J. Cole @ Club Soda

Once in a while, you get the rare opportunity to catch an artist right before they ascend to larger audiences. J. Cole, signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label, is standing at the precipice of that ascension. His album Cole World: The Sideline Story is due out on September 27th and the promotional singles released have already seen healthy chart action on the Billboard 200. The rapper-cum-producer has managed to take a positive stance in recent interviews regarding his situation despite a myriad number of setbacks over the last two years - the most prominent of which has been that his major label debut, Cole World, has been perpetually delayed. Originally meant to come out over a year ago, the project has seen many release dates come and go before the late September date was settled upon.

All of that was merely context, though, for a pleasurable 70 minute set from the 26 year-old, who decided to leave all of those problems backstage and treated the crowd to an energetic and passionate set. Backed by two keyboardists and a DJ, Young Simba took the stage at Club Soda at around 9:30 and began to own it right from the get-go, eschewing the ultra-flashy demeanor of some of his peers in favour of a simple black shirt and pants ensemble. The crowd was primed for the North Carolina native, and there were numerous times in the evening where it was hard to find someone who wasn't singing/rapping along.

Thankfully, Cole kept the in-between song banter/shout outs to a minimum. Sometimes these things can go long and you can spend many minutes listening to someone go on and on before returning to the music, but thankfully Cole recognized this and kept the energy up, displaying his musical virtuosity by taking over one of the keyboard stands and playing a few numbers while also rapping. He also paused a few times during the performance to stare into the crowd and broke out into a broad smile before continuing with the show, seemingly humbled by the reception.

Blazing through tracks from previous mixtapes (the Drake collabo "In The Morning" had the entire crowd throwing their hands up) as well as choice cuts from his forthcoming album (including the Kanye-sampling single "Work Out"), J. Cole stalked the stage, looking genuinely pleased at the rather enthusiastic reaction he was getting from the MTL crowd. Cole's 2010 hit "Who Dat" got one of the stronger reactions of the evening, even as the beat from the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize" was cut into the middle portion of the song for added value.

In the end, J. Cole put on a show that focused itself primarily on the music, and kept the theatrics and posturing to a minimum, thankfully maximizing his on-stage time to push a product that may prove to be the missing piece of the puzzle that'll help J. Cole break into the mainstream.

-Brian H hosts Countdown To Armageddon every Monday from 8-10pm