ROC4LIFE

This is the sound of your grandfather’s record after a kiss. It starts with the golden-voiced David Ruffin sighing, “Sometimes I think about it / And my poor heart wants to die about it.” But that’s just the calm before the storm, because what follows is a thunderous drum and Cole’s crisp flow.

“It’s only right I brought back the soul,” he rhymes. But he’s bringing back way more than soul. “Grew Up Fast” also hearkens to fresh metaphors, wordplay, and old school braggart rap with punchlines nasty enough to wring Melle Mel’s face.

Cole warned us on “I’m on 2.0″ that his “new shit is hotter.” “Grew Up Fast” dares you to argue with that.

— Rizoh