Now this album, I can speak on the process. I just did these." It was more like piecing together something, as opposed to this album. It was like, "OK, I've got these songs left. So by the time my first album came along - it wasn't a true making-the-album process. That's not true for this generation anymore because I had to give so much of my life on the mixtapes, you know what I mean - on the first two. They say you've got your whole life to make your first album.ĬOLE: But that's not true for me. ĬOLE: Well, I can only speak to this album because my first album was not really - my second album, which is Born Sinner, is really more like my fourth because I dropped a mixtape called The Warm Up, then Friday Night Lights, and those were like albums. Is it like you get a concept before you begin the process or is it you just. MUHAMMAD: As an artist, explain your process. That's crazy, man - coming from you, for real. Just from top to bottom.ĬOLE: Thank you, man. MUHAMMAD: Well, I appreciate the record in its entirety.
But it can't compare to a digital-only release where you can control the exact time that it'll come out, you know what I mean? So whoever finds how to bridge that gap is gonna make a lot of money.
Because there's still value in a CD, even if it's just nostalgic. Whoever finds out how to do that - how to still maintain the physical aspect of music release but also get the experience down pat where it doesn't leak early - that's gonna be a rich person. So I waited until the last minute.ĬOLE: I appreciate that man, thank you. But in this new position I'm in, I gotta get things early. And I just love getting that joint on record release day and being a part of that energy and just to, you know, feel it for the first time. MUHAMMAD: I'm still a DJ, I'm still a record collector. Cole: An Upstart Rapper Speaks For Himself
But this is album release week so yeah, it's particularly crazy and hectic and you don't get a real free moment. I've been busy for the past couple weeks just on promo mode. You're really busy, huh?ĬOLE: Yeah, I am. Any time I get to be in this building is a crazy feeling. COLE: Thank you for having me, first of all. Hear the audio version at the link and read more of their conversation below. Cole spoke to Microphone Check hosts Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelley about the pressures of competing for sales against one of his idols - one of the main subjects of Born Sinner - putting his own spin on classic hip-hop songs and finding songs to sample everywhere, even at the Cheesecake Factory. Both albums leaked before their street dates, and both were the subject of rapid-response reviews. Cole put out his second major label album, Born Sinner, this week, on the same day Kanye West officially released Yeezus. Cole performing at KMEL Summer Jam in Oakland, Calif., on June 9.