Albums J. Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only (Discussion Thread)

[45123]

I'm pretty clear in what I'm saying.

This album has the same vibe/sound as FHD. How you figure this is him stepping away from what he usually does when sonically this sounds like his last album?

By the way, its also worth noting that you have a problem with Cole not working with other producers yet albums being produced almost exclusively in-house is the trend nowadays and has been for a while. Kendrick has his TDE in-house producers, Drake has 40 and his team, Kanye got his core guys, etc. The days of albums being scattered with different big name producers on every other track are over. Developing a sound is crucial in this day's music environment, and working with a limited number of producers on a project is how you develop a sound

 

[Randoug]

nikkas rated this lower than TLOP

 

[Izanami]

I'm pretty clear in what I'm saying.

This album has the same vibe/sound as FHD. How you figure this is him stepping away from what he usually does when sonically this sounds like his last album?

Album is way more dark and morbid than FHD. More instrumentation as well.

 

[Cladyclad]

This is some BS we loved

BE

Black on Both Sides

Every Tribe album damn near

Untitled

Etc...

This album is not great at all. Cole don't make his words mean shyt imo. I just don't care for his opinion on anything.

Oh u can't relate to his music. Gtfoh

Lupe made a song about Skateboarding. i don't know wtf skateboarding is. But Kick push is one of my fav songs in the last ten years


It's like Cole trying to win a Grammy instead of making music

Idgaf he rapping about fatherhood make that shyt sound good. Give me Daughters over any track on here

 

[No1]

Again it's a parallel to what's going on in his life. Or have you forgotten he's a new husband and father? What's wrong with having a reflection of other father's and what they been or going through? #loveyourz

See my first post in this thread and it fits you exactly. This is why I don't rate music anymore. For those that missed it:

Looks like we're going to have very different opinions. This is becoming a trend with me as I become older though, and might be a reflection of the role music has in my life versus yours. The people who "live" music always seem to find something in albums that I just don't. Being relatable doesn't mean much to me if I don't like the songs. On first listen, I was bored out of my mind with the exception of a few tracks. I didn't like most of the production or anything.. Not the singing either. I feel like we're in the era where everyone can have their own niche audience and as long as you give people what they want, they can never be upset. Music has always been subjective, but now it's super subjective to the point where if a song is trash but it relates to your experience, we have to acknowledge that it's dope in some ways. I'll see people talk about how a song with dope production is trash because it means nothing and turn around and talk about how great another song is with a generic beat because it's "relatable."

I don't live through music anymore and maybe that limits me as a reviewer. I don't listen to it looking for it to connect to my life experience or confirm my beliefs. I just want it to be dope. Because the shyt people have been calling "classic" these past few years, I just go . If you can't tell, this is going to be my angle. "How do I review artists like J. Cole whose entire goal is to be relatable to people? How does one rate relatability?" I be out here feeling guilty to say what I really feel about shyt because it means something to some people.

@dora_da_destroyer @Zeu$ give up, this is what you're dealing with. I mean, these dudes sat down and created a false concept out of nowhere .

 

[AldavisAlbundyAllah!]

Is folding clothes really the second best song on this tape

 

[Giselle]

I'm pretty clear in what I'm saying.

This album has the same vibe/sound as FHD. How you figure this is him stepping away from what he usually does when sonically this sounds like his last album?

What are you talking about. False Prophets and Everybody Dies is the definition of Cole being in his comfort zone, meanwhile this album sees him stepping waaaay the fukk out of what he usually does. And from what I've seen, the people who are mad at this album are mad because he did something different and not what they expected.

You're also incorrect because he actually did let other producers cook on this, (Boi-1da, Vinylz, Cardiak) and gave Elite more placements when he usually produces mostly everything by himself and lets Elite do something here and there.

When did you start listening to him? This is not his first time writing from a perspective that isn't his own. He did it all of the time on his old mixtapes. This was the first time he did it as a "mainstream" artist though. Also, it is similar to fhd in some ways and is not very different from the things he has written about in the past. He was still in his comfort zone with this project. Nothing new. He is still a great writer though.

 

[Giselle]

Again it's a parallel to what's going on in his life. Or have you forgotten he's a new husband and father? What's wrong with having a reflection of other father's and what they been or going through? #loveyourz

He supposedly isn't really a father yet. I'm not 100% sure though. If you go back to the itunes description and read, you'll see that they took the "father" part out. Something fishy is going on, but i won't bring it up so you all won't get upset and call me a "chatty patty" lol

 

[BunchePark]

Let people drop and opinion and vibe you dont have to defend your love for a piece of art

I can't read those without it sounding like a grown man crying in my head

 

[gluvnast]

See my first post in this thread and it fits you exactly. This is why I don't rate music anymore. For those that missed it:

@dora_da_destroyer @Zeu$ give up, this is what you're dealing with. I mean, these dudes sat down and created a false concept out of nowhere .

This Theory About J. Cole's '4 Your Eyez Only' Will Blow Your Mind

For beginners, the broad idea is that the album is actually not a recollection of his own life’s events, but that of a close friend. As for the mysterious title for the album, it is a dedication to the daughter of his close friend after he dies by the unforgiving hand of the streets.

Considering a few relative elements of the album’s artwork and one particular song, the person behind this theory may actually be onto something. On the back cover for the album, where the tracklist is included, there is a photo of a young, unidentified girl. Though several photos released from Cole’s album packaging included children and other nuances of his Fayetteville community, her placement has potential to be summarily important.


On the track “Ville Mentality,” we’re dropped another hint from the theory. As Cole takes a brief rap interlude on the single, a brief monologue from the unnamed child starts.

“My dad died,” the young girl’s voice begins. “He got shot because his friends set him up. And I didn’t go to his funeral, and sometimes when I’m in my room, I get mad at my mama when she’s mean to me.”

And while the theory states that Cole’s life “parallels” the life of his friend, the album's title track speaks directly to his friend’s daughter, first from her deceased father’s point of view and then from Cole’s.

“Their lives parallel one another,” the theory informs. “They both find a girl, they both have a daughter. But at the end, his friend passes away because of his life in the streets. J. Cole doesn’t die. He lives on to share his friend’s story. ‘4’ his daughter's eyes only.”

Are you as mind blown as we are? Check out the theory below.

 

[Zero]

Cole fans relate to shyt like Wet Dreamz (Cole corny ass spells dreams with a z, come on) and act holier than thou like breh aint several classes below even drake and not even on the same planet of kendrick. I like to troll these nikkas in real life tbh. they be so pretentious.

And that's what's really scary :dayum:

 

[Zero]

This Theory About J. Cole's '4 Your Eyez Only' Will Blow Your Mind

My dude, you've made 31 posts and counting defending this album within the span of 24 hours. Baskin Robbins aint even got a flavor for that.

Give it a rest

 

[45123]

When did you start listening to him? This is not his first time writing from a perspective that isn't his own. He did it all of the time on his old mixtapes. This was the first time he did it as a "mainstream" artist though. Also, it is similar to fhd in some ways and is not very different from the things he has written about in the past. He was still in his comfort zone with this project. Nothing new. He is still a great writer though.

Wth are you talking about. Wth is anybody in this thread talking about

1. I was an early J. Cole fan, I was already listening to him heavy when Warm Up dropped and have followed his career since. Why do people on the internet love to assume off the rip that they know everything You not qualified to lecture me about J. Cole

2. When I say step out his zone, I'm referring to a couple things:
Tracks like She's Mine 1 and 2 are songs Cole fans 5 or 6 years ago would never have imagined Cole would make. No-percussion songs are out of the comfort zone for any rapper because you have to create your own flow and keep up with a cadence that drums would otherwise tell you, while also coming up with a delivery/atmosphere that would justify rapping over a no-percussion beat. Rap songs without percussion are pretty rare to begin with and to me it was a delight to see Cole doing one on this album

Consistency throughout the album in terms of premise, mood, and atmosphere. Cole loves to sprinkle in a few easy listens and a couple pop/turn up songs throughout his projects where they don't really belong because that's a cheap way to keep the listener's interest. He does not do that on this album. Moreso than that, he's not really chasing a pop sound at all on any of these records besides Deja Vu

Changes in vocal delivery and intonations. You might have noticed throughout the album that Cole raps in this monotone voice, even on hooks. This is intentional, and is definitely not something he typically does as he usually raps in that strained energetic voice. And Cole is also singing a lot on this album, but not just harmonizing, he's using different voices and different deliveries (something Kendrick likes to do). For example Ville Mentality where he's doing that weird voice to trail the hook, or both She's Mines where he's singing at a way higher pitch than he usually does

Yes Cole loves his 3rd person storytelling tracks but never has he done a concept album where the entire project is him developing that concept. Concept albums / experimental albums are always risky endeavors for artists, especially rappers, because you have to be at a special level of popularity to do one, and you're also undertaking the risk of the concept flying over heads and people not fukking with the vision.

And when I say step out of his zone, I also mean progression, evolution, improvement. Artists often stay stagnant and rarely evolve as the human beings they portray on records. Take for example Drake who is the same person he's been rapping as since he came out. Meanwhile, Cole has gotten married, became a father, dropped his mainstream chasing aspirations, and went through an entire character change since he dropped Sideline Story in 2011.

Oh and rapping for 8 minutes straight is also a big risk, specially when its THE song of the album. I would bet you most people cut it off at the 4 minute mark.








Honestly I love this album and I think it's Cole best. I don't care if other people don't like it, I just think its wack when people try to attach agendas to their opinions The internet gets annoying like that because everybody loves to state their opinions/perspectives like they're unadulterated facts

 

[Chip Skylark]

Do What Thou Wilt >>

Naw he's spitting but the production is lacking a lot

 

[Chip Skylark]

I think the neighbors think I'm selling dope