Okay everyone, it’s the moment many of us have been waiting for — J. Cole has finally dropped his fourth official album! After exactly two years since dropping 2014 Forest Hills Drive — which was the first album to go double platinum with no features in 25 years — J. Cole broke his silence when he gave his fans a little teaser by releasing a 40 minute documentary that included snippets of his two singles, “Everybody Dies” and “False Prophets,” on December 2nd. Even though the two songs won’t be featured on the album, that didn’t stop fans from purchasing nonstop on December 6th, the day it was officially available on iTunes.
Even before the album was released, the single “False Prophets” quickly sparked twitter beef between J. Cole fans and Kanye fans. Many have assumed that Cole was firing shots at Kanye when he said “When he tell us he a genius, but it’s clearer lately / It’s been hard for him to look into the mirror lately/He’s falling apart but we deny it,” referring to his mental breakdown that led him to hospitalization for eight days.
On December 8th, 2016, two years since releasing “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” the album “4 Your Eyez Only” was finally released. The ten-track album had fans going crazy. The wait was finally over and fans everywhere were quick to listen to the album that many had pre-ordered. Twitter blew up with many fans tweeting about their excitement for the new album.
The album is called “4 Your Eyez Only” because many believe that Cole had lived on to share his close friend’s story. In “Ville Mentality,” a young girl is featured saying: “My dad died. He got shot because his friends set him up. And I didn’t go to his funeral, and sometimes when I’m in my room, I get mad at my mama when she’s mean to me.”
The song “4 Your Eyez Only” has two parts. In the first half, his close friend is rapping to his daughter before he died: “You’re probably grown now so this song’ll hit you; If you’re hearing this unfortunately means that I’m no longer with you.” In the second part, Cole is rapping to her. In the last line of the song he says “Your daddy was a real n**** ’cause he loved you, for your eyes only.”
Other stories that this album tells is the story of his daughter and wife in “She’s Mine” part one and two. “Foldin Clothes” is about J Cole’s day to day life about “foldin clothes, watching Netflix, catching up on our shows.” This song can be very different compared to other raps that are usually about going out and just getting girls, instead this is about the little stuff he loves.
The song “Deja Vu” has the Bryson Tiller back song from “Exchange.” In “Deja Vu,” Cole talks about the first time he saw his wife, and when they were first introduced she was already with someones else, influencing the hook: “She f*** with small town n***** I got bigger dreams.”
Listening the album, it obviously isn’t as hype as the previous ones. It’s defiantly not as hyped as “A Tale of 2 Citiez” or “GOMD,” but having it be so different makes it more enjoyable in my opinion. Seeing J. Cole do something like this really sets him apart from other artists in the rap game.
I can see “Deja Vu” becoming popular and hearing it on the radio soon, partly because having the Bryson Tiller song in it makes it that more mainstream. The song “4 Your Eyez Only” is one that many can become confused by because it is told from two different viewpoints. Having it as the title of the whole album makes it probably the most popular song on the album.
Personally, my favorite song on the album is “Immortal.” It’s the most hype on the album and is the most similar to the rest of his songs prior to this album.
