KOD Tracklist
KOD is J. Cole’s fifth studio album. The 12-track album serves as a follow up to his December 2016 album, 4 Your Eyez Only.
Prior to release, Cole hosted two exclusive listening events where he played the album in full. According to Chris Uño, who was in attendance at J. Cole’s surprise listening party at New York’s Gramercy Theatre, the title “KOD” can be interpreted in three different ways:
- Kids on Drugs
- King OverDosed
- Kill Our Demons
The album’s release date, April 20, 2018, may be a reference to the “420” code in cannabis culture, which includes smoking at 4:20 p.m. on April 20th (4/20). The album’s cover art, the title’s meanings, and the frequent mention of drug use in lyrics of songs support this notion.
Chris Uño also reported that the album was recorded in the span of two weeks, and contains no features, making it his third album in a row to not contain guest features. This report turned out to be somewhat true. The album’s only listed feature is kiLL edward, who turned out to actually be J. Cole, pitched down.
Cole’s brother, Zach, revealed that, growing up, their ex-stepfather’s name was Edward. Cole’s alter ego, “kiLL edward,” may be an allusion to the abuse that their stepfather inflicted upon their mother.
In Window Pain (Outro) Cole raps:
All I wanna do is kill the man that made my momma cry
Following the listening party, Cole took to Twitter to announce the album. The album art and tracklist were revealed on April 18th, two days before the album released.
“KOD” Q&A
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What do the three definitions of "K.O.D." mean?
In the official album trailer, Cole elaborated on all three meanings:
Kids On Drugs
If I turn on the TV right now, it’s not gon' take long for there to be an advertisement that pops up that says “Are you feeling down? Have you been having lonely thoughts?” And then they shove a pill in your face. The first response of any problems is medicate.
King OverDosed
That’s representing me; the times that I was and am afflicted by the same methods of escape, whether it be alcohol, phone addiction, women…
Kill Our Demons
That’s the end goal: To face our shit, realize that we have some shit going on inside, everybody. I realize everybody family is fucked up. It used to feel like it was just my family because nobody’s fucking perfect. Whether you want to or not, you’re gonna fuck your kids up in some type of way because you got fucked up in some type of way. The plan is to fuck your kids up the least amount possible, but there’s gonna be some sort of mistake you made that they’ll have to fucking grow up in and face. “Kill Our Demons” is, like, finding that shit, whether it be from traumatic childhood experiences, whether it be from a lack of attention, confidence issues, insecurities. Whatever it is, we gotta be honest with ourselves. Look in the mirror or look inside and ask ourselves questions like “Yo, what’s really eating me? What’s causing me to run to this thing as an escape?” And once I find the root of that, let me look it in his face and see what it really is.
After dropping the trailer, Cole took to his Twitter to reconfirm this message, yet leaving the true concept of the album to be decided by the listener:
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Who is "kiLL edward"?
As confirmed in J. Cole’s first interview in years, kiLL edward is his alter-ego, which was inspired by his stepfather, Edward, who left his mother in 2003.
kiLL edward’s true identity became apparent when a song entitled “Tidal Wave” was released under that moniker on April 18, 2018—two days before the album dropped. The only discernible difference Cole and his alter-ego is that kiLL edward’s vocals are pitched-down, which is apparent in the examples below.
Original:
Pitched-up:
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What does 1985 (Intro to "The Fall Off") mean?
1985 is the year that J. Cole was born. It seems as though the song will serve as the intro to a future project entitled The Fall Off and he simply chose to include it on KOD as well.
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Translations
