Born Sinner

J. Cole - Born Sinner
Critic Score
Based on 16 reviews
2013 Ratings: #768 / 1115
User Score
2013 Rank: #439
Liked by 92 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

80
AllMusic

A daring step forward for Cole and an exciting attempt at mastering Jay's Blueprint style.

80
AllHipHop

At 21 tracks (including interludes), Born Sinner should offer enough music to last fans for quite some time. No sins here – just another era in hip-hop being born again.

80
HipHopDX

Though commendable as it is largely self-produced without a solitary emcee cameo, Cole’s semi-autobiographical one man show settles for being average where a more vibrant character would bring life to his music.

80
XXL

Born Sinner’s best moments are when he embraces the persona that initially garnered him praise.

80
Slant Magazine
His palpable sense of responsibility is matched by his slick but convincing critiques of hip-hop’s culture of conspicuous consumption.
70
PopMatters

He’s certainly impressed with his flow, delivery and production, and while he hasn’t released the next golden hip hop album he’s coming close.

70
Rolling Stone
His riffs on racism, homophobia and misogyny have more lyrical cunning than insight. But when it comes to twisting himself into Kanye-size pretzels of career-oriented real talk, he’s a champ.
68
Beats Per Minute

The LP is constantly listenable, never exciting; never poor, and never outstanding. It simply exists, the musical equivalent of an inanimate object.

60
Pitchfork

While the production (mostly by Cole himself) favors the soulful, laid-back vibe of College Dropout and the string swoops of Late Registration, there's very little to make it distinct, something more than a nod to the past.

60
SPIN

Cole should be fired up to make his own Illmatic, his own Reasonable Doubt, or his own College Dropout. But here he seems stuck somewhere between starstruck and envious, fawning over his idols instead of trying to take their crowns.

60
Consequence of Sound

As he watches his career progress, Roc Nation’s inaugural signee lives to prove his cunning. 

50
The Needle Drop
Despite the dramatic cover art and album title, J. Cole's sophomore effort doesn't seem any more emotional or focused than his debut.
40
Tiny Mix Tapes

There are some solid points buried deep down in the wreckage of Cole’s seven-bar pileup, but you’ll have to sift through a great, big, ambivalent pile of solecisms in order to get to them. As it turns out, that holds true for the vast majority of Born Sinner.

40
Spectrum Culture

Cole can rap well enough and knows how to vary his flows up enough on each track to make Born Sinner seem like a diverse yet cohesive listen. However, looking at all the interesting places hip-hop has gone in the past 12 months, Born Sinner suffers from only being outstanding at not standing out.

JohnnyB1965
85

Hmmm unpopular rap opinion I guess? I actually really like J. Cole. I know the whole platinum with no features meme is funny and yeah his hardcore fanbase are geeks, but I really like most of his music, particularly this album. To me, this is where J. Cole really shined. His first album was mediocre, but this one is filled with tons of excellent songs. I really admire his honesty and this album definitely helped me with some tougher times when I was younger.

emcee119
61

When he says “it’s way darker this time,” he’s right, at least for a little bit. J. Cole moves away from his come-up story and tries to dabble in a few other ideas, but they end up feeling pretty aimless and not all that memorable. “Power Trip” has a cool atmosphere, but the cloying Miguel hook doesn’t really match up well with Cole’s delivery. “Crooked Smile” has a nice message of self-empowerment but it rings a little hollow after ... read more

Rollo_P
72

This album takes a while to get going, but when it does, it can be relatively rewarding. Power Trip, Trouble, She Knows, Rich Niggaz, Forbidden Fruit - they're all solid tracks! Not fuck-you-in-the-face good, but solid! Let Nas Down with the subsequent Nas remix is, in fact, fuck-you-in-the-face good, and deserving of a placement among some of Cole's best songs ever. Really cool story regarding the expectations of the old guard that the new guard have to face and come to their own terms with. ... read more

wyze
76

fav songs - land of the snakes, rich niggaz, chaining day, born sinner

Homelessman
79

Bit of a weak tracklist. It's got two borrowed beats and Cole doesn't really do them justice. She knows is pretty much the only great track. Also a shame that Kdot and Cole only really collabed on this album.

sixtenrates
58

so boring. The only memorable verse J Cole has on this was the first one on Villuminati, just cause he said the f slur a couple of times. instrumentals are passable but aint nothing special.

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Track List

1Villuminati
5:07
80
2Kerney Sermon
0:46
Skit
61
3Land of the Snakes
4:14
76
4Power Trip
4:01
feat. Miguel
83
5Mo Money
1:17
Interlude
68
6Trouble
4:18
74
7Runaway
5:14
78
8She Knows
4:56
85
9Rich Niggaz
4:36
78
10Where's Jermaine?
0:36
Skit
63
11Forbidden Fruit
4:28
79
12Chaining Day
4:44
72
13Ain't That Some Shit
2:27
Interlude
68
14Crooked Smile
4:38
feat. TLC
82
15Let Nas Down
4:37
84
16Born Sinner
3:29
78
Total Length: 59 minutes

Year End Lists

#13/Complex
#14/Slant
#19/Time Out London
#41/Rolling Stone
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Added on: June 18, 2013