On December 9, 2016, J. Cole finally dropped his latest album 4 Your Eyez Only nearly two years after his last, Forest Hill Drive, and he did not disappoint. Although the album only has 10 songs, each is jam packed with raw feelings and emotions, which come together full circle at the end. Every song is able to add to the meaning of the album as a whole as well, making this a must-listen for your winter break playlist.
The first three songs – “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” “Immortal,” and “Déjà vu” – all deal with darker subjects such as death, suicide, and questioning life entirely. Beginning the album in such an unexpected way is pretty risky, especially for such a long awaited album that fans have been practically begging for. In this first portion, Cole also talks about the concept of the American dream – what is wrong with it, who it is realistic for, etc. – as well as his resentment of the expectations held for black men. He also calls attention to the trouble surrounding listening to the advice that black men are constantly given (“sell dope, rap, or go to NBA”), as if they cannot be respected by doing anything else.
Because the first three songs focus on some more negative aspects of life, Cole turns to “Ville Mentality” as a turning point for the feeling of and meaning behind the album as a whole. Ville mentality, as Cole has previously explained, is the belief that one has to leave their current town or hometown in order to find more opportunity.
When one first listens to “She’s Mine, Part 1,” it seems as though he is talking about the girl that he fell in love with and in some ways, he is. Except this is actually the first time the album definitively shifts perspectives and Cole raps as though he is his late friend, James McMillan Jr. The voice also shifts between “him” and “me” in the outro, demonstrating for the first (but not the last) time the parallels between each of their lives. Cole’s inspiration for his perspective of song is his longtime girlfriend Melissa Heholt, who he eventually married in 2015.
The next two tracks, “Change” and “Neighbors,” are about situations that have actually happened to Cole throughout his life. In “Change” – that has an almost feel good vibe, until you listen to the lyrics – the audience is able to finally hear the story of his friend James’ death. It also talks about how Cole has changed throughout the process of growing up and learning about the world around him. The song “Foldin’ Clothes,” which is another tribute to his wife, talks about how he wants to help her in any way that he can because he realizes how much she has done for him. Towards the end, Cole even tells her that she brings him hope, even when the world seems dark.
In part 2 of “She’s Mine,” we hear baby cries and a heartbeat on an ultrasound machine which we can only assume are his daughter’s. Prior to these tracks, fans did not even know of his daughter, so listening to this reveal is a huge shock because of how personal he gets, which is unusual. In Cole fashion, he also discusses his opinion of Black Friday and greedy corporations who take advantage of the poor. Despite these evils, his daughter is able to give him hope as well.
His tenth and final song, “4 Your Eyez Only” confesses that most of the album was not actually told through Cole’s eyes at all, but the eyes of his friend James. At the end of this song though, Cole speaks as himself to tell James’ daughter of one of the last conversations that they had and how great of a person he was. He explains how her father was a victim to everything that he somehow managed to escape.
By the end of the album, the listener finally realizes how much J. Cole is trying to express and is almost forced to listen all over again due to all of the new information that was given in the very last song. Even though he has genius level lyrics and his beats are catchy, it is the meaning and story behind the album that really makes it so incredible and important, especially during this time in America. He tries hard to tell the audience that James’ situation could have easily become his own, but through partial chance and luck, it did not.
Although Cole’s latest album is a deeply personal one, it is also a chance for him to get his political thoughts and opinions out into the world as well. This is definitely not something that one can just partially listen to, as it requires real focus and at times, even personal interpretation. Instead of giving meaningless lyrics like other musical artists, J. Cole gives his fans an album that is unique and real.