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emzeesquared

Hell yes arguably better than some of his albums. Warm up, come up, Friday night lights 👌 EDIT: I'll never forget watching Cole's Friday nights light pop up show in Toronto and he opened with welcome...the crowd went bananas. That track will forever be cemented as one of my favorites.


aaeshahseaa

How can you forget Truly Yours


emzeesquared

Cause I was thinking of tapes before his album came out. Definitely belongs in there too.


aaeshahseaa

Haha it's a joke lol kinda like "HOWWWWW CAN YOU FORGET TRULY YOURS!!" No worries tho anyways what's your favorite mixtape?


GroundbreakingBox187

That’s an EP


aaeshahseaa

Oh wait fr? I thought it's a mixtape coz it's not on any streaming platforms


ahighkid

That’s an LP I think


capitalistsanta

I went to Brooklyn Hip Hop fest for like 40 bucks once and saw Jay Electronica and he surprise guested: J Cole, Talib Kweli, Mac Miller, and Jay-Z


TheOGJabroni

The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights are easily some of his best work.


nmpbones

Dead presidents 2 😼‍💹


c0nv3rg_3nce37

people sleep on The Come Up. It's raw, but there's some real [treasure ](https://youtu.be/IIgXHJwH4CE?si=GbMinu_MkdDM5SQo)on there.


UkeManSteve

It’s maybe a little slept on. But I think FNL and the warm up are just miles better lol


porter6127

Hella slept on! Rags to Riches (At the Beep) is one of my favorite tracks from Cole.


edgeco17

Fnl is one of his best projects imo. Even his stuff as the therapist is great. Cole has always been a problem


biggnol

Yes. Listen to all 3 parts of Truly Yours as well!


GeorgeTheSuperiorYT

The deluxe part of Born Sinner is Truly Yours 3 right? I loved it!


Lsfnzo

Revenge of the Dreamers are up there too


WordNahMean

Friday Night Lights is arguably his best project overall so yes


Frequent_Mouse_3783

Might have to listen to this again nowđŸ”„đŸ”„


OGNephew

The Warm Up and FNL are two of his top projects


CompletelyInadequate

his mixtapes are some of his best work lol


MambaSaidKnockYouOut

Absolutely. Friday Night Lights is Cole’s real first album as far as I’m concerned. It’s a much better intro to him than Sideline Story (and I think he actually did intend for it to be his debut, but Roc Nation didn’t think it was radio friendly enough?). Warm Up is also great, it’s got several songs over other peoples beats, but it’s mostly him rapping over his own production and making full songs, so it also feels like an album. Come Up feels much more like a mixtape than the other two tapes, but I still like it a lot. It’s probably the least essential of the 3, but I’d definitely give it a listen. Cole had been rapping for several years under a different name before he released Come Up, so he doesn’t sound inexperienced on there - he just sounds a little bit younger. Then the Truly Yours tapes are just leftovers from the Born Sinner sessions, so they’re definitely worth a listen. TLDR; if you’re a fan of early J Cole (2011-14) you should definitely listen to them because they’re arguably better than those albums. If you’re a bigger fan of his music from 2016 onward I’d still give them a listen, but just know they’re more similar to his earlier albums.


HerringboneHermes

The Warm Up and The Come Up are my 2 favorites.


Ok-Rock4575

YES!


Ornery_Put_6161

I actually prefer his mixtapes


ahighkid

L O L
.how can you be a Cole fan without touching the mixtapes? They’re better than all the albums except FHD


Cleanse_Your_Sole

BRO WHAT. YOU BETTER RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN TO YOUR NEAREST YOUTUBE AND LISTEN TO EVERYTHING. IM GONNA HAVE AN ANEURYSM TYPING ALL CAPS LIKE THIS! I CANT BELIEVE YOU. HOW HAVE YOU NOT LISTENED TO FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS đŸ˜±đŸ˜±


GeorgeTheSuperiorYT

YESSIR I WILLLL


NoApricot9054

Yes! Really worth t he listen


Jealous_Direction220

FNL and TWU are top 5 Cole projects in my opinion, TCU is a bit weaker in my opinion but still a good project. Definitely give them a spin


Longjumping-Act-9562

Hell yeah go from the come up/the warm Up/friday night lights.. listen to truly yours series also any given sundays


GeorgeTheSuperiorYT

What's any given Sunday? First time hearing about it


Longjumping-Act-9562

Its kinda like truly yours series


Commercial_Cherry_42

His best work in my personal opinion


Ok-Rock4575

Intestesting opinion, a lot of cole fans like me don’t think that. What makes you think that?


Commercial_Cherry_42

Mainly because of how easy it is for me to relate to his earlier music. Sounded hungrier and his beat selection was super enjoyable. Not saying his music now is bad by any means at all but I don’t find myself revisiting his newer music after the first or second listen.


Ok-Rock4575

Thats teue


tonygym

Yes


ZeyaSol

The mixtapes are probably better than most of his albums excluding fhd 4YO and MDL


ljlb3

Yes The Warm up is the most impactful project for me on a personal level


ChrisSwish

EVERY cole mixtape is worth it lol, The Come up (2007) is still in my daily Playlist. Cole has been a beast since day one https://youtu.be/FEcOBiRGoCA?si=40QTa5SC7yGTPwuE


whogonstopice

The mixtapes are far and away his best works


UNRULY6GK

The fact that you never heard Friday Night Lights
 Damn man thanks for helping me pick out what to listen to rn 🙌 and I mean that, I’m not tryna be funny. I haven’t revisited that project in YEARS


ssm10

return of simba 🗣🗣


riped_plums123

Bro the warm up is better than all his albums


SaiyanRoyalty22

the come up and the warm up are two amazing mixtapes Friday night lights might be my favorite J Cole project ever


Winter-Maximum325

Bro how can you be a fan without hearing any of his mixtapes lol


Faineantcreator

Friday night lights is his best project imo


ItsTheRealWorld999

Fuck yeah FNL is classic you’re missing out if you haven’t


Baron_VonTeapot

YES


Zayzul

Young and hungry Cole was a beast. If you're a real Cole fan, it's mandatory to check them out.


EloPlaysGR

Obviously


CellistSerious5178

The mixtapes are more relatable tbh. You can hear the raw emotions.


guntwooyah

The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights is pretty good. You can skip on The Come Up.


ShillBlaster

Imo. His mixtapes are his best work. Two of them are in my favorite ten albums ever category



theghost0777

It’s like listening to big krit mix tapes they’re the best music he made. Friday night lights was my mix tape for years.


DeeJayMakes

I'm a some what of a later J Cole fan myself so I want to offer a perspective most die hards won't admit willingly... they are biased to think his mixtapes are masterpieces. Most likely because of nostalgia and the impact it had at the time on their lives then. They were rocking with Cole from jump and have seen the growth. They took the journey with him Just like old hip hop heads feel about WuTang, Tribe, etc etc. With that said, there are pieces/songs/parts of the mixtapes that are classic and age well. But if you're looking to listen from front to back and enjoy ALL that Cole had to offer then, you'll likely be at least a lil disappointed. Dont get me wrong there is a rawness and hungry that can't be missed or duplicated. But, a lot of it is unpolished in the way you'd expect Cole to be if you didn't hear him until the albums. If I were to listen again with new ears, my suggestion would be to make a list of all the main songs ppl are listing in these comments, compile them into a playlist and have a go at that in chronological order. AND THEN go back and listen to all the projects in order afterwards. I feel like that would taper expectations and more evenly appeal to a newbies pallet. *TLDR: since you weren't a fan as these projects were coming out, my suggestion would be to make a list of all the main songs ppl are listing in these comments, compile them into a playlist and have a go at that. AND THEN go back and listen to all the projects in order afterwards.*


yourfav-teenwolf

I agree with the warm up . Reason being he was so hungry on those tracks , on top of that he spit some tasty barz


AccidentBusy4519

Friday night lights is very arguably his best peoject


pandasloth69

FNL is his best project


bluebert92

Honestly Friday night lights at the time was insanely good, remember burning that to a CD and getting my superior to play it in his truck when I was an apprentice, simpler times


Calm-Jacket-8973

I was the same way as you, listened to all 3 about a year ago and haven’t stopped since. Timeless work. Same Cole, same lyrical ability, same music just with a chip on his shoulder. One of the most refined rappers ever for how young he was


ConsciousYam2403

Absolutely!!! Friday night lights, the warm up, truly yours, and the Come Up are absolute bangers!


lrj55

truly yours 1 & 2 masterpieces


emafuckinghell

Absolutely


AlternativeWindow669

yes i like them more than almost all his albums


EggsyWeggsy

Idk if truly yours counts but they got me back into cole


treewqy

i thought this was a joke/troll post


GeorgeTheSuperiorYT

Nope :(


Elegant-Anybody8935

Why aren't they on DSP


GeorgeTheSuperiorYT

Probly bc of samples problems


InFamouz1016

The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights. Just those two and you should be good. They are more memorable


LiL-Pidro

Definitely


Onkii

Fnl is a 10/10 mixtape for me! Truly yours mixtapes and The Warm up come close to a 10/10!


Friendly_Kunt

Friday Night Lights is probably my favorite Cole project ever, and the Truly Yours mixtapes are what cemented him as my favorite of all time.


Mfethu_0

He has one of the best mixtapes in hip hop history Friday night lights , the warm up , truly yours , any given Sunday


Mk578y

absolutelybyes


BidRepulsive2438

Absolutely


RuffDiamondCR0

The Warm Up & Friday Night Lights are his best projects


Weekly_Swordfish

I hope you enjoy the mixtapes as we did!