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Your 30s are a different game than your 20s.
Its the difference between fighting for survival and playing for longevity.
At the end of the aughts,J.
He built and nurtured a base while working out the kinks in his sound.
He adapted (albeit slowly and not without lapses) to criticism of his less-than-enlightened stances.
He refined his craft admirably on 2016s4 Your Eyez Onlyand2018sKOD.
J. Cole got good and then he sorta ghosted.
Five albums deep, its hard to surprise people.
You know the game well enough to coast, though youre stable enough to take chances.
Its a nostalgia trip, both figuratively and literally.
Weve come full circle and realized the dream.
What comes after the dream, though, is tedium, maintenance.
Bouncing verses off of guests again seems to reinvigorate Cole.
He should invite his friends over more often; they bring different colors to his music.
He knows that, but hell never stop trying.
Its admirable to the extent that it pays off.
When it doesnt, it invites the question of how much Cole has changed since his come up.
Or has J. Cole peaked already?
