- album name
Resilience
- band name
by J.Nolan
-
Download Album FREE
Immediate download of 20-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. -
Buy Disc
-
Share
1. |
Protect My Soul
04:30
|
|||
2. |
Quest For Recognition
04:39
|
|||
3. |
Ain't Fooling Me
04:07
|
|||
4. |
Just Lose It
02:33
|
|||
5. |
Thrill Is Gone
03:02
|
|||
6. |
Thrown Away
04:09
|
|||
7. |
For My People
03:25
|
|||
8. |
Goodbye
02:37
|
|||
9. |
Higher Level
02:32
|
|||
10. |
Cracked Cement
04:23
|
|||
11. |
Hope feat. Zayani Rose
03:33
|
|||
12. |
||||
13. |
We Can Make It
03:44
|
|||
14. |
I Need You
03:32
|
|||
15. |
Never Giving Up
03:44
|
|||
16. |
The Way It Goes
03:04
|
|||
17. |
Get it Right
02:55
|
|||
18. |
Official
04:03
|
|||
19. |
Resilience
04:31
|
|||
20. |
- about
- After I checked out a underground artist J. Nolan’s release “Resilience” I had to sit back for a second to absorb what I just heard. I felt both impressed and left wanting more. I felt his potential was both realized AND unmet. Upon first listen, you IMMEDIATELY recognize this cat is as hungry with the pen as anyone you can think of. Initial comparisons bring up J. Cole. A less technical Elzhi. Talib in his Rawkus days. His lyrics are a medley of rapid fire wordplay, honest vulnerability and multi-syllabic structures. His content is pure. Golden era positivity. Lyricism of the great era of the early 90’s. Punchline and metaphor usage approved by today’s current favorites. It’s ALL there. His voice is sure and confident. Delivery is strong. From “Protect My Soul” on, you hear these qualities in EVERY song. But, that may be the very thing that keeps this album from making the noise it needs to make…
One of my favorite songs on the album, “Quest for Recognition” sets the tone for this project. Samples. Hard drums. And a message to mine out of watery wordplay. The sample on this song will be instantly recognizable for anyone who has ever seen the classic musical “The Wiz”. The usage of the sample is genius. The way J. Nolan flips the hook is clever. The flow is on point and the soul food is fulfilling. I want to wonder why this song did not bring the album in rather than “Protect My Soul”. Expecting to hear something as innovative as that sample and song, I fall upon “Aint Foolin Me”. Though not bad at all, the concept and subject matter is stale. The underground rapper complaining about the state of the music industry is such a tired topic. I usually skip over these songs. But I listened to this song all the way through, just knowing the creative juices will resume in the tracks to come.
I was wrong. “Just Lose It” is a creative concept away from being a standout album cut. But it lacks direction. “Thrill is Gone”, “Thrown Away”, “For My People” and “Goodbye” are ALL very decent songs. But they are all the SAME SONG. You could interchange the verses from each song and you would never know the difference. Furthermore, the tempo remains the same thru every track. Sample. Hard Drums. Mid to High Tempo. The formula becomes noticeable. After skipping a track, I fell upon “Cracked Cement” and was immediately drawn back in. What a sample! J. rides the beat superbly. But I notice another disturbing trend that TOO many lyrically superior rappers like to ignore. The thing that lays in between your verses, its called a hook for a reason. Its supposed to HOOK the listener in while waiting for the next verse. Not enough rappers understand this. There is a reason why J. Cole is getting the attention he is these days. Yes, he is lyrically sharp. But his hooks are there too. If J. Nolan can pick up on some of J. Cole’s (similar names there…) moves in the hook department, he will be a force to be reckoned with.
Just as I was beginning to write off J. Nolan as another Skyzoo, I made it to two of the album’s standouts. “Hope” and “Going In”, both featuring Zayani Rose are truthfully the fist attempts by J. to craft a catchy hook. And he succeeds. Nothing too flashy or over the top. Simple. Repetitive. Melodic. Very fresh songs. Bring the album back up before it falls down again over the next four, forgettable tracks. Are the tracks bad? NO. There isnt one song on this album that you can categorize as garbage. “I Need You” suffers from a bad beat, but it doesnt hurt your ears. I did skip it after a minute. By the time I made it to “Official”, I was exhausted from the drums beating over my head! But this song made me crave that sample chopped, boom bap again. This sample NEVER gets old, and I am not a crate digger, so I couldnt tell you who it originally belongs to! This song is very good. One of my top 5 favorite songs. It has NO business being track 18. Shame on the man in charge of J. Nolan’s sequencing. But maybe J. was saving the best for last. Because the next two songs, “Resilience” and the outro “Being Here” are unbelievably good. “Being Here”, with a Consequence like verse from producer Ben Styles, is as captivating an outro as I have heard this year. Very nice finish.
All in all, this new artist is definitely ready for his chance. HOWEVER, J. Nolan HAS to understand that the golden era is gone. We need more rappers like him in the game, but you will never get there if you don’t EXECUTE. Nonetheless, this album is not only worth an ear, but worth a couple dollars. You just might have to trim a few songs off your iPod once you get it. - credits
-
released 20 October 2009
01. Protect My Soul(prod. by Blizz Cartel)
02. Quest For Recognition(prod. by Radio Raheim)
03. Ain't Fooling Me(prod. by Radio Raheim)
04. Just Lose It(prod. by Reasonable)
05. Thrill Is Gone(prod. by Ben Styles)
06. Thrown Away(prod. by Xoul Music)
07. For My People(prod. by Blizz Cartel)
08. Goodbye(prod. by Ben Styles)
09. Higher Level(prod. by Grimeshine)
10. Cracked Cement(prod. by Alex Goose)
11. Hope feat. Zayani Rose(prod. by Kev The Sureshot)
12. Going In feat. Zayani Rose(prod. by Ben Styles)
13. We Can Make It(prod. by Radio Raheim)
14. I Need You(prod. by Kev The Sureshot)
15. Never Giving Up(prod. by Kev The Sureshot)
16. The Way it Goes(prod. by BeatsofReen)
17. Get it Right(prod. by GmoBeats)
18. Official(prod. by Epic Instrumentals)
19. Resilience(prod. by BeatsofReen)
20. Being Here feat. Ben Styles(prod. by Ben Styles) - license
- All rights reserved
- feed
-
Feeds for this album, this artist
discography
-
Oct 2009 -
May 2009
contact / help
For help with downloads, click here.
For all other inquiries, click here.