J. Cole recently released his highly anticipated album ‘4 Your Eyez Only’ which can be deemed to be a masterpiece of storytelling. The album was released on Dec. 9th through Dreamville/ Roc Nation, a follow up from his Forest Hills Drive album in 2014. ‘4 Your Eyez Only’ delves into his own past, whilst delivering a close friend’s heartfelt message, providing us a personal insight into their lives.
J. Cole has always been an outlier, not one to succumb to material possessions or greed, but to actively highlight injustice. As tensions rise in the US, it seems as if J. Cole has finally found peace in what he needs to do with his fame, which is to address the injustice that is occurring in black communities all across the US. The album explores key issues such as drug use, gun violence, systematic oppression, and the effects of incarceration. With this being said, themes of isolation, unconditional love and dying young are important factors in what adds layers to this album.
Tracks such as ‘Immortal’ and ‘Vile Mentality’ which both incorporate a beautiful string arrangement for a few sections of the instrumentals, focuses on internal struggles. Said struggles being the decision of choosing the right life choices or retiring from fame and to isolate ones self.
The album continues to take us on a journey, as he moves away from his previous mention of suicidal thoughts in the track ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’. The journey results in J. Cole’s need to keep living, stating “I’ve fallen in love for the first time” in the track ‘She’s Mine Part 1’ and ‘She’s Mine Part 2’. He uses a laid back melody in both part 1 and part 2 to convey his sincerity and his love for his wife and his new-born baby daughter. Whilst his track ‘Foldin Clothes’ is a bit more upbeat, he utilises the simple act of folding clothes to show love and his need and the “want to do the right things” during his wife’s pregnancy.
Track number 3, ‘Deja Vu’ in its own right is a good song, but with every listen, the vibe that is felt still resonates with Bryson Tiller’s Exchange by using the same sample (KP and Envyi’s Swing My Way, 1998).
Number 6 on the track list, ‘Change’, carries an upbeat tempo, which tells a tale of witnessing gun violence, his own personal growth and finding peace as a man, through meditation and religion. This track is indeed a desperate plea for change in the system, stating that this unnecessary violence is just “poison”. We find out as the track goes on that he had tragically lost a close friend, James McMilian, Jr who died at the age of 22 from a shooting. This further reiterates the importance and the need for change.
With a catchy hook, the track ‘Neighbors’ delivers an important message of mobility, race and integration in the US, whilst dealing with fame. The track follows true accounts of J. Cole’s studio (based in a wealthy neighborhood in North Carolina) being raided by a SWAT team. The SWAT operation occurred due to the local authorities being informed by neighbors believing J. Cole and his fellow Dreamville artists were selling weed. A serious investigation had mounted all due to the words from a few paranoid and obviously racist neighbors, which in turn brings about the on-going discussion of racism and mobility.
As this masterpiece of a narrative comes near to an end, the last track, track number 10, delivers the final heart felt blow to listeners with 8.50 minutes of pure revelation. J. Cole reveals that the album is in fact the life story of a friend who wanted his message heard by his daughter for “when she ready”. Whilst the album also serves as a message for J. Cole’s own daughter when she grows up, due to the fact that his friend and himself have many things in common with many parallels. The one difference is that J. Cole had chosen a different path and his friend had chosen another. Lyrically, one the best tracks that has been delivered by J. Cole and as an album as a whole.
It seems as if J. Cole has found what is most important to him, through his friend’s perspective and through his own. ‘4 Your Eyez Only’ acts as a time capsule, it archives their past and reality of their environment. Police brutality, the rate of incarceration and gun violence is a reminder of what needs to be changed. Through this, the story is left for his friend’s daughter (Nina) who can one day listen and understand what her father had tried to achieve and know that the message was for her eyes only.
Heavy Hitters-Hiphop 