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J Cole '2014 Forest Hills Drive' Review

   

     The kid from the 'Ville comes back home.  After two successful albums (2011's  Cole World: The Sideline Story, and 2013's Born Sinner), and a three peat of acclaimed mixtapes preceding his signing to Jay-Z's Roc Nation, J Cole returns to his hometown of Fayetteville, NC for this third offering. This album is as much about returning to your roots as it is about gaining a perspective of who you are. Rather than boast about what he has or promoting the dance floor, J Cole uses a message to invoke an emotion or two throughout the album. It creates for his most cohesive record to date.
     In a singles driven era, 2014 Forest Hills Drive has no obvious single cuts on the album. Perhaps that is why Cole decided to release it without radio assistance with an online announcement three weeks before it arrived. This is not a bad thing, as it is rare to listen to a whole album all the way through these days, and the albums that can make this are few and far between (you have to count Kendrick Lamar's Good kid, m.A.A.d. city though). That being said, much like Kendrick, J Cole has created a timeless piece that might be in the conversation of album lists in the next few decades.
     2014 Forest Hills Drive is about a kid, who left his hometown of Fayetteville, to move to New York City for St. John University. In the process, his childhood home was foreclosed by the bank. After graduating Magna Cum Laude, making a mixtape, chasing Jay-Z for a record deal, to releasing two gold selling albums and a record label of his own, Cole has bought that same home again, depicted on the album cover. Take into consideration his recent support of Ferguson protests, and post fame after that 'Control' verse, J Cole is now that guy.
     The album tracklist itself reads like an autobiography from start to finish. Beginning with the piano driven "Intro" Cole asks "Do You Wanna Be Happy/ Do You Wanna Be Free?" His summer protest song "Be Free" is in fact more urgent than this, but it is considered  the precursor to his album intro. The song wants you to strip away everything but happiness and freedom. Without these two elements what is the purpose of living. Next up is "January 28th" Cole's born date, bringing you back sonically to his The Warm Up days. Drum heavy, Cole takes his time on the first verse to tell an eye lens view of his perspective of the surroundings of his teen years, before taking a notebook to write his rhymes, while the second verse plays on the wittiness of wordplay describing his surroundings in current times. On the third verse, Cole makes mention of Drake and Kendrick Lamar, two of his greatest peers, to point out that the only rap gods were born on January 28th. (J. Cole and Rakim!).
     "Wet Dreamz" has a nostalgic boom-gap sound that many hip-hop head will reminisce on. Also sounding similar to the sounds on his first two mixtapes. Telling a story about his first time with a girl, and giving clever melodic rhymes to reminisce on his crush. Listening to it can take you back production-wise to Kanye West's  College Dropout era. "'03 Adolescence" takes place where "Wet Dreamz" leaves off. No longer innocent, Cole is now a high school graduate heading to college heading to New York. The most telling part of the song is Cole's honesty. It is here that he admits to being insecure and shy during this period of time in his life, also not sure of what will happen to his future "in a city where too many niggaz die". The vulnerability in the track is something that is missing in today's music. Peep the story told in the third verse about his willing to sell drugs with his older friend, only to be brought back to reality by the friend telling him that he's a fool to live a life he is not built for.
     "A Tale of Two Citiez" is based on the differences of living in Fayetteville and New York. Being a small town kid moving to the big apple is nothing short of a culture shock. The song is produced by Vinylz instead of Cole, much like the next song following "Fire Squad". Sounding a hungry as ever, Cole pulls no punches lyrically, pronouncing himself as the greatest, and the "new Spike Lee", as well as "'02 Lil' Wayne". It's the third verse though that sets in, addressing black appropriation by white artists. Think what you want the track isn't so much a diss, than it is a call to arms to stop trying to be a "bitch" and even "the king" when in essence we are all kings.
     Melodic wise Cole showcases his skills here more so than any other album he has had. "St. Tropez" reflects the riches Cole has gained since his quest for hip-hop fame. Much different in sound than "Fire Squad", the song references and samples "That's All Right By Me" by Esther Phillips. The most fun track on the album has to be "G OMD", and eve this song has a message. Almost a parody of  past Lil' Jon hits, "Hollywood Cole" talks about  his hometown, before heading back to his new found rap fame, and getting lost in its materialistic glory. Contemplating going back home, Cole switches up the flow a few times to makes you hit the club to say 'fuck it'.
     "No Role Modelz" is a reflection of his past once more, but this time realizing that he has no one to look up to to guide him growing up. Produced by Phonix Beats, who uses a George W. Bush audio sample midway, still carries out the album's cohesive sound. "Hello" also takes on a narrative of seeing an old girlfriend, who now has kids and has moved on with her life. Here, Cole depresses himself by looking back on what would've been.) "Apparently" provides Cole with his own canvas for expression towards his mother's pain after their home was foreclosed. The song is an ode to his mom, while expressing the flaws within himself while she watched  him grow up.
     "Love Yourz" is kind of the counter part to Kendrick Lamar's "i". The song tells that "there's no such thing a life that's better than yours". Addressing the fact that there will always be people to compare yourself to, as well as the materialistic dreams that comes with it. But there is only one life. As a fitting send off is "Note To Self" is more a 14 minute shout out than a song, but the soulful sound bed throughout keeps you listening.
     Calling an album a masterpiece is premature by any standard (it's only been out 14 hours as of now), but we can say that it its cohesive and above all else good. That's what music is supposed to be right? The album's message carries on for 64 minutes: You can't run from home.

From Music to Ferguson: 'Fire Squad'

     2014 has been and urgent year socially. One could argue that with current technological advancements, a decreasing crime rate nationwide, even a African-American President, that things are getting better. While in fact there are improvements being made in certain aspects, there are still issues that need to be addressed and acted upon. This blog is not going to change that fact or even make things better in the slightest bit, but whomever reads it should at least think about it. As a young black man writing this, I have to address situations that are impacting me first before talking about issues that are irrelevant to the progress of people. This article in fact is a reflection into the recent issues going from Gaza, to Michael Brown and Eric Garner among others, but is one that is overdue because the problems that have manifested over the news are nothing more than open wounds from a harsh history that we are part of. This reflection is potent in the music of today, a once thriving art form that is now suffering from the imitation of reality.
     If music is the paradigm for self expression, then Hip-Hop is (or was?) the most influential in representing the people. To be a representation in sound of not only your peers but the environment of a misrepresented class there is a lot of pressure, but one that our culture flawlessly exceeded within. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five couldn't have represented the early 80's any better with "The Message". NYC in particular was on the verge of the crack epidemic, and the public school system at the time was on a decline. By the time Public Enemy came out with the It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back in April 1988 (two months before I was born), A declining economy, astronomical crime rate, and crack-cocaine was in full swing. Chuck D was the visual spokesman for the time with "Night of the living Baseheads".
     All of this while a culture named hip-hop was becoming a cornerstone in expression for the underclass. This was result of policies that went as far back as post World War II: The passing of the G.I. Bill, of the migration of African-Americans in the South to the industrial peaking North for jobs, the Civil Rights and Women's movements of the '60's, Vietnam War and resulting peacetime of the 70's and so on. By the 1990's times had changed, and music did as well. In a sense music represented the times no matter what was good or bad was within the world. In the past decade however, there has been a shift in what the purpose of the music is for, namely hip-hop.
     
     "You can't have music be one-dimensional. It's got to be able to grow and take on all different aspects of life. Social change is something people shouldn't be afraid to touch upon..." 
                                                                                 - excerpt from Chuck D (Paste Magazine, 2004)
     While there are protests throughout the world regarding injustice, flaws within the Voting Rights Act, there are also common personal issues we all are facing. Socially there is still an imbalance, we are divided economically as much as we are racially, so hip-hop is reflecting this right? Wrong.
     Not to blame radio or commercialization totally for this, even if you search through the internet foe independent artists, more artists are chasing lust and materialism than the ones that are not. There is not anything wrong with today's subject matter in hip-hop, life is life, and reality is reality, the problem is that there is no balance, and a focus to the issues that are really important. Here lies where an artist of J Cole's stature stands out. Not only has he recently made music to represent his reality, but also social era in modern time. Who knew that his unnannounced visit to Ferguson this past summer in support of Michael Brown, an unarmed teen fatally shot by an officer named Darren Wilson, would spark a change in his music so soon? J Cole had nothing to gain by his visit commercially, but he did it rather for himself and his people, our people.
     Not surprisingly most artists that are more powerful than himself have decided to not push the Ferguson issue, which is the sad part. Nevertheless it is not a surprise that Cole's newest release 2014 Forest Hills Drive is a call to arms in every aspect possible. No...it is not Nation of Millions, nor What's Going On. It is J cole's truth and an awareness to the issues reflecting young black men. This is about a kid who lost his childhood home due to foreclosure after going to college, who later chased materialistic things, only to realize that it was never worth it, and to return home with a better perspective. And then "Fire Squad" comes in.
     The first song to leak from the album a week before it's release has grabbed the most headlines. Not because it's catchy and sugar coated, but rather dark, grimy, truthful, and sounds good. The third verse is the most important, calling out Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Macklemore, and Iggy Azalea for white appropriation within black music. The song is not so much a diss as it is an awareness to what has been going on for decades.
     What hits the most is J Cole's "wiping away at the crown" dialogue at the end. Instead of respond to 'Control' (Kendrick Lamar's calling out of rappers, including Cole himself), he calls for unification. After visiting Ferguson, and dealing with his own self-awareness, Cole knows the reality of his situation, our situation, it's lack of unity. Without unity everything disintegrates.