Skyler Stanford
There’s only one word to accurately describe J. Cole’s album 4 Your Eyez Only: unforgettable. Due to the success in dollars and reviews of his last album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, this album when announced was met with overwhelming excitement from fans. This excitement was heightened when he released two catchy singles, “False Prophets” and “Everybody Dies.”
In short, these songs were ‘diss tracks’, meaning they were calling out some well-known rappers who have fallen from grace. Those rappers included Kanye West, Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, and more. He criticizes them for several reasons but mainly because he believes they don’t respect Hip-Hop enough or they’re not putting in enough effort into their music. Both songs are composed with jazzy undertones and fantastic word play. More importantly, they served as a beautiful intro to the full album 4 Your Eyez Only.
As of December 9th it’s been exactly two years from his last album release. That album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, still a gem in its right, went double platinum without featured artists, something that has rarely been done. Everyone knew it was going to be hard to top, even for Cole himself. Despite that fact, 4 Your Eyez Only perfectly showcases J. Cole’s tremendous growth as an artist and has so far easily made it to the number one spot on the charts. Through his self-produced album, J Cole tells of the deeply rooted problems in many poor black communities. The subject matter of most of the song is rather dark and in some instances you can clearly hear the pain in his voice. These topics range from mass-incarceration, drug addiction, drug dealing, violence, poverty, and the lack of a father figure. In spite of the fact that these are touchy subjects and ones that most rappers won’t touch; Cole vividly illustrates all of them in a way that brings both grief and hope to your heart.
The final song on the album and the title song, “4 Your Eyes Only”, depicts the life of a close friend to Cole who become entwined in drugs and crime at a young age. This eventually led to his friend’s imprisonment and his current fears that death is coming for him through suicide or homicide. The title comes from what his friend believes to be a last wish, that Cole would write a song to manifest his life for his daughter. Cole does just that with this heartbreaking song that is really exposes the life of his friend and the life of many young African American men.
J. Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only released under his label “Dreamville” exemplifies his talent and masterful experimentation with Hip Hop. Listening to this album is one of the easiest ways one can truly understand the real struggles in the lives of many African Americans.