We really didn't need Cole telling us Tuesday about the perils of temptation, or money being the root of all evil, in between the songs.
And he compellingly conveyed a sea of emotions for the cautionary "Kevin's Heart" - the deeply felt love for a partner, the dangerous thrill of temptation and, ultimately, an inescapable sense of self-loathing.Ĭole's Achilles heel in the eyes of critics (of which there are plenty) is that he's too on-the-nose with his social commentary, as opposed to his Pulitzer-winning contemporary Kendrick Lamar. He dazzled for the album's title track, with a tongue-twisting vocal breakdown. He claimed to feel alive after popping a pill during "Motiv8," the band splintering off into a funky haze, but Cole's pained expression told a different story. He took the stage like a wrecking ball for "Window Pain" his power wasn't in any physical exertion, but in his grounded intensity, as he rapped about his grief for a girl whose cousin was shot.įor "ATM," his thumping condemnation of capitalism, there was a flash of hopelessness in his eyes as he repeated the words "count 'em up" again and again.
"KOD" (an acronym for a few things, Cole has said, including, "Kids on Drugs"), is a heavy album, dealing with such weighty topics as addiction and infidelity, but the songs still connected with an amped-up festival crowd because Cole connected so powerfully with the material. Watch Video: The Best and Worst of Summerfest 2018, So Far