the best rapper to be on tde Isaiah rashad is.

[@single4life484]

i have a feeling that ''The Fall off" is going to be a masterpiece . i dont know why

[@dominiquesmith7680]

Many are claiming it’ll be J.cole magnum opus

[@LJChibueze]

I hope it becomes the first critically acclaimed album in his catalog cuz he’s missing that

[@NegiZero]

Based on his history, its probably going to be another decent album.

[@AST-erisked]

General Averages: MF DOOM: 8.6 Jay Z: 7.46 J Cole: 7.04

[@callumw6031]

Hov only being a few higher than j cole is strange

[@SkiddMcMarx]

yall should have a catagory based on how hard they music bumps in the whip

[@phettywappharmaceuticalsll8842]

Lol Gucci mane gonna shoot up the rankings as elite lol

[@keneola]

"Your phone's upside down" killed me 😂

[@baseballbat2280]

Hey! This content is super cool and entertaining. I especially like how it gets y’all to break down the strengths and weaknesses of rappers and discuss what y’all value in your favorite artists. Regarding X-Factor, I remember it being used in Fighting Game Rankings as a metric for potential some years ago. Basically, someone could be rank 21, but if they were on the come-up, analysts would give them an X-Factor of like +7 to indicate that that player could go up as many as 7 ranks in the near future. Similarly, a top five player who’s about to retire could have a negative X-Factor to indicate an expected drop-off. For these report cards, I always thought of X-Factor as something like “potential” or “good faith that a rapper will demonstrate an interesting change and/or growth on any given project.” Rappers on the come up like Denzel Curry or JID or rappers who consistently reinvent their sound like Kendrick would have an X-factor grade of 8 or up. On the flip side, rappers who have consistently dropped in quality or failed at cultivating much good faith would have an X-factor grade of 3 or below. For me, the easiest examples would be Eminem or really bad XXL freshman like YK Osiris or Lil Mosey. Just figured I’d give my thoughts since “X-factor” seems to be a pretty confusing metric. Thanks again for the all the hard work y’all put in. It really shows in how great the content is!

[@marmiteghost]

when feefo said "you're more than halfway to the next 5" me and ken made the same face at the same time lmao

[@sith_ofdragons7642]

I’d love for y’all to do a Denzel Curry report card since he has a good amount of projects and features under his belt

[@jayburritos]

loving this series more and more with each episode!!

[@professionallyamateur5991]

These are great, would love to see y'all bring this type of video back!

[@SH_Eth210]

Born Sinner is my favorite Cole album, it holds so many memories for me. I liked it more than Yeezus at the time & I was at peak Kanye stan status. That was when I became a Cole fan after that I went back and listened to the mixtapes and for me personally he doesn't have a bad album I love his discography top to bottom.

[@iansmart4158]

CAN we get a J.Cole PRODUCER bracket?! The DEHH narrative of Cole beats sounding the same or being too uninteresting is just wrong. The man produced POWER TRIP (hell all of Born Sinner) , HIII-POWER (Kendrick Lamar), TO WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, THE CLIMB BACK, RNP (for Cordae), FACETIME (for Ari Lennox), LAUDER (for JID), HURT FEELINGS (Mac Miller) and a ton of other varied interesting beats. Lets get the guys to really dive in on him as a producer and not just rely on their memory. Even if you go off just his albums, how he produces BORN SINNER vs. FHD vs. 4YEO is completely different. They sound so different from each other!

[@Ruhul612]

I wished J Cole worked with more legendary MCs and Producers. Nothing against anyone who’s big now, but I feel like that’s how classics are made in your discography. When it’s for the culture.

[@SoulOfTheSouth]

He has. He worked with DJ Premier, Kanye, 9th Wonder, Alchemist, Illmind, Timbaland, who was also on his Offseason album, Drake’s producer TMinus, Vinylz, Dr. Dre and others. Check out his discography.

[@CashMoneyMan10293847]

I like that you guys added in the averages at the end

[@TheMomno]

Love that they start out discussing whether 6 is low on a scale from 1 to 10

[@RisingShadow11]

great series!!! as a cole fan 7-8 is a good score ill take it

[@underground.dreamkingz]

"Basic rapper that gets by off his presence." That is the most blasphemous statement on J. Cole I've ever heard! Smh

[@JJMza]

Awesome watch. I think his singing is what makes him unique. The ironic thing is I do not like singing songs, but that could change I never know! Nowadays I tune into underrated everything. So particularly how projects are lined up (crafted) type shit. Ofcourse hits are good, but to understand how unpopular songs are made is going to be my Spaceodyssey understanding of it not some definite definition, but there are levels to dis. #MusicRhythm I do not think conscious hiphop is cringy, but I gotta teach myself that catchy brick talk music should be the thing of the past because who wouldn't want consistent vacations without it's stresses.

[@Fit_AF_123]

Keep em' coming guys!

[@edwardpolenzani1039]

Ah, Myke changed his tune on Forest Hills Drive huh. Interesting. I think Myke's timeline is a bit mixed up with the album order. Because he really didn't like KOD or Your Eyes Only, which both came after Forest Hills Drive. Then Off Season was most recent

[@kJ-gk5qu]

Finally, they really dragged this 1 out but I get It, good work Champs!

[@paulskeaping7203]

I would love to see a Nas report card, btw loving the content!

[@thirstfen]

It really is fascinating how they still sit at around only 250k subs. They were the goto hip-hop channel for years. They should be at 900k-1.2mil subs easy

[@ideozublake8036]

that’s because this type of content is for real hip hop heads. unlike most other channels that just review only mainstream music that trends

[@LEGEND75ful]

Myke and Ken are the only ones that know how to be objective with these report cards.

[@isaiahgarcia163]

Myke literally said his tales are based in ignorance because he doesn’t listen to him. He’s a hater but he admits he just might not know

[@commaJim]

Wtf does this mean? Do you think everyone but Ken and Myke is being dishonest or disingenuous about it, lol? Or do you mean they are just wrong and not getting the right answers??

[@traplover6357]

@@commaJim no. Being objective =/= being honest. They're two different words. Being honest/genuine is a subjective feeling from oneself vs looking from the outside

[@SoulOfTheSouth]

@@isaiahgarcia163 And that’s the problem. How are you gonna do a Report Card debate on a rapper that you don’t listen to their albums like that? Go listen to their albums and then judge them.

[@TheTheorder]

Ken too big a Cole hater, he hasnt fixed his scale yet based on his other report cards, its still inflated like the others.

[@vincentwilliams5271]

J Cole deserves a solid 7.

[@96god2]

Fair score

[@3bdxxkxy123]

Rappers I would love to see you guys do report cards on: Eminem Kanye Lil Wayne Drake

[@boboyamyams]

Can you guys do a report card for Guru? I feel like he’s underrated and deserves his flowers

[@user6858]

Love these

[@JNRofficial]

This is straight 🔥

[@cloudedthought6944]

Whoever spoke at 9:00 sounds just like Royce

[@LockheedLazar]

bruh didnt modest say collab albums shouldnt count for the report card? and now hes judging j cole off his features lmao

[@neeharavi]

Danny Brown Report Card!

[@parshantkhandelwal9516]

Been watching long time . Love from india

[@Lebowski55]

You guys got to do Black Thought

[@brandanjordancomedy]

Y’all should do one of my top 5 favorites Fabolous

[@mrsmiley707]

i wanna see a isaiah rashad and mick jenkins report card

[@helpoj]

Feefo get lowkey vexed nowadays when he has to explain 😂

[@ColdJoeGaming]

I think Substance should replace one of these. Substance is very very very important imp

[@aeragonia811]

Rod and Feefo legit driving me nuts with the "yeah but but but but" desperate attempts to defend their wack opinions

[@jacobalamo5911]

I need ya to do Scarface, Sean Price & Lupe Fiasco report cards in that order please. 🙏

[@kiba45]

My ratings.... Vocabulary - 9 Flows - 8 Versatility - 7 Originality - 7 Articulation - 9 Delivery - 8 Presence - 8 Innovation - 4 Albuns - 6 X-Factor - 8 overall - 8. J cole is a rapper that gets better through the time... back in the days i didn't really f with wim... but now somehow is in my top 6 of the best rappers in the last 10 years...

[@thaspydaman21]

Would love to see a Scarface report next

[@xavierwilliams8973]

Kendrick Lamar report card is what I wanna see next

[@derrickzorns6506]

Y’all should do one for Big K.R.I.T.

[@lighterlemin]

Add storytelling and wordplay to the categories

[@PabloHurtado1992]

Think Ken is being a bit tough on him. Now I don't rank him as high as his biggest fans. But out of all the countless rappers over the last decade, besides Kendrick and Drake no other rapper has stuck around like him. Even Tyler branched out and that helped him maintain and grow. Cole has stuck to rap and building his brand. No other crew did what they did, as a crew, not ASAP, Odd Future, Or TDE. He's one of the few who does major concept albums, with KOD, 4 your eyez only, etc. He also has taken conscious rap and the general public has devoured it.

[@SoulOfTheSouth]

Ken does not Cole at all. Hell DEHH don’t even like Dreamville. You just heard Ken was shocked that they play Cole on the radio. Idk how he missed that. They always played his music including from his last album. That goes to show you how out touch they are at times. They’re so busy talking about Kendrick and holding his nuts on every video. No disrespect but Kendrick is ok. He’s great at concepts but as far as being in a cypher, Cole will run around him in circles. You seen their reaction to Cole’s LA Leakers freestyle. They were shocked and they said they didn’t know he rap like that. Them niggas are a decade late lol.

[@chief-long-john]

Nah we needa Earl report card. His shit would be stacked

[@Donya195]

If this is a report card then 5 is not average lol

[@dwightgiles2769]

Nas, ‘Em, and Redman

[@iDewThis4Yu]

Okay we gotta partition against these adlibs myke be doing he really jumping the shark with that shit. It’s like 20 times a video…home even “damned” his own damn” around like 2:30 like nigga relax 😂😂😂 Ughhhh why did that piss me off so much

[@HoodieWill_]

Hope the fall off has the alchemist , 9th wonder and hit boy production

[@agipson101]

Lupe fiasco would be cool

[@afrikankodo]

we here!

[@bvbvjghjkjkj]

Next is Lupe Fiasco for sure.

[@WillieEarlSon]

Project pat next, does not make sense how underrated this man was. To this day people are using his flows, beats, drake took damn near a whole verse

[@kuriousstylez]

Memphis rap as a whole has been extremely influential and yet it's almost always ignored

[@WillieEarlSon]

@@kuriousstylez i agree, between Memphis and the Dj Screw era both of them rarely ever get their credit.

[@ravantgarde1899]

I dig seeing the average scores 💪🏻

[@JusRed48]

I think those average scores fit J. Cole pretty perfectly tbh. He's just a little above mid.

[@keustuhh]

waiting for the eminem report card

[@BrianGlaze]

Bad Below average Average Above average Good Great Elite

[@rts6346]

maybe i’m just a super fan but i’d love to see a kenny mason report card

[@gabagooloverhere6647]

Do a Lupe one next!

[@edwardpolenzani1039]

I thought he showed some versatility on the Off Season

[@santafrisco5908]

I feel like the obvious choice right after J.Cole is Kendrick. I'd be down for a Kendrick report card.

[@isaiahgarcia163]

Cole smoked jid on off deez no cap. More flows, better articulation, and a denser presence

[@JLJConglomeration]

Better articulation?? You can’t be serious

[@isaiahgarcia163]

@@JLJConglomeration yeah literally sounded like jid was mumbling at points. Literally the first few lines are hard to understand “itty bitty bitch, nigga in the city with it, pull up with the stick, thirty with the dick” listen again and get out of your feelings bro

[@MrASAPAB]

@@JLJConglomerationeasily better articulation lol. Very hard to comprehend what JID was saying on that verse

[@noahperez5074]

Yall should do logic. It be interesting to get a deep dive on how yall feel

[@phettywappharmaceuticalsll8842]

Oh boy that could end badly

[@HemingwayJay]

Theu really should consolidate these categories.

[@questionable-ethics]

Can’t wait for kdot

[@Noirlore]

Cole has one classic album max. 25 and unders rate him way too high especially with his half assed “concepts”

[@MrASAPAB]

You def a teenager yourself with that AVI and Travis Scott and Kanye vid

[@jahleelflecha]

Gotta do Conway

[@birdmanfancy9627]

For Myke to say he’s getting better is sad

[@SoulOfTheSouth]

That whole platinum with no features things is played out because all of his albums are platinum. As far as Ken, how the fuck you did not know that they play J Cole music on the radio? They play him everyday.

[@bebrooks11]

Calling a top 25 (top 10 for me) rapper a 7 and saying he’s an above average rapper is wild..

[@ClydeCyrus]

5 is average

[@bebrooks11]

@@ClydeCyrus they literally say above average

[@JULIANVAUGHNN]

Pac is the definition of 10/10 delivery

[@chancep8985]

no

[@designatedpiledriver8216]

Cole gets a 5 for vocab

[@Nicolasmondragon707]

Myke the Kid C Town back again y’all!! 🔥🔥🔥

[@sergiopietracatella2112]

Don’t know if anyone from @deadendhiphop is reading but maybe you should do thumbnail’s in your videos to make them more accessible and easier to navigate

[@alejandrom6598]

please do a west coast rapper next

[@MultiDashing123]

Go for an hopsin report card

[@isaiahgarcia163]

I’m wearing my j Cole shirt please don’t make me cry

[@JM-ex2lj]

Mach-hommy

[@Frankoshack]

Do Freddie Gibbs next

[@querldox]

He may he up to 7.75... hahaha

[@SoulOfTheSouth]

Ken said Cole is a basic rapper? Kendrick is a basic rapper.

[@justcraig2712]

Have they done Kendrick’s report card?

[@chibsagu]

Now they have

[@mafiosotruely]

Just a thought 💭 Since a lot of rappers aren't innovative nowadays, can we scrap that category and insert wordplay? I kinda like that better

[@dwill0125]

Y'all did Cole so I feel like Kendrick would be cool for the next one