J. Cole, The Climb Back | Track Review 🎵

On “The Climb Back,” the first of two songs from the single, Lewis Street, Grammy winner J. Cole is on absolute fire – 💯.

Iwould argue that J. Cole is one of rap’s most underrated artists.  No, I’m not referring to his commercial success, but it’s pretty unbelievable he didn’t manage to win his first Grammy until 2020.  That Grammy was for “a lot” where 21 Savage is the lead artist.  Only one of his solo albums, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, has even been nominated for Best Rap Album.  Regardless, Cole is quite vocal, not without controversy, but also one of hip-hop’s most elite.  On “The Climb Back,” he shows just how superb he is at his craft.

The first of two tracks from the single, Lewis Street, J. Cole is on autopilot on “The Climb Back.” He produces the track himself, with solid results.  Perhaps you wouldn’t call “The Climb Back” extremely flashy sounding, but it suits him and his flow perfectly.  More intriguing than the backdrop is the forefront, where Cole absolutely slaughters the mic.  On this conscious rap joint, he covers a lot of ground with plenty of clever, lyrical references.  Early on, in the first verse, his wordplay is stellar as he rhymes, joint and points, and manages to uses points referencing exclamation points, as well as point guard in basketball (“My n***a shoot first as if they never played the point, more two guards…”).

Of course, that particular line runs much deeper than basketball – this is conscious rap after all, and J. Cole never plays around.  Basketball is fun, but this is real life, and Cole is ensuring the world is fully woke. There’s always a message and “The Climb Back” delivers, encompassing the black experience throughout.  This includes gun violence, where Cole, woke as ever, asserts on the outro:

“Everybody mentions suicide prevention
Man, they even made a hotline
To call up when there’s tension, but I got a question
What about a fuckin’ homicide
Need a number for my n***as to call
Whenever there’s a urge to get triggers involved…”

Final Thoughts 

With this review running long already, there’s so much I can say and analyze about “The Climb Back” – I could pen a full essay.  Keeping it relatively short, this is J. Cole doing what J. Cole does – absolutely killing it.  Great production, great flow, and no shortage of incredibly potent rhymes. J has definitely slayed, period.

J. Cole • Lewis Street • Dreamville, Inc. / Roc Nation • Release: 7.22.20

Photo Credits: Dreamville, Inc. / Roc Nation