It is a Cole world.

Roc Nation’s young and upcoming artist J.Cole recently dropped his first studio album “Cole World: The Sideline Story” this past September. When news circulated that J.Cole was coming out with an album, I was nothing but excited, but this is one album that should stay on the rack.

I had to listen to the album twice.  No, this was not because I loved it so much, but because I had to make sure that I was listening to the right J.Cole.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy and there is no doubt in my mind that he can rap, especially from what I’ve heard on his past mixtapes. In this album, he sounds like an entirely different person. He produced most of the music, which might be why it is not so pleasing.

Cole featured four other artists who are known for making hits. Trey Songz is featured in “Can’t Get Enough,” which is a club banger. Jay-Z appears in “Mr. Nice Watch,” which didn’t get my head moving, or even my fingers tapping.

They’re both great artists, but these are not great songs. “Mr. Nice Watch” was a waste of time.  Drake is featured in “In the Morning,” which is smooth, but still not J.Cole’s best.

And last, but not least, Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot is included on one of my favorite tracks off of the album, “Nobody’s Perfect.” Missy is a rapper, so hearing her sing and really use her vocals put a different, good twist on the song. At first her voice was unrecognizable, so discovering that it was her was unexpected in a good way.

“Dollar and a Dream III” made me hit the next button after one minute of the song. The song is slow but the lyrics pack a punch, fitting the song title, but they are still pretty cliché.

One of J.Cole’s songs that definitely deserves kudos is “Work Out For Me.”  It samples Kanye West’s “New Workout Plan.” The song isn’t fast, but there is no doubt that you will get a little work out of your own just from dancing to this song. It also has over 10 million views on YouTube and it’s definitely worth a listen.

I don’t mean to crush all of you J.Cole fans out there, but you and I both know that J.Cole is capable of better. I would throw six of the 16 songs on my iPod, which is not enough to purchase it. This album deserves a C+.   In the meantime, the fans will be curious to see what his plans are for his future album coming out in 2012.

Imani Love is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com