Jermaine Cole, otherwise known as J. Cole dropped his mixtape, Might Delete Later on April 5, 2024 as a surprise album with some big name features like Bas and Central Cee. The album contains 12 songs where Cole experiments with several new genres.
In H.Y.B., Cole mixes his classic rapping style with Central Cee’s British Drill. Cole’s new experimental style has clearly attracted attention from his fans, last week, Might Delete Later gained 138 million streams and became the top streamed album in the U.S.
Although Cole’s most popular album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive has over 5.5 billion streams, Might Delete Later is already on course to become one of Cole’s most popular albums. However, Cole’s consistent lyrical genius throughout his music career has allowed the majority of his productions to do extremely well.
For my personal opinion, the album surprised me by the fact that Cole has so much to write about, amassing hundreds of songs, Cole’s ability to keep producing quality music proves his musical genius. I don’t think Might Delete Later will ever be Cole’s best album, but I did enjoy listening to several of the songs.
My favorite song on the album, Huntin’ Wabbitz flows in and out of Cole’s classic rap to cartoon clips throughout the song. The title, Huntin’ Wabbitz alludes to the context of the song which starts with the character Elmer Fudd’s classic
Looney Toons line: “Shh Be very, very quiet, I’m huntin’ wabbits.”
Although it is impressive to frame a rap around a line from Looney Tunes, the more
impressive ability of Coles’ is how he can go from cartoon clips to British Drill in one mixtape and pull them both off. Cole continued to maintain this theme throughout Ready ‘24 where he switches his rhythm again into an intense, fast paced rap with a feature late in the song by Cam’ron.
As Cole continues to explore more genres and music types it’s impossible to know if J. Cole will ever be able to develop a more popular album than 2014 Forest Hills Drive, but the early success of Might Delete Later displays that Cole rarely misses.
Additionally, Cole’s recent collaborations with Drake at concerts, and the several features on Might Delete Later have allowed Cole fans to look forward to future collaborations between Cole and other artists. Considering that Bas was featured twice in Cole’s recent album, on H.Y.B. and Stealth Mode, I am looking forward to seeing how Cole and Bas continue to work together.
Because of J. Cole’s utilization of many different styles each track on the album keeps you on your toes. Overall, Might Delete Later is a great album, and the experimental turns of each song foreshadow that Cole will continue to use different genres in his new productions.
