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

gluvnast

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[Verse 3]
In several ways I could've went out, too many to count
Was it the trigger happy crackers that the badges give clout
Was it the young nikka, blasting frustrated 'cos the cash running out
nikkas don't know how to act in a drought
See baby girl I realized, my definition of a real nikka was skewed
My views misshaped by new mixtapes
That confirmed the shyt I learned from in the streets was true
That real nikkas don't speak when they beef with you
They just pull up on your street, let the heat have you
And if a real nikka hungry he gon' eat your food
I was a fool, spent all my time ducking school, ducking cops
Ducking rules, hugging blocks that don't love you
I pray you find a nikka with goals and point of views
Much broader than the corner, if not it's gon' corner you
Into a box, where your son don't even know his pops
The cyclical nature of doing time continues
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 gon' lose his lose his life soon
And sadly if you're listening now it must mean it's true
But maybe there's a chance that it's not and this album remains locked in a hard drive like valuable jewels
And I can teach you this in person like I'm teaching you to tie your own shoes
I love you and I hope to God I don't lose you
For your eyes only

[Verse 4]
One day your daddy called me, told me he had a funny feeling
What he'd been dealing with lately, he wasn't telling
I tried to pick his brains, still he wasn't revealing
But I could feel the sense of panic in his voice and it was chilling
He said "Jermaine, I knew since we was children I never asked for nothing
When times was hard I never had discussions with you begging you to help me
I dealt with the repercussions of my actions
I know you tried to steer me away from that shyt
But that shyt was in my blood, you know my life, I know your momma nikka it's in my love
In case I never get a chance to speak again, I won't forget the weekends spent sleeping at your crib
That's the way I wished my family lived
But my granny crib was in the 'jects
I had to interject like "what you talking 'bout? 'Cos you getting that"
He said "listen, I got no time to dive into descriptions
But I've been having premonitions, just call it visions from the other side
I got a feeling I won't see tomorrow, like the time I'm living on is borrowed
With that said I'm proud to say I was a father
Write my story down and if I pass go play it for my daughter when she ready
So I'm leaving you this record for your eyes only, don't you ever scratch it disrespect it
This perspective is a real one, another lost Ville son
I dedicate these words to you and all the other children
Affected by all the mass incarceration in this nation
That sent your pops to prison when he needed education
Sometimes I think this segregation would've done us better
Although that means I would never be brought into this world 'cos my daddy was so thrilled when he found him a white girl to take back to Jonesborough with
Little Zach and Cole World barely one years old, now it's thirty years later making sure the story's told
Girl your daddy was a real nikka, not 'cos he was cold
Not because he was the first to get some p*ssy twelve years old
Not becuase he used to come through in the Caddy on some vogues
Not 'cos he went from bagging up them grams to serving Os
Now your daddy was a real nikka, not 'cos he was hard
Not because he lived a life of crime and sat behind some bars
Not because he screamed fukk the law, although that was true
Your daddy was a real nikka 'cos he loved you"
For your eyes only

:wow: Damn

This sums up the ENTIRE album.
 

gluvnast

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Sounds about right, I had a feeling he was rapping from a perspective starting with Neighbors.

Nah the entire album is about his homie's letter to his daughter. The albums begins with the daughter pushing play and ends with the tape stopping. The entire album is the entire character development of her father from a drug dealer street hustler without a care in the world to meeting her mother, getting married and having her not before the streets caught up to him when he was trying to change his life for the better for the sake of his daughter.

In Ville Mentality, you hear his daughter upset that he's gone and her mother taking it out on her. It's pretty tragic when you think about it.
 

CarltonJunior

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Nah the entire album is about his homie's letter to his daughter. The albums begins with the daughter pushing play and ends with the tape stopping. The entire album is the entire character development of her father from a drug dealer street hustler without a care in the world to meeting her mother, getting married and having her not before the streets caught up to him when he was trying to change his life for the better for the sake of his daughter.

In Ville Mentality, you hear his daughter upset that he's gone and her mother taking it out on her. It's pretty tragic when you think about it.

Yeah, I know. I just said I realized on first listen that he wasnt rapping from his own perspective when I heard neighbors
 

We Major

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First listen so far onto Neighbors. I think I prefer it to 2014 FHD upto now.
 

Ribbs

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So... if I'm getting this straight, Cole went from rapping like he's in college at 30 to just being washed at 30 rapping about folding clothes? So how average is it?

Cover I made
jcole.png
Might use it if this album is any good when I listen to in a week or two.

Sorry but Dream, Post Labeouf, Lloyd first.
 

2manyFCKNrappers

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I don't appreciate how he keeps telling stories that aren't his like they're his as an attempt to be authentic. One or two verses doing that is cool but he did that shyt the whole album....who does that except a person trying way too hard to connect. It came across as a little bit forced and fake deep even tho he was spitting real shyt. It sounds good but nikka that ain't your life and it never was. It's like the Cole was on some hood nikka avatar staring out the project windows shyt 75% of the album. It wasn't all bad but I really wasn't feeling that. I feel like he wasn't low key trying to pass these stories off as his own to unsuspecting fans or casual listeners even subconsciously.

He never was a tough guy but he took on a tough guy persona by going into this 1st person narrative under the guise of being conscious and woke. Like I said, a few verses or even a song doing it is cool but he did it like 7 times. I was letting him rock while I wasn't listening but I couldn't help thinking what's that about.
 

HiiiPower

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I skimmed this very quickly just to get an overall sound of the album before I got a chance to really sit there and listen (mistake) and I wasn't hugely impressed as a big cole fan, it didn't sound bad but nothing mind blowing either, but once I sat there and got into this, and I understood the concept of the songs and realised it was a whole concept album telling a story (especially after hearing that last verse on the last track from Coles perspective) I gotta say...this is dope, it's well executed and tells a tragic story, off a couple listens I'd give it maybe 8 atm.

Change, Neighbors and 4 Your Eyez are my 3 favourite tracks on here, a couple I'm not really feeling like that but overall a great album.
 
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gluvnast

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I don't appreciate how he keeps telling stories that aren't his like they're his as an attempt to be authentic. One or two verses doing that is cool but he did that shyt the whole album....who does that except a person trying way too hard to connect. It came across as a little bit forced and fake deep even tho he was spitting real shyt. It sounds good but nikka that ain't your life and it never was. It's like the Cole was on some hood nikka avatar staring out the project windows shyt 75% of the album. It wasn't all bad but I really wasn't feeling that. I feel like he wasn't low key trying to pass these stories off as his own to unsuspecting fans or casual listeners even subconsciously.

He never was a tough guy but he took on a tough guy persona by going into this 1st person narrative under the guise of being conscious and woke. Like I said, a few verses or even a song doing it is cool but he did it like 7 times. I was letting him rock while I wasn't listening but I couldn't help thinking what's that about.

Well if you re-listen to FHD, he references the parallels to his life versus his peoples all the time. So it's not too shocking that now he's a father that he was reflecting on the importance of it through the eyes of one of his homies that couldn't be there to be a father to their child.
 
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