Few minor responses:

>i think he's creative enough
>that he can still make quality stuff

He definitely is. I still check for all his work, he's clearly mega talented and I'm happier he pushes the envelope rather than I would have been had he stayed stale and in the same lane forever, I just wish he kept his "everyman" approach you mentioned. But yea - he still has some great moments.


>in the bigger picture, it's a shame that that "everyman" rap
>style was bubbling under, blew up and then morphed into into
>j.cole/wale empty radio fodder (i actually like cole but he's
>not emotionally interesting enough to hold this title
>properly). i guess that's how it always goes when things
>ascend to a certain commercial level but still...feels like
>phonte and murs etc should have gotten more commercial love
>post-college dropout

Agree re: J Cole. I just find him boring. Kanye had the perfect mix of everyman and crazy that just worked. Cole has skill but lacks personality.

Yea I mean - I understand blowing up you're not gonna be the backpacker anymore, that's fine. But he was already blown up when Graduation dropped and he was still able to at least act as if he wasn't talking down to people and was less pretentious. I really think his mom dying changed him for the worse.