On the 20th of April, 2018 J. Cole dropped his 5th and most recent album titled K.O.D. The North Carolina rapper uses his latest release to address addictions of all kinds. Cole addresses drugs, lust, love, and money all in his unique style with catchy flows and impeccable lyricism. Cole’s newest album does not disappoint compared to any of his previous works and instead gifts his audience with more tracks to enjoy on repeat. After all, this is J. Cole, and none of his songs can be fully digested with only one listen.

“K.O.D”

The first song on Cole’s album “K.O.D” is arguably one of the simplest songs included beat-wise. Lyricaly, J. Cole does not disappoint. The beat consists of simplistic melodies and heavy bass to create an easy beat to flow to and a fast paced story to enjoy. On this track, Cole speaks on the addiction of drugs and what might cause one to fall into such addiction. Cole begins the chorus with, “This is what you call a flip ,Ten keys from a quarter brick Bentley from his mama's whip” implying that the character he speaks about, makes enough from selling “quarter bricks” to move on from his mother’s car to a new Bentley. With this, J.Cole leaves us with reasons as to why such lifestyle exists and benefits it brings. Cole later continues with,“I smoke the drug and it run through my vein, I think it's workin' it's numbin' the pain, Don't give a f*** and I'm somewhat insane, Don't give a f*** and I'm somewhat insane,” then goes on to say,“If practice made perfect, I'm practice's baby”. With this, Cole expresses the satisfaction of the life he’s living and it makes us think: wouldn’t you be satisfied as well? That’s a dangerous thought, and Cole lets us know that.

“Photograph”

Another track that stood out in this album was “Photograph”.Unlike “K.O.D”, “Photograph” speaks on a more overlooked type of addiction: Lust in the modern day.  With this track J.Cole — once again, goes with the minimalist approach with a basic hip-hoppy beat and a light harmony to let his bars get straight to you. Cole expresses that he “Fell in love through photograph, I don't even know your name, Wonder if you'd follow back, I hope to see you one day...” and perfectly puts into perspective how it is to lust over someone on the other side of the screen and wanting that attention. This bar is not only accurate to what it is like but it becomes relatable when we keep in mind that at one point we’ve all wanted attention from that someone. Cole then proceeds to spit more about the “addiction” aspect of this lust when he says, “Ain't heard from you in like two months, All of a sudden, you pop on my line You could make time, stop on a dime…” and shows that just like any other type of drug, a person is as hard to reject no matter for how long they’ve been “inactive”. Cole has managed to very elaborately paint a picture of what modern day love has become and how “Love today's gone digital And it's messing with my health” and none of us can come to disagree.

“ATM”

One of the best and most well produced tracks in the album has to be “ATM”, with it’s hyped beat of heavy bass and a catchy, fast-paced melody to have your head bang up and down. It is not the first time J.Cole has addressed the consequences of searching for riches, he’s touched this topic many different times in previous works such as “Mo Money” and “Rich N****z”. With “ATM” Cole speaks on the extent to which one will go to to have money and to achieve the high that wealth provides when in the chorus he sings, “Will I fall? Will I fly?Heal my soul, Fulfill my high…” The fact that he refers to success as a “high” more clearly lets us know money is addicting, we all the just more and more; it can become addicting and we easily become used it how J.Cole says, “Big bills, big bills, I fell in love with big wheels and quick thrills, My n****s running tip drills, can't sit still, Don't give a f*** if it kills, it mix well, I'm only counting…” and how Cole couldn’t have said better : “Count it up, count it up, count it up, count it, Can't take it when you die, but you can't live without it..”

K.O.D is a love letter to the fans who crave that lyrical Cole while also being a solid eye opener to the many different addictions that exist in this world. J.Cole does so in an excellent mixture of vibey music and hard-hitting bars that any fan of rap can truly enjoy. K.O.D leaves the solid impression of a well rounded album that is more than just beats and fast flows as it was— unsurprisingly— a nominee for Album of the year at the 2018 BET  Hip-Hop Awards.