I know there were some haters out there, some doubters, naysayers if you will, who thought I wasn't going to actually come through with my promise to re-review J. Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive a month after it dropped.
I know because they naysay-ed all over my Twitter timeline. Well, in the immortal words of Diddy (almost),!!!! As promised, I really did follow up on by spending the last few weeks listening to Cole's album in the car, at the gym, while washing dishes, in short in every location and situation an album can be listened to (except sexy time, I'm not trying to make another baby to the ). And more than that, I, I talked to other people about the album, I spent some serious time pondering its meaning and impact and force. I lived with this album. And, at the end of all that, spoiler alert.nothing really changed! How exciting!!!
That's for the most part though - that doesn't mean I'm still in the exact same place with Forest Hills Drive as the first time I listened. Notably, I've grown to embrace some of the songs I was initially hesitant about. I was literally driving across the Bay Bridge last night, the winter sky looking breathtakingly beautiful, feeling alive and spazzing out to 'Tale of 2 Citiez' with zero regards for how I looked to other drivers. And while the frequent beat switches and complex layering on 'G.O.M.D.' Initially threw me off, after a solid 20 or 30 listens the song now sounds completely fluid. I can coast right along with it without missing a single head nod, and 'St.
Tropez' has become an absolute go-to song when I'm feeling stressed, which is just about always and forever. More importantly, especially after hearing Cole talk about his intentions for the album, I gained an additional level of respect for Cole's commitment to artistry around Forest Hills Drive. Even after one listen it was obvious that he was dedicated to pushing some serious boundaries in his musicianship; the concerns about sales and radio spins that so clearly weighed down Cole World and to a lesser but still prominent extent Born Sinner were finally gone. He was finally artistically free and making the best music of his career as a result. He wanted to make music that mattered, music that wasn't afraid to shoulder the responsibility of being the voice of his generation, and there's really nothing more I could possibly want from an emcee. In his own words, 'Fuck good, we demand great,' and this is the album when he stopped being good and became great for me.
However - you knew there was a 'however' coming, didn't you? - I know I'm still missing something. The way I hear others talk about Cole, that passion in their voice, that fundamental, fervent belief that he's even better than great, that he's once-in-a-lifetime extraordinary, I just can't seem to get there. I'm at something like 90% of peak Cole appreciation, and I just can't seem to find that extra 10% no matter how hard I tried, and it bothered me. What was I missing? What could I do to get to 100%? It was a question that I began to obsess over, and since this is literally my job, I had plenty of time to obsess.
Frankly, I'm still not entirely sure, but I think I have the answer, or something close to it. In, he mentioned that as he was getting older he was discovering new meanings to Pac's music, meanings that it simply took certain life experiences to get. That was the brilliant thing about classic hip-hop, the way it contained enough to grow with you, and that was the music he was trying to make. Music that someone who's 18 right now might not truly grasp until they were 20, or 25 or maybe never. It's a great point, and a realization about music it fittingly takes a certain amount of life experience to come to.
I first consciously realized it around Kanye's 'All The Lights,' which almost made me cry because when it dropped my daughter had just been born and picturing only being able to was crushing. Before my daughter I just wouldn't have been able to connect on that more powerful, emotional level, even if I could have been able to intellectually appreciate it. There's that extra 10% Similarly, I'm just frankly older than J. Cole, both literally and in terms of certain life experiences. He just got engaged, I'm more concerned with how to sustain a marriage I've now been in for years. I think a core part of Cole's success is that his vulnerability and honesty makes so many people, primarily younger people, feel like he's living their lives right alongside them, but Cole and I just aren't at the same place in our lives. I can relate to 90% of what Cole says, but not that 100% that, and that's not anyone's fault.
It doesn't mean that someone like Killer Mike is inherently better or worse than Cole (another argument for another time), it just means that music is this living, breathing thing that will affect us differently as we live or breathe differently at different points in our lives. It'd be a shame though if I spent more time in this re-review on that 10% I just can't seem to connect with Cole on than the 90% I do. There's nothing complicated about a song like 'Love Yourz.' Especially in hip-hop, a genre seemingly now designed to make us constantly jealous, we need rappers telling us that there's no such thing as a life better than ours. Cole in hip-hop, and we need more 2014 Forest Hills Drive in hip-hop, and that's not going to change whether it's a first listen, a month or years later. Is the managing editor of The DJBooth and a hip-hop writer. His beard is awesome.
His Twitter is.
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2014 Forrest Hills Drive is the third studio album by Jermaine Cole otherwise known as J. This album is dropping under Roc Nation, Dreamville and Columbia records. The name of this album is the address that Cole grew up in Fayetville, North Carolina. He bought this house after it was foreclosed from his mom years ago and is now renting it out for people in Fayetville.
Before I even start my review of this album, let me state this now. Cole and the whole Dreamville group and everything they stand for.
I personally think J. Cole is the best rapper out right now, yes that means better than Kendrick. With that said, I’ll try to keep my bias to a minimum. Intro Produced by J. Cole “Intro” starts off with Cole getting super soulful here.
The repeated line, “Do you wanna be happy?”, shows what a common theme of this album is gonna be. He clearly is thinking about what brings happiness and how you do get it. Nothing too special here, just a short soulful intro and something we’re used to with Cole. January 28th Produced by J. Cole This is the Cole I and every other Cole fan loves. Another soulful beat, with great lyrics. He talks about how he came up and highlights some of the problems with being a Black man in America while using the chorus to bring it all back to him.
He’s very focused on not selling himself out. BUT there’s something different in this song that we don’t normally hear from Cole. Cole is name dropping at the end of this song: Or you might be Drizzy Drake or Kendrick Lamar But check your birth date nigga, you ain’t the God Nah you ain’t the God Nigga, Cole the God January 28th We don’t normally hear this from Cole. He’s saying he is the best now, but just wait there’s more to come on what Cole believes is now his time to claim the throne.
Wet Dreamz Produced by J. Cole One of Coles biggest talents as an MC is his ability to storytell. That talent is on full display throughout this entire song. The song talks about how he lost his virginity and the feelings he felt.
The coolest thing about this track is how honest Cole is with himself. He makes his music for his fans and he feels so comfortable around them. It’s cool to see an artist be so honest in his music, this isn’t a braggadocious song talking about how he gets so many hoes. No, Cole is opening up in ways that not too many rappers do. 03′ Adolescence Produced by Willie B.
This song interpolates. Again Cole is showing his storytelling ability. The beat is dope and is verses seem so realistic. The last verse on this song is the best one of the whole song to me. It’ so real, it takes us back to in time when Cole was 18 and talking with one of his friends who was selling drugs to support his family at the time. Cole talks about how his friend reminded him how special of an opportunity he had to be going off to school and its cool to see how great Cole is at reminiscing and bringing up these real stories in his music.
A Tale of 2 Citiez Produced by Vinlyz Something to bump your head to in the car or gym; the beat is crazyyyyyyy. Whatever that damn sound is in the background goes so well with this song. He’s talk about living in the Ville’ (Fayetville) and how he had big dreams of making it big. Dope beat, catchy lyrics, and great job from Cole. Fire Squad Produced by Vinlyz Okay, this song is just ahh. I’ve been a J. Cole head for a longgg time now, before.
I’ve listened to so many of his songs but this is one is unlike the rest. Cole is actually talking shit here.
First line in the first verse, “Ain’t no way around it no more, I am the greatest.” Cole’s intentions are clear here, he’s finally asserting his dominance as the top rapper out now. B-Easy I’m gonna go ahead and say it, and I only bring this up because it’s mentioned at the end of this review: 2014 Forest Hills Drive is way better that Cadillactica. And that’s cool because both albums are good and it’s a great thing that two young rappers like Big K.R.I.T. Cole are trying to establish their place in Hip-Hop.
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But the thing is, Big K.R.I.T. On Cadillactica is trying to get his name bigger and J. Cole on 2014 Forest Hills Drive is just trying to make good music and that’s it. B-Easy I’m gonna go ahead and say it, and I only bring this up because it’s mentioned at the end of this review: 2014 Forest Hills Drive is way better that Cadillactica.
And that’s cool because both albums are good and it’s a great thing that two young rappers like Big K.R.I.T. Cole are trying to establish their place in Hip-Hop. But the thing is, Big K.R.I.T. On Cadillactica is trying to get his name bigger and J. Cole on 2014 Forest Hills Drive is just trying to make good music and that’s it. Young Boris Kodjoe SO for all the people saying this is a classic, tell me why?
People keep saying Cole is so introspective here, when is he not? Firing Squad is cool but not the true ether everyone says it is, you cant make a scathing critique but then half cop out by say I’m just kidding, even if you follow it up with even jokes have truth in them. Again, I think it’s a solid album, a really good one even. But I think what helped Cole the most here is the landscape it came out in. Rap continually getting white-washed, media celebrating white rappers over black ones, and a whole lotta cultural appropriation going on. Throw in Ferguson and the countries unrest and then Cole comes along with the balls to call out white folks, which I admit is HUGE.
But that doesn’t make the ENTIRE CD unfallable. Lastly, you can’t have a classic cd with a 14 minute outro of just talking. B-Easy I never said it was classic. It’s just said it was better than K.R.I.T.’s album which YOU rated classic (Which is cool because that’s your review/opinion). 2014 Forest Hills Drive has a more cohesive theme than Cadillactica which most of the time means a better album.
It almost feels like Cole said stuff that K.R.I.T. Wanted to say, only better (“January 28th” ”King of the South”).
Cadillactica is a good album but to a lotta people like us that listened to both of these albums, Cadillactica became an afterthought after 2014 Forest Hills Drive dropped. Maybe that’s just society now, maybe not, but that seems to happen when somebody drops a good album and then right after another person drops a great album. Rickjamesbitch I don’t think this album or KRIT’s album should have been given a 5 star rating. I honestly would have given both of them a 4, but I’d give the edge to Cole’s album. Honestly, I felt like KRIT was slacking lyrically on a lot of songs on Cadillactica, I think all 4 of his mixtapes were better. There were certainly some amazing songs on there, but 5 stars just seems a bit too high to me. Also, the Mind Control hook IS FUCKING TERRIBLE.
If the only flaw you can find with Cole’s album is the outro, then it must be a pretty damn good album. It’s an outro, it’s not as if he threw some shout outs in the middle of the album and it messed up the cohesion of the album.
Love Yours was obviously the albums true outro, as it wrapped up the themes discussed throughout the rest of the album. Young Boris Kodjoe SO for all the people saying this is a classic, tell me why?
People keep saying Cole is so introspective here, when is he not? Firing Squad is cool but not the true ether everyone says it is, you cant make a scathing critique but then half cop out by say I’m just kidding, even if you follow it up with even jokes have truth in them. Again, I think it’s a solid album, a really good one even. But I think what helped Cole the most here is the landscape it came out in.
Rap continually getting white-washed, media celebrating white rappers over black ones, and a whole lotta cultural appropriation going on. Throw in Ferguson and the countries unrest and then Cole comes along with the balls to call out white folks, which I admit is HUGE. But that doesn’t make the ENTIRE CD unfallable. Lastly, you can’t have a classic cd with a 14 minute outro of just talking. B-Easy I never said it was classic.
J Cole 2014 Forest Hills Drive
It’s just said it was better than K.R.I.T.’s album which YOU rated classic (Which is cool because that’s your review/opinion). 2014 Forest Hills Drive has a more cohesive theme than Cadillactica which most of the time means a better album. It almost feels like Cole said stuff that K.R.I.T. Wanted to say, only better (“January 28th” ”King of the South”). Cadillactica is a good album but to a lotta people like us that listened to both of these albums, Cadillactica became an afterthought after 2014 Forest Hills Drive dropped. Maybe that’s just society now, maybe not, but that seems to happen when somebody drops a good album and then right after another person drops a great album. Rickjamesbitch I don’t think this album or KRIT’s album should have been given a 5 star rating.
I honestly would have given both of them a 4, but I’d give the edge to Cole’s album. Honestly, I felt like KRIT was slacking lyrically on a lot of songs on Cadillactica, I think all 4 of his mixtapes were better. There were certainly some amazing songs on there, but 5 stars just seems a bit too high to me. Also, the Mind Control hook IS FUCKING TERRIBLE. If the only flaw you can find with Cole’s album is the outro, then it must be a pretty damn good album.
2014 Forest Hills Drive House
It’s an outro, it’s not as if he threw some shout outs in the middle of the album and it messed up the cohesion of the album. Love Yours was obviously the albums true outro, as it wrapped up the themes discussed throughout the rest of the album. DuB I’m not sure this is a classic album, but if someone called it a classic I wouldn’t argue with that point because of the quality of the music. If it passes the test of time it will be deemed as such. For people asking why is this a classic as compared to Cole’s other work it really is simple.
For one, the production, in my opinion, is much more diverse but it still fits into a cohesive album. Secondly, Cole has never really been too far from a classic. He’s slightly improved and become a little nicer in many areas. He’s more confident (which you can hear in the lyrics), his production has improved, he’s added some singing to his arsenal, and most importantly he has gotten rid of some of those questionable bars “niggas think they the shit but can’t out fart me”. All of that makes this album slightly better than his previous work. Saulewright I’m out of town so I probably won’t be included in this Second Opinion rating, but for me, this isn’t classic, yet.
It doesn’t have that feel. It’s a high rated album, 4 or 4.5 feels fine to me. I haven’t listened to this album completely critically either so there’s that. There are a few moments on the album that aren’t up to par for me, but overall, I don’t feel the need to be or the ability to be completely immerrsed in it. He’s def spittin’ and giving us some great songs, but it’s not an instant classic to me. When I gave Life is Good a 5, Summer on Smash was the song that I didn’t like as much out the gate.that’s become one of the more enjoyable bangers on there for me. There are one or two songs on here that I am compelled to skip or feel like they don’t add anything to the album.
That’s just my take. As it stands this year, from the albums I’ve listened to, this is probably the 3rd best Hip Hop project I’ve listened to this year. Rapsody Ep is the first, RTJ2 is the second. DuB I’m not sure this is a classic album, but if someone called it a classic I wouldn’t argue with that point because of the quality of the music. If it passes the test of time it will be deemed as such. For people asking why is this a classic as compared to Cole’s other work it really is simple.
For one, the production, in my opinion, is much more diverse but it still fits into a cohesive album. Secondly, Cole has never really been too far from a classic.
He’s slightly improved and become a little nicer in many areas. He’s more confident (which you can hear in the lyrics), his production has improved, he’s added some singing to his arsenal, and most importantly he has gotten rid of some of those questionable bars “niggas think they the shit but can’t out fart me”. All of that makes this album slightly better than his previous work. Saulewright I’m out of town so I probably won’t be included in this Second Opinion rating, but for me, this isn’t classic, yet.
It doesn’t have that feel. It’s a high rated album, 4 or 4.5 feels fine to me. I haven’t listened to this album completely critically either so there’s that. There are a few moments on the album that aren’t up to par for me, but overall, I don’t feel the need to be or the ability to be completely immerrsed in it. He’s def spittin’ and giving us some great songs, but it’s not an instant classic to me.
When I gave Life is Good a 5, Summer on Smash was the song that I didn’t like as much out the gate.that’s become one of the more enjoyable bangers on there for me. There are one or two songs on here that I am compelled to skip or feel like they don’t add anything to the album. Ios launcher for android 2018.
That’s just my take. As it stands this year, from the albums I’ve listened to, this is probably the 3rd best Hip Hop project I’ve listened to this year. Rapsody Ep is the first, RTJ2 is the second. Shawn First off, i had a hard time reading this review without getting a “fanboy” “stan” feeling throughout the entire piece. That’s also coming from someone who would call J. Cole my favorite rapper out of all of the new school rappers.
But to everyone calling this LP classic i just can’t see it, after sitting with it for two weeks now. I think it’s a very good album, but for the second album in a row just fell short of classic material.
Technically as a rapper, i’d say Jermaine is more sound of a lyricist then his peers, so even his B+ bars are better then everything else that’s dropped for the most part this year. The album is slightly underwhelming to me,and after each listen i felt like something was missing. That was until i heard the extra verse he performed on Letterman, no exaggeration here when i say that, that verse was better then the entire album, i got chills listening to that verse. I’d give it a solid 4. Shawn First off, i had a hard time reading this review without getting a “fanboy” “stan” feeling throughout the entire piece. That’s also coming from someone who would call J. Cole my favorite rapper out of all of the new school rappers.
But to everyone calling this LP classic i just can’t see it, after sitting with it for two weeks now. I think it’s a very good album, but for the second album in a row just fell short of classic material. Technically as a rapper, i’d say Jermaine is more sound of a lyricist then his peers, so even his B+ bars are better then everything else that’s dropped for the most part this year. The album is slightly underwhelming to me,and after each listen i felt like something was missing.
That was until i heard the extra verse he performed on Letterman, no exaggeration here when i say that, that verse was better then the entire album, i got chills listening to that verse. I’d give it a solid 4.
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