Along with premiering the “Crooked Smile” video, Noisey also chopped it up with J. Cole about Born Sinner out-selling Kanye West’s Yeezus, the criticism he receives for making “boring” music, Kendrick Lamar’s verse on “Control” and more. A few choice quotes are below, with Ernest Baker‘s entire write-up available here.
On out-selling Kanye:
I don’t wake up every day like, ‘I got a great status in the rap game.’ No, I feel behind. I don’t feel like I’ve done enough. I only get brief moments to appreciate things. I might get a two minute thought of like, ‘Wow, you really did sell more than Kanye. You currently have sold more records than Kanye West’s album, which came out the same day.’ Then I’m back to focusing on what’s next.On “boring” criticism:
It’s funny, but it’s sad. Everybody has their own style of music that they like. I could never let that affect me in the way I make music. The people who like ‘Soul Plane’ are probably gonna think ‘Shawshank Redemption’ is boring. It’s not the end of the world. It’s cool that people care, because five years ago, nobody cared, but I don’t care about the chattering. It’s becoming more and more like noise to me.On Kendrick’s “Control” verse:
That’s rap, man. That’s rap music. That’s a part of the game. It’s natural. It’s fine.
Peace to Andy B on the heads up.
