SXSW Live Shot: J. Cole

Outside was a mob scene, with lines wrapping around turnstiles before eventually meeting bigger groups of lines. VIP traffic jams frayed out unto beaucoup bored bystanders. It was the longest line SXSW saw this year, according to Sam Heineman, manager of the conference’s grandest gatherings.

Inside, clouds of weed smoke wafted over a jam-packed audience all counting down the arrival of Dreamville/Roc Nation cover boy J. Cole like they were welcoming in the new year. First came three proteges: Omen, Cozz, and Bas, hailing from Chicago, L.A., and Queens, respectively. Take away the stage setup and the pristine sound system at the Moody, and you’ve got rappers No. 1,001-1,003 around Austin this weekend.

Boy does it ever work wonders when you’re operating under the arm of a rap superstar.

Each performed three songs. Midway through Bas’ set the other two came back – along with a handful of others – to jump about the stage shouting “We made it” to a hook. It’s disingenuous musically. They awoke on third and think they’ve slugged a triple.

Then again, anybody standing before J. Cole’s capacity audience must think they hit the big time.

J. Cole arrived after 15 minutes of house lights and stage checks wearing white jeans, a white shirt, and an Afro that looks like it gets smashed under a hat too often. He’s got Drake’s penchant for hazy, pop-rap hybrids, but wisely leans away from Southern sounds unlike his counterparts. He sings some, raps elsewhere, and shouts – angrily – at unforeseen intervals throughout most numbers.

There’s not much he does that’s iconic, however, and yet he steps around the stage like a champion. Saleswise, he is that. December’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive hit No. 1 then went platinum without the release of any advance singles.

Yet he’s neither a messenger like Kendrick Lamar nor an emotional cage match like Drake. And while he moves around stage well, he’s got nothing on a guy like Big K.R.I.T.

Cole’s got a little bit of each of them, and he used that to work his way through the set. Songs weren’t snippets, but segments, vignettes into eight years worth of sought-after material. They began huge and closed suddenly, each one conceived to be entirely different from the next.

This was just the preview, too. Cole said that the tour features a run through December’s album, so that everyone would know his story. Soon, everyone will know what J. Cole is about.

---

Complete SXSW Music coverage at austinchronicle.com/sxsw/music