K.O.D. magnifies Cole’s current status as a deliberate outsider, well versed in pop music’s machinations even as he refuses to take part in them. His righteous, substance-over-style image is enormously appealing – when K.O.D. dropped on April 20th, it broke Apple Music’s 24-hour streaming record.

J. Cole has said that K.O.D. has multiple meanings: 'Kids on Drugs', 'King Overdosed' and 'Kill Our Demons'. Cole takes aim at addiction in all its manifestations, often from the inside. On “Photograph,” he plays the online junkie, lusting after social media avatars. “Fell in love through photograph, I don’t even know your name/Wonder if you follow back, I hope to see you one day,” he sings in a low rumble over a sped-up, bluesy loop. “Love today’s gone digital, and it’s messing with my health.” He equates money hunger to an intoxicating devil’s pie on “ATM” and the minimalist “Motiv8,” and cops to sex cravings on “Kevin’s Health.” “I’m a fake nigga and it’s never been clearer/Can’t see myself when I look in the mirror,” he rues over an undulating arrangement that sonically approximates a slow winding exotic dancer.