‘The Come Up’ (2007)

Song: “Simba”

Drake has his timestamp check-ins. Kendrick’s got six chapters of “The Heart.” Cole’s recurring Lion King-themed series predates both — and early in his career, these records deliberately staked his claim for rap’s throne. “Finna blow, inflatable / That’s undebatable / I’m givin’ niggas food for thought, the flow is catered, yo,” he rhymes on this maiden track in the set, named for Mufasa’s son. Like Simba’s classic sing-along, it was an ambitious declaration from a young cub who couldn’t wait to be king.

‘The Warm Up’ (2009)

Best Song: “Lights Please”

At face value, the song that got young Jermaine in the same room as young HOV is a creative take on the duality of a man who simply refuses to read the room. A thumping piano sample and intricate drum pattern set the mood as we encounter Cole mid-rant. Deadbeat dads. The prison-industrial complex. Some flagrant shit he saw on Fox News. No topic is off-limits. Meanwhile, his girl wishes he would shut the hell up and hit it in the morning like he promised.

For Cole’s early listeners, “Lights Please” served as his lyrical mission statement: equal parts thinking-man angst and horndog narratives. But when you consider a deeper interpretation — that his seducer represents the ways in which the music industry muzzles real talk — it’s clear why this is one of Cole’s most beloved concept records, and why Jay-Z saw so much potential all those years ago.

‘Friday Night Lights’ (2010)

Song: “Looking for Trouble,” G.O.O.D. Music Featuring Big Sean, CyHi the Prynce, J. Cole, Kanye West, Pusha-T

In the midst of Kanye West’s weekly G.O.O.D. Friday song release series — a few epic months of 2010’s latter half that are etched in Blog Era lore — this posse cut was a whole-ass moment that earned itself a bonus track slot on Friday Night Lights. For Cole, it was just the latest coronation. A gauntlet throw. A Russell-Crowe-in-Gladiator-level ass-kicking amongst a murderer’s row of MCs. “Make way for the chosen one,” Cole commands. “What you now hear is puttin’ fear in all the older ones.” Oof. Ye was looking for trouble. And he damn sure found it.

‘Cole World: The Sideline Story’ (2011)

Song: “Work Out

Nas was dead wrong: There’s nothing cheesy about how Cole crafted this single. The earworm that freed his debut studio album from Roc Nation purgatory cracked the code by melding sung melodies with a familiar Kanye West sample (“The New Workout Plan”) and interpolating a Paula Abdul classic from the ’80s (“Straight Up”). The Carolina spitter slips in some sneaky punchlines (“She bad and she know it / Some niggas save hoes, I’m not that heroic”) but his songwriting is to blame for one of the catchiest songs in his catalog. It’s easy to forget those early swings and misses on his quest for a commercial hit, but this wasn’t one of them. I guess you could say it all worked out.

‘Born Sinner’ (2013)

Song: “Chaining Day”

Once upon a time, J. Cole took home gold and felt like the world’s biggest loser. “Look at me, pathetic nigga, this chain that I bought,” he bemoans over an ethereal sample chop. “You mix greed, pain, and fame, it’s this heinous result.” This is more than just buyer’s remorse; “Chaining Day” is a bold, conflicted address of an existential question: To bling, or not to bling? Cole gets real about internalized materialism and a desire for external validation. Still, the bars are 24-karat.

‘2014 Forest Hills Drive’ (2014)

Song: “Love Yourz”

J. Cole’s superpower is his relatability, and his third studio album has that for days. Yet few tracks in his canon — much less this collection — resonate like “Love Yourz.” The project’s centerpiece brings its narrator’s journey full circle: After years of glutton, Cole realizes his addiction to excess is insatiable. Sure, a millionaire lecturing that money can’t buy happiness usually elicits eye rolls, but over a somber string-and-piano combo, Cole somehow cuts through. “As a nigga who was once in your shoes / Livin’ with nothin’ to lose / I hope one day you hear me,” rhymes Cole, a former scrub. You gotta love it.

‘4 Your Eyez Only’ (2016)

Song: “4 Your Eyez Only”

Cole reportedly sat in the same spot for 12 hours straight to craft this nearly 9-minute storytelling masterclass that chronicles the life of a friend who became a casualty of the streets. And it shows. The way he builds tension and emotional intensity over dreary horns should be studied. Presented as a lost recording addressed to the young daughter of Cole’s slain homie, this audio clip covers the plight of a hustler who knows his days are numbered in single digits, also bemoaning how America sets up Black folks to fail. Things crescendo when Cole takes on his own POV in the song’s final verse to memorialize his departedwith dramatic urgency. It’ll give you chills every time.