If You Like real and you like Hip Hop, you fuck with J. Cole. J. Cole wasn't aiming to prove he can rap. We already knew he could do that. He was trying to let us know he can make a top-shelf album and still be true to himself. With that being said, Forest Hills Drive is a concept album. The concept is a walk through J. Cole's life...beginning from Forest Hills Drive.
The album starts with Cole singing over some groovy piano keys and repeating the question: "Do you wanna be happy?" and repeating the word "free". So right off rip I knew the next 12 tracks were going to be that real, artistic, personal shit.
From there he grooves into January 28th, basically just an ode by him for him. Core J. Cole fans love that track. It's a "regular" J. Cole but he's reminiscing back on his career before he starts his story. After that is Wet Dreamz. A song about the rapper losing his virginity. A track I could've gone without but hey, that's neither here nor there. Either way it's a point in Cole's life he feels was important and that's the theme throughout the entire album. Goofy rhymes, and real emotion floating over some self-production won't let me call it a bad song though.
On '03 Adolescence, he really gives us that real. With a deep harmony of lyrics on the hook that go "I get high 'cause the lows can be so cold/I might bend a little bit but I don't fold... I got food for your thoughts to soothe your soul/If you see my tears fall just let me be, move along nothin' to see". Cole's in his senior year of high school debating on what to do next. He raps about growing up and a conversation he has with a friend about them potentially switching roles. The back and forth of Street Life Vs School Life and what happens if it fails. That conversation was really what made J. Cole take the rapper route. That same theme transfers into A Tale Of Citiez.
A Tale Of Citiez is one of my records off the album. A dark..hype, beat that never seems to drop.. A catchy, wavy hook.. A couple verses of Cole being Cole and rapping about others having the flashy things and wanting to flash too. All that together combines for a gem off FHD.
Now Fire Squad might be the track that has the most replay value. It has J. Cole talking his shit.. Taking his shots (kinda). It's just a side of the rapper we rarely see. "Cole you might be: like the new Ice Cube meets the new Ice T/Meets 2Live Crew meets the new Spike Lee/Meets Bruce like Wayne, Meets Bruce like Lee/Meets '02 Lil Wayne in a new white tee/Meets KD ain't no nigga that can shoot like me". And then the smooth chorus? Boy oh boy, yeah this one's a gem too. At this point in the album J. Cole's transitioning into New York with his rap career, still aware of his relationships in potential trouble with his boys and his girl. Yet and still, he stops being humble for 4 minutes and 48 seconds and does some soul-searching. Switching a couple flows rapping over some tough, gritty, street production that he crafted himself.
A song that's not bad but lacks replay value to me is St. Tropez. J. Cole sings through the record with help from a sample from Esther Phillips but the songs just seems incomplete. Cole already has his name and now he's just adjusting to it. He's not Hollywood yet but he's definitely on his way there, he tells us that. He also tells that all his newfound money, fame, success and fans still doesn't equate to being happy and it's been hard for him to smile. He's still scared of what's next.
Hollywood Cole makes his first appearance on Forest Hills Drive on GOMD. He loses his humble side again for a little bit. Then touches on a lot of topics. Cole shows glimpses of his southern background on the chorus. Heraps about changing, his old friends, what happens when he goes back home. He also brings up his on and off relationship with his girl. Hollywood Cole lets aspirations, knowledge and taunts fill the verses. But then on No Role Modelz he realizes all the Hollywood shit ain't real.
All the women.. All the fake friends.. The fake happiness and other bullshit isn't real and still leaves the rapper lacking the feeling of true love and true happiness. On Hello, J. Cole is short serenading to a girl he use to have strong feelings for. She's a mother now and all his thoughts about them being together, the happy times make him want to hit her up and say hello.
Apparently shows that Cole is realizing where he finds true happiness. At home. In his roots. With his mother. With his girlfriend. From there he goes into Love Yourz. He found that true happiness he's been hunting for and been without for so long. He understands there's no better thing to do than to live your own life in every aspect of those words.
He closes the album giving his shoutouts and thank yous for 14 minutes on Note To Self.
J. Cole doesn't get enough credit for being a rapper/producer. I'll say that until he does. The majority of the album is self-produced (with the exception of '03 Adolescence and Love Yourz) and the production level is a strong. There's no features but that's not a problem and features weren't needed for this album in particular. He holds his own on his own and this album was about him.
His talent as a musician is undeniable but J. Cole is in a box now. This box where we know what he brings to the table. This box where we know what to expect from him. Dope but not over-the-top production and real content and authenticity in his lyrics.
Forest Hills Drive is a dope album... No hits for the radio... No club bangers.. But a dope album nonetheless. It has dope production and, as expected from him, it's flooded with content and emotion. It sounds a lot like his earlier projects of Friday Night Lights and The Warm Up that made his core fans fall in love with him. This albums was for the fans... That's been proven every step of the process, from promotion to the actual album... Some tracks you might forget if you're listening to modern day J. Cole or Jermaine from the past, but that's not a bad thing.
If you like real, you fuck with J. Cole. If you like hip hop, you fuck with J. Cole.
Yours Truly,
The Boy (@NateSaid)
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