Article by Patrick Battle
J. Cole has captured the attention of Hip Hop fans across the globe by silently announcing a new album on iTunes. It was silent, then how did he go about announcing it and where/when. The album has been officially titled “4 Your Eyez Only” and will consist of 10 tracks.
The last time we heard from J. Cole was on DJ Khaled’s “Major Key” album. J. Cole was one of the three artists to actually have a solo track on the album. Being honest as usual, Cole had one of his most vulnerable verses yet. Similar to his recent interviews, he spoke on being unhappy about the world he lives in. Fear struck his fans when he ended the verse saying, “Said all that I could say, now I play with thoughts of retirement.” The song was titled “Jermaine’s Interlude” which apparently was clipped from an original record by Spillage Village titled “Can’t Call It.”
Not many details were given following the announcement of Cole’s album – until a forty-minute documentary entitled “Eyez” was released by J. Cole exclusively on Tidal.
Similar to the “Road To Homecoming” documentaries he released earlier in the year, this documentary gives you an inside look into the creation of the album. It shows how Cole not only raps and produces his music, but he is also engineering and playing an instrument here and there as well.
The short film captures musicians such as a violinist, organist, trumpeter, and etc. It also captures the creation that takes place at the legendary Electric Lady Studios– used by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Erykah Badu, and more – where we see Cole playing bass-guitar lines that may be a part of one of the 10 untitled tracks on the album.
In addition to the creativity and descriptive discussions taking place behind closed doors, we also get to see two videos of J. Cole rapping in different settings. The first video is a song titled “Everybody Dies,” which may serve as an interlude on the album. In the video, wearing a Fayetteville State University jersey, Cole raps sitting on the back of a pick-up truck that rides around his hometown.
The song flips a loop from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Lyrics to Go.” In this song, Cole attacks anybody who ever had the thought of being able to contest him in rapping. Rumor has it that Cole took shots at Lil Uzi and/or Lil Yachty when saying:
“Ain’t no need for discussion
If they weren’t talking ’bout the bread
These mother***ers be toast
Clap at the fake deep rappers
The OG gatekeep rappers
The would-you-take-a-break-please rappers
Bunch of words and ain’t sayin’ s**t, I hate these rappers
Especially the amateur eight week rappers
Lil’ whatever—just another short bus rapper
Fake drug dealers turn tour bus trappers
Napoleon complex, you this tall rappers
Get exposed standin’ next to 6’4″ rappers
The streets don’t f**k with you, you Pitchfork rappers
Chosen by the white man, you hipster rappers
I reload the clip, then I hit more rappers with that
Straight sh***in’ on these piss-poor rappers, I’m back”
Both Uzi and Yachty have replied to the diss allegations still showing slight respect for Cole. The second video was a song that was originally a part of Joey Bada$$’s “1999” album titled “Waves.” Cole’s rendition of the track is entitled “False Prophets.” The video takes place in Queens County where Cole raps on a bus, in various stores, and throughout the neighborhood. The song made headlines when he allegedly expresses his feelings for Kanye West and Wale saying:
“Ego in charge of every move, he’s a star
And we can’t look away
Due to the days that he caught our hearts
He’s fallin’ apart, but we deny it
Justifying that half-ass s**t he dropped, we always buy it
When he tell us he a genius but it’s clearer lately
It’s been hard for him to look into the mirror lately
There was a time when this ni**a was my hero, maybe
That’s the reason why his fall from grace is hard to take”
“I got a homie, he a rapper and he wanna win bad
He want the fame, the acclaim, the respect that’s been had
By all the legends, so every time I see him, he stressin’
Talkin’ ’bout, ni**as don’t f**k with him, the s**t is depressin’
And I know he so bitter he can’t see his own blessings
Goddamn, ni**a, you too blind to see you got fans, ni**a
And a platform to make a classic rap song
To change a ni**a’s life, but you too anxious livin’ life
Always worried ’bout the critics who ain’t ever f**in’ did it
I write what’s in my heart, don’t give a f**k who f**kin’ with it”
With Kanye experiencing hardships in life, it may be awhile before we get a response from him. However, Wale has already responded on wax releasing a song titled “Groundhog Day.” The two have already reunited as they were seen at a NC State basketball game together. Links to Pre-order J. Cole’s fourth studio album “4 Your Eyez Only” and view his “Eyez” documentary are listed below:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/4-your-eyez-only/id1181531244
