Inspiring, complex and extremely layered. A deep dive into J Cole’s soul, 4 Your Eyez Only has been making headlines since it’s release last Friday, December 9th and it wont stop anytime soon. A classic J Cole project – intense and elaborated - 4 Your Eyez Only has been intriguing and mesmerizing Cole’s fans due to it’s intricate narrative and multiple perspectives, as well as aggravating hip-hop fans who claim J Cole is nothing but overrated. One thing those doubters cannot argue is that he projects a story the ears can comprehend and the mind can understand, something today’s Rap/Hip-Hop community is noticeably lacking.
Without stepping away from his musical comfort zone, J Cole plays safe and sticks to his traditional style on his fourth studio album – delivering an abundant amount of jazz strings and chords, dreamy beats and a variety of instrumental sounds – that all together embrace and complete his melodic vocal; a key component in his career. Surely, 4 Your Eyez Only does not offer much musical variety or propagate innovation to his sound, but it also doesn’t compromise quality. Cole delivers lyrics sharper than ever addressing significant issues such as social ills, parenthood and racism. Reminiscing on the past and questioning the future, J Cole grants us permission to dive deep into his hopes and dreams with lyrics that bloom powerful narratives that only the rapper is able to tell.
The result of a creative process that conveys a particular state of mind and captures a specific energy and emotion, 4 Your Eyez Only is a collection of dynamic compositions in response to a judgmental world as the rapper matures mentally, emotionally and lyrically. Not scared to show his unflinchingly vulnerability and soulful perturbations, Cole’s delivery is as subtle and refined as the beats surrounding him. In tracks such as “She’s Mine Pt 2” and “Folding Clothes,” Cole radiates love and odes to the bliss of partnership and parenthood, while in “Deja Vu” he contrasts that same bliss with catchy lyrics about a love story that never had the chance to happen.
You can feel J Cole’s charisma and vulnerability pour out of the speakers in tracks such as “Immortal” and “Change” - where he takes us on a ride through the real meaning of soul rap: deep rhymes that express the rapper’s worries between the thin line of life & death and the realizations that the best kind of changes are the ones can that come from within. In the best track of the album, “Neighbors," Cole feels on his own skin the effects of a white-privileged neighborhood and the struggles of a racist society. Based on a real story, “Neighbors” is undeniably the strongest and most compelling track on the album, filled with captivating beats and Cole’s on point views on an unreasonable and hateful community.
Although sticking to his traditional style and production, Cole remains fresh and inspiring on 4 Your Eyez Only as he introduces a different narrator from his previous works. Speaking from more than one angle, J Cole’s perspective is not the only one you hear on the album. With the narrator always shifting, speculations are that this other perspective would be from Cole’s no longer alive friend James, even though there are moments where he parallels both voices and speaks from his own perspective. In the album’s self titled track “4 Your Eyez Only” - Cole speaks directly to James daughter Nina, who was too young to understand her dad’s destiny.
Feeling both completely new and totally familiar, 4 Your Eyez Only will most definitely add to Cole’s catalogue of hits (with no features) but its grandiosity might take a little longer to be completely understood by all hip-hop enthusiasts. More than beats and verses, J Cole addresses meaningful issues and explores his own fragility and vulnerability as he not only energizes the project with his spirit and rare mind, but also defines it.
Want to understand and decode more of Cole’s intriguing new album? Make sure to check Complex’s awesome video “Decoding J Cole's 4 Your Eyez Only Album” for a deeper dive on the rappers new masterpiece.
