By KARISSA BIRTHWRIGHT
Staff Writer
Jermaine Lamarr Cole has done it again. With a new album dropped last Friday, Christmas came early for anyone who loves his music. Coming down from his last album, “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” J. Cole thought it would finally be time to let us back into his world. But is this album really about his life? It seems to be the question of the week.
Before our eyes, there is yet another album that tells a story longer than our own, and through every lyric that is recited in our space, we find ourselves taking a walk with J. Cole through a time deeper than any album could ever explain. “4 Your Eyez Only” does more than make a J. Cole fan “get in their feels,” it makes the listener want to nominate him for the “What famous person would you like to eat dinner with for a night” spot.
From the first song, we hear a convergence of picking up where he left off, and beginning to tell his story. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” starts off the album, and from what it can be interpreted, it is a plea for help. A classic J. Cole move that shows him not being able to handle his own mind anymore, and with “the bells getting louder,” there is not chance that it will be silenced during this album. By setting the tone with a bit of each aspect of the album, it was genius of the rapper to introduce 42 more minutes of lyrics with this foreshadowing song.
The album continues with “Immortal,” straying away from the jazz background music. The tone of this album is set early-J. Cole means more than business. “Immortal” tells the beginning of the story, with details, and the explicitness seems more than necessary.
The story starts off with a 17-year-old boy in the streets of a place unsaid, trying to make it out of the hood in which he was raised. Death is mentioned several times within these lyrics, but it only seems to be the beginning. This is what leads many of those in the media to pick this album apart. The album doesn’t seem to be about J. Cole’s own life, but possibly of a friend or family member.
There are several clues, but the fact that the album is featureless provides no direct access into the mind of J. Cole.
The closest to a true story that can be confirmed is found within the lyrics of “Neighbors” as J. Cole had purchased a place in North Carolina where it is deemed a “safe haven” for any Dreamville artists and producers. The issue of racism is touched upon within this song, as the lyrics “The neighbors think I’m selling dope” is repeated throughout. The stigma was granted when the neighbors actually reportedly called the police for suspicion of drug-related activities at the house.
When a raid was ordered and nothing was found except a recording studio, there was no chance J. Cole couldn’t capitalize on what was presented. “Folding Clothes” and “She’s Mine” Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 both exhibit J. Cole’s appreciation for loving the women in his life. Who J. Cole is talking about is undetermined, but it is apparently that the old, heartfelt J. Cole is still around.
“Change” is the track that sets the album forward. It is an upbeat (possible) retelling of the death of one of Cole’s friends. It makes sense, that the reference to the “bells” in the first track were funeral bells.
“Immortal” was the story of the daily obligations this young man sought, and the fourth track, “Ville Mentality,” with the narration of a young girl exclaiming when she gets mad, she wants her dad back. With this in mind, it could be interpreted as J. Cole retelling a story about his best friend to the friend’s daughter, Nina, whom was left behind when he was killed. The most chilling lyrics on this album stood out as Nina is brought up again in the title track, “4 Your Eyez Only.”
“My worst fear is one day that you come home from school and see your father face while hearing ’bout tragedy on news I got the strangest feeling your daddy gonna lose his life soon and sadly if you’re listening now it must mean it’s true.”
With this in mind, it is obvious that J. Cole is telling a story that reflects James McMillan Jr., a friend viciously murdered when Cole was younger. Nina, the daughter of McMillan, is hearing J. Cole’s words that “her daddy was not a bad guy, just caught up in the wrong places” and it is apparently that McMillan wanted nothing except to change for his daughter.
This then leads the listener to wonder if the album is truly about a single person, or if is it a metaphor for all of the young African American men who do not make it past 19. For all of the young African American men who do not beat the stigma that is placed above them since the day they were born into streets that hold more danger than they could ever grasp.
If you are a fan of J. Cole, listen. If you are a fan of lyrics that tell a story, listen. If you are a fan of underlying messages, listen. “4 Your Eyez Only” is an album to listen to when you’re completing finals, in attempts to keep your mindset in control. Take a break from the typical lyrics regarding relationships, sex and love, and listen to the most meaningful lyrics that have been pieced together in the rap world in a while.
