The Blissful Black Pessimistic Boys

In life, it’s always good to cherish those that bring out the best in you. Normally, these are people we share a bond with, admire, or at times can find to be rivals. Whatever the case may be, it seems that when you ping off of these people things tend to take new heights and some of the greatest moments occur. Today’s topic isn’t foreign and has been discussed frequently; but those moments seem to happen whenever Wale and J. Cole work together. I believe it is partially entailed to all of the reasons listed above, but as fans and listeners we are always sure to get another great record. When Wale released his latest EP “Free Lunch” last month this was the exact sentiment. Once again they had the internet buzzing about a joint project and how good it could be along with other possibilities. While it does play a part in why I’m writing this, “My Boy” actually isn’t the direct inspiration. It was actually an older record from an older playlist that sparked my thought process.

To kick things off let’s actually begin with something we really don’t see much of anymore, Rap Duos. There are many legendary duos that immediately come to mind. EPMD, Outkast, Mobb Deep, UGK, The Clipse, Method Man & Redman, 8ball & MJG are some of the ones that come to immediate mind as far as the greats go. We also got moments where solid solo artists pair together to do songs and projects together. When I think of those pairings, Nas and AZ, Watch The Throne, Styles P and Jadakiss, Capone-N-Noreaga, Bad Meets Evil are some of the standouts. This makes me wonder, where would Wale and Cole fall into all of this? The interesting thing about it is, with all the groups and pairings I named, not all of them had phenomenal individual careers. That is something that’s common with groups that are started together, there is normally one member that tends to do better than the other or others when they are on their own. Jay and Ye and Meth and Red, are arguably the only ones to have both parties see major success in their individual works. They are also a “pairing” of two individual artists and did not start out their careers as a group. This is something that also works in the favors of Wale and Cole. They have both been successful individually already. They don’t have to worry about their separate works because they both have substantial fanbases coming into the situation.

Another thing that particularly works well for them is the actual music. With Meth and Red the pairing worked so well because it didn’t seem like a blend of two varying styles that come together to do records and projects. With Watch The Throne, at times you got a feel like one was more suited for a production style on a song than the other. This isn’t an issue we see with groups that start together, because the normally develop a style and sound together. In the case of Wale and Cole, it seems like they always find a happy medium on the production style. Being the lyricists they both are, its not doubted that one could move over to the others preferred production style without a problem, but they make it work well and it seems seamless. These are things we saw on early works together like the 2009 standout record from Attention Deficit “Beautiful Bliss”

This was a record many feel like Cole stole the show on. I can agree, this was the song that made me take a more thorough look at J. Cole.

This actually one of the things that works really well for both of them. They both tend to take things to another gear when they do features with other artists. For Cole he has even been categorized as “Feature Cole” when he does records with others, because he seems to approach songs a bit differently when he works with others. Wale does the same. He has had many records where he delivers upper echelon verses with double entandres, metaphors, similes, and clever and witty word play. This is something we saw on the 2013 record “Winter Schemes”.

Song concepts are also another bonus for the pairing. When they come together to work, not only are the lyrics elite, not only is the production quality for both artists, but the concepts of the songs don’t seem forced either. This is something we saw on the 2009 record from “Back to the Feature”, “Rather Be with You” which also features Curren$y. It was this record, which still holds to this day that made me go through their other collaborations as the foundation for this piece.

Other records like “The Pessimist”, “Fitted Cap”, “Black Grammys”, “Bad Girls Club”, “My Boy” and even solo efforts of “False Prophets” and “Groundhog Day” are all the case we need for a joint project. The individual resumes speak for themselves and the collaborations are impressive. The thing to take into consideration is the friendship and adoration for one another. This bond stems back from early days together touring before they were as prominent as they are now on college circuits. This is where a lot of the foundation was built, through the travel time, writing sessions, and just the overall polishing of their crafts. Honestly, a joint project from the two shouldn’t be refreshing, it’s what the fans actually have desired for some time, it may even be overdue. The potential of the pairing of Wale and Cole could be one of epic proportions with some of the best material we have gotten in some time. As a fan myself I hope for the day it happens and I look forward to everything that leads up to it.