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The Blow Up
Hip-Hop · 2010 · 11 tracks · 33m

The Blow Up

J. Cole

High-energy jazz-rap fueled by pre-fame hunger. Dusty soul samples meet a relentless, technical flow in this snapshot of an artist on the verge of a breakthrough.

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This is the sound of Cole before the fame, when he was still rapping like he had everything to prove.

A high-stakes mixture of underdog defiance and the anxiety of impending success.

The Blow Up · vs · J. Cole
High Energy+1.2σ

It runs notably hotter than this artist's baseline.

Tracklist · 11 Tracks · 33m
01
I Really Mean It (freestyle)
2:57
02
Knock on Wood (freestyle)
2:14
03
Shook Ones (freestyle)
1:47
04
Premeditated Murder
3:55
05
The Last Stretch
3:32
06
In the Morning
3:45
07
Sky Boy
2:43
08
Serenade
2:09
09
Unabomber
3:13
10
Higher
3:46
11
We On
3:55
Moments Worth Waiting For
The frantic Hocus Pocus jazz sample on the title track colliding with a relentless double-time flow.
The sudden drop into a soulful, slowed-down bridge that provides a momentary breath before the drums return.
The raw, unpolished vocal takes where the artist's breath and strain are audible, emphasizing the mixtape grit.
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