This year marks the 10th anniversary of J. Cole’s second studio album, Born Sinner. The album was released on June 18 via ByStorm, Columbia, and Roc Nation. In addition to those labels, Born Sinner was the first album released on Cole’s Dreamville Records. Before he notoriously went Platinum without features for three albums straight, Born Sinner was the last album of his to have features until 2021. The album notably contains features from the likes of Miguel, Kendrick Lamar, TLC, James Fauntleroy, 50 Cent, Jhené Aiko, and more. Like most of his albums, J. Cole produced most of Born Sinner alongside Jake One, Elite, Syience, and Christian Rich.
Born Sinner ranks high among J. Cole’s consistent discography and is currently sitting at 2x Platinum status, making for his second biggest album behind 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Singles like “Power Trip” and “She Knows” remain some of J. Cole’s biggest songs. We're looking back at J. Cole’s Born Sinner for its 10th anniversary.
J. Cole Reached New Heights With Born Sinner
J. Cole’s 2011 debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story was a culmination of the artistic potential he showed on his mixtapes. The album spawned multiple hit singles, including “Work Out” and “Can’t Get Enough.” He fulfilled his potential with major cosigns and songs with Missy Elliott and JAY-Z on his major label debut. Born Sinner was a turning point creatively for J. Cole, ending the basketball theme of his albums and mixtapes until The Off-Season.
With an impressive tracklist with high replay value, Born Sinner has it all: introspective tracks, clever rhymes, and catchy hit records. J. Cole’s versatility can be highlighted in the album’s opening bars. He raps, “Sometimes I brag like Hov, sometimes I’m real like Pac / Sometimes I focus on the flow to show the skills I got / Sometimes I focus on the dough, look at these bills I got.” These lyrics come from the song “Villuminati,” which arguably still remains one of J. Cole’s all-time best rap performances.
While Cole World: The Sideline Story is on par with the sound and theme of his mixtapes, Born Sinner can be described as more artistic than Cole World. When promoting the album, J. Cole said that he had more creative freedom making this album than his debut. The album’s title track speaks to the entire album. He raps, “Born sinner, was never born to be perfect.” In addition to the title track, album highlights like “Crooked Smile” also embrace one’s imperfections and look inward to J. Cole’s own personal feelings to spread a powerful message. The music on the album is true to its title as choirs contribute stunning vocal performances on standout tracks like “Trouble,” “Crooked Smile,” and “Born Sinner.”
J. Cole Positioned Himself As A Hip Hop Great
Making a name for himself with a JAY-Z cosign and the hit singles from his debut album, J. Cole had proven himself a promising name, but he positioned himself as one of the greats with Born Sinner. In addition to the quality of the music, J. Cole aligned himself with the legends when he moved his album release date a week early to compete with Kanye West’s Yeezus. He raps about the decision to move the date on “Forbidden Fruit.”
While Kanye did beat J. Cole in first-week sales, Born Sinner continued to climb the sales charts, eventually overtaking Yeezus. Born Sinner featured respected names like 50 Cent, who appeared on “New York Times,” as well as “Forbidden Fruit” with Kendrick Lamar, who only does the hook because Cole had to turn the album in. The project is riddled with classic hip hop samples on tracks like “Forbidden Fruit,” “Land of the Snakes,” and “Sparks Will Fly.”
He Made Nas Proud
One major highlight of Born Sinner is the song “Let Nas Down,” which begins with a sample of “Nas Is Like.” Cole raps about idolizing Nas at an early age before meeting him for the first time. After feeling pressure from his label, J. Cole dropped his first hit with “Work Out” but felt gutted after hearing that Nas didn’t like the song. In the second and third verses, Cole raps about what Nas’s music meant to him and how he is committed to not sacrificing his music for anything, writing from the heart.
As a result of letting Nas down, Cole raps about re-adjusting his target audience on “Villuminati” after trying to chase a hit and losing sight of his core fanbase. Nas’s response to “Let Nas Down” was nothing short of positive, releasing a remix titled “Made Nas Proud,” giving J. Cole the ultimate stamp of approval. Overall, Born Sinner lives up to the hype created by his debut, surpassing it in quality. It was the first glimpse of J. Cole at legend status.