Sean Sharp's Diary

He just keeps dropping top-tier work in such rapid succession. This dude is the definition of locked in. I can understand if his style isn't for you individually, but within the electronic, edgy, pop realm that he is working in, he is really pushing how good and polished it can be. In the last review I wrote for Artemas, I made references to The Weeknd's "After Hours" and how Artemas seems to be continuing that sound while a lot of popular music has moved away from the heavy use of synths in recent years. Artemas to me at this point is fully carrying the torch of how this genre should sound. I have a theory that artists that break into the mainstream while their specific genre isn't what is "hot" at the moment, do so because they are making music that expands on what has been already established in a genre that is losing popularity. The public gets tired of trends and genres and moves on. You could say the same for Yeat or Playboi Carti right now too considering how popular they are while trap rap is on a definite decline in the public eye. They are something very unique to trap and because of this are holding onto this immense popularity while even some of the most popular trap artists of all time struggle to find success. As for "getting up to no good", Artemas continues where he left off. Truly, I could make this review like three sentences because he's not really bringing any new conversations to the table. This is essentially like his last two albums but he just keeps finding ways to keep the production and vocal mixing interesting. Daintree has been Artemas' go to producer for several years now and he joins him again here and the duo were born to make music together. Whatever artistic process they go through is perfect as they keep figuring out how to keep it fresh without re-inventing the wheel. "time alone w u" as a single actually let me a little bit nervous as it wasn't my favorite track he's ever dropped and so I decided to take a break from his singles until the album itself. And while "time alone w u" isn't my favorite of his, I still enjoy it, I just have high expectations. For some reason there are two versions of this album but don't have any distinguishing names or anything. The track "high note" shows up on one of the versions and I'm very happy that it does. This song is definitely a catalog highlight for him. "other lovers" and "myself" are my other two favorites, at least off rip, but pretty much every track on here is very solid. It's almost difficult to go into detail about each song since they're just him being toxic and glorifying some sort of trauma but damn does it sound good.

Pretty hard to stick the landing on a 100-minute album but Cole scored nearly all tens. It's almost difficult to know where to start when talking about this thing considering how dense it is with material. The production is flat out gorgeous. Tapping into that never ending well of samples, "The Fall-Off" makes me wonder where this level of production was over the last few projects. I haven't really loved a J. Cole album since "4 Your Eyez Only", but this brings me right back. His last two excursions were more pieces of their times. KOD features a lot of electronic production, that I still loved, but didn't have the same quality as the previous few. "The Off-Season" then started exploring post 2020s trap after the dust had settled around the hype of it in the 2010s. We don't talk about "Might Delete Later". I was turning into one of those fans. "I miss the old J. Cole". Now in 2026, 10 years after "4 Your Eyez Only", he returns with this. There is a slew of outstanding tracks on here and they aren't clumped together eliminating any potential dead space on the track list. The lyrics and songwriting are just downright phenomenal. Circling back to the same logic as the previous paragraph, the lyrics are a return to form with perfectly smooth flows in rich stories that challenge "Wet Dreamz". Most notably, "I Love Her Again" does a fantastic job of painting a very real human experience of judgement and self-realization. I don't know another artist that writes as bluntly but as fluid as Cole. He walks that line like a tightrope on here. The range of songs is also sweet. "The Let Out" and "Ocean Way" give such a unique style as a cornerstone on the album that he's never really explored before. Most songs are somewhere in the middle on an intensity scale. "Two Six" acts of the more hype one of the bunch and does it in a refreshing flawless way. J. Cole's completely abandoned his deeper voice version of himself from back in the day and replaced it with a ton of smaller details that fill that absence spectacularly. My two favorites on here are "Lonely at the Top" and "What If". The former is almost the opposite of a relatable human experience but instead serves as a type of honestly that is so refreshing from someone of his stature. Typically the most you hear is just the title. "It's lonely at the top." But never any elaboration. This songs goes in deep to pull out the inner workings of it. "What If" features a gorgeous back and forth by Cole and Morray on the chorus and explores another common human experience. Going back in time to put aside the petty things. I'm very glad to see J. Cole go out this way. I want more but would also love for this to be his ultimate send off.

I am very late to the party on this one. Not sure why or how I missed this back in 2024, as "Conditions Of A Punk" was very solid in my book. Regardless, I finally got around to this, and I'm kicking myself for not listening to it sooner. There is some absolutely stunning song design, production, and songwriting through and through on here. They have always been a band that integrates synths into their slightly indie-pop-rock style heavily, but this album features what will probably end up being one of my favorite mixtures of this with "People". I'll get into the specifics later in the review, but that song caught me off guard in the best way possible. One downside to this was that the songs that weren't great sounded like the great ones. Now this may sound confusing, but hear me out. As standalone songs, those "not great" ones are good, and I would likely listen to them frequently; however, they don't differ enough from the really standout tracks on here and therefore fall short in quality. If they had pushed their boundaries slightly further, this would be a near-perfect album for me. The only other issue is the mastering. I mean, yikes, it was not good. It's not something that I think dictates the quality of the album as a whole, because I don't mind adjusting the volume a little here and there. However, I can understand why this might be more of an issue for others. Diving into the songwriting is like an ocean here. It's very personal and self-reflective, which is always lovely to see the inner workings and thoughts of an artist. His choice of words isn't anything verbose or grand, but at times feels conversational, and at others is a puzzle for the listener to decipher. It's not very complex, though, or left to a ton of interpretation. In my eyes, good songwriting is done in several ways, but one of my favorites is when songs are written cryptically, but there are enough clues to find the true meaning with no room for confusion. Incredibly difficult to pull off, but Half Alive does this well at multiple points. Gorgeous guitars to soothing synths, this album has taken the reins of pop-rock production and made it its bitch. "Automatic" features this entirely out-of-left-field guitar mixing on the chorus that you wouldn't expect from them whatsoever. It's not aggressive but is intense. The distortion built into the chorus of the song ensures that it never gets dull either. "Long Drive" utilizes Kacy Hill in a precise manner. While she does have a decent amount of front vocals, the real treat with her on here is the backing vocals on the choruses. At first, you can hear her reverberating in and out, but it doesn't really come into full effect until the last chorus, when you can listen to her voice breathing life into a speedy and smooth song with production that sounds like walking on clouds. The real star of the show is "People". The instrumental mixing and choices are beautiful, along with the do-dos that start the song off. The chorus sounds pretty strong while remaining catchy with a sunny guitar strum. Then those synths hit. A completely unexpected change in pace, but it works perfectly. When it returns to its original style, it just makes it hit so much harder. Although I'd rather not, because the highs on this album are so high, the lows do need to be addressed. I do wish that "All My Love", "The Point", and "Songs" did stick out a bit more. I mentioned earlier that they aren't bad in any way, but when you have some heavy hitters doing the same thing but better, it may be good to branch out in some way, shape, or form. This is probably just a mindset that people have when they know they have some 10/10 tracks that use the same style, and most conscious artists don't have the same mentality about their music. It's understandable why they choose to go with these, and they are good, just not as noticeable as some others. The mastering, though. I struggle to dock "points" from an album because of bad mastering, so when I have to bring it up in a review, it must be pretty bad. The mastering on here makes me question whether they even listened back afterwards, or just sent it full speed ahead after processing it through an AI tool. Who knows. Songs change in volume significantly from track to track, but if this doesn't bother you much, as it doesn't bother me much, the album should be delightful then.