It seems Yeezus may not be the only "dark" album dropping on June 18th. J. Cole is dropping his sophomore album on the same day, and a recent interview with Soul Culture indicates that the rapper used the writing process to get out of a dark time in his life.
“When you listen to the album you’ll notice how it flows from darkness to light, from hell to heaven, depression to happiness,” said Cole of Born Sinner. “It literally was a way out… I’m writing my way out of a negative place, a darker place.”
The NC rapper clarified that he was never at a dangerous low. “When I say darker place, there’s no suicidal thoughts,” he explained. “There’s a mentality that I had that was never shaken and it was quiet, it wasn’t outspoken, it was all in [my head]. The minute that changes and now I’m dealing with a mind state I’ve never had to deal with before, which is fighting all these negative thoughts, that’s the dark place I’m talking about."
Cole revealed that he felt a great pressure when creating music, something he had to overcome on the recording of his new album. "My self-confidence kind of shattered. You know what I mean? Trying to fight against that, writing my way out of it. This whole album is writing my way out of that place. Because I had never had to deal with that before. I was a happy kid. I wasn’t a down kid. I observed life and I saw it for positives and negatives but I wasn’t a depressed child. So when I had to deal with that type of mind state I wasn’t speaking on it.
The "Power Trip" emcee indicated that the negative energy that the album came from may not be as clear as it was in the writing process. "So then, when I tell people, 'You know, I was fucked up for this whole album. I was doubting myself this whole time.' Niggas is like, 'What? You serious?' But it was real to me. Pressure is real. That's why people jump off of buildings, man, and just end it."
Watch the full interview below.
