NEWS
EVENTS
Cole Vs West: June 18th
RnB/Hip Hop | Tuesday 11th June 2013 | Moses
Billed as one of the biggest release dates in recent hip-hop history, June 18th will see the release of two of the biggest albums in 2013 with J Cole's 'Born Sinner' and Kanye West's 'Yeezus' album due to hit shelves.
Many see this as your classic 'veteran vs rising star' battle, the outspoken yet soulful and creative Kanye West versus the aggressive yet smooth and reflective J Cole. In the lead up to June 18th both rappers have taken a distinctly different path in the lead up to to their album releases.
Heading into June 18th, Kanye West comes in with a bigger catalogue, having dropped 5 studio albums ( 4 receiving grammy wins), Kanye has a proven track record. However with the release of his 'Yeezus' album, he has taken an approach perhaps never before seen by a major star. Up-to-now, no singles off the album have been released, no pre-orders have been made available, marketing has been minimal and the album is to contain no booklet or cover art.
At this point in his illustrious career Kanye is not worried about album sells or radio plays, during a recent-show he explained
"Honestly at this point, I could give a f**k about selling a million records. As long as I put out an album for the summer y'all can rock to all mother****ing summer". Although no singles have been released West has performed 2 new tracks off the album, 'New Slaves' and 'Black Skinhead'.
Kanye West is no stranger to head-to-head release dates, back in 2007 his third studio album 'Graduation' battled with 50 Cent's 'Curtis' album which not only provided a win for Kanye with 957,000 copies sold in the first week compared to 600,000 sold by Curtis, the day was seen as a record-breaking day in Hip Hop as it was only the second time two albums released on the same day sold over 600,00 in the first week.
In comparison, J Cole has a smaller body of work however the young MC from North Carolina has been expanding his fan base for the last few years with the release of 3 acclaimed mixtapes, 2 EP's and his first studio album in 2011; 'Cole World: The Sideline Story'. Cole is seen as one of the 'leaders of the new school' for his reflective rhymes and story-telling abilities which are constant staples in his records. Evidenced in the first single off he's new album album 'Power Trip' featuring Miguel, backed by a powerful music video, the song's been an instant hit, reaching the Top 20 on the billboard charts and receiving plenty of radio spins.
Further releases such as 'Crooked Smile' ft TLC and 'Let Nas down" have been met with great reviews providing the buzz and excitement Cole is looking to generate for the album. As goodwill to his fans the album has also been made available for online streaming a couple days before the official release on Cole's official website; http://www.jcolemusic.com/us/news/listen-born-sinner-album-stream-now.
'Born Sinner' was originally due for release June 25th, however Cole confidently pushed the album forward a week earlier to compete with Kanye explaining "nah I'm going to see him on that date. He's the greatest. So it's like, I'm a competitor by nature so it was instant, it wasn't even a thought"
Regardless who ever comes out on top, June 18th will definitely be a great day for Hip Hop fans, no matter who's album your buying we're all confident both albums will be classics for both rappers and fans alike.
Written by Moses Oyebanjo
@the_big_mo
