J. Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only isn't Great but it's Needed (Review)

After basically going ghost for 2 years rapper J. Cole decides to become the center of entertainment with the release of his fourth studio album 4 Your Eyez Only alongside 2 new singles False Prophets and Everybody Dies. Fans went crazy after hearing "False Prophets" where Cole decides to call out what we're assuming is Kanye for having ghost writers, and on everyone dies Cole literally murdered everyone with Lil in their name. Although rappers Lil Yatchy and Uzi Vert didn't take any offense to Cole's verse and Kanye hasn't responded to anything since being hospitalized, fans are now once again calling J. Cole hip hop's savior. Personally I can't say that Cole dissed anyone because his statements were very indirect and could be talking about anyone who's mainstream or praised in hip hop, and the verse that mention "Lil" is not shocking because not even those rappers truly care about the essence of hip hop, they simply are having fun and want to make money. No this doesn't justify their music, but I agree with Cassidy maybe they should be put in their own genre because we shouldn't discredit their music just because we don't agree with the style, because clearly people are listening to them.





As for J. Cole's new album 4 Your Eyez Only, is needed for the current state of hip hop. Do I think the album is amazing, No. The album lacks diversity in sound, content, and overall concept. I really dislike when J. Cole sings and I would rather him just put a great soulful singer on the intro than him, because I dislike his singing voice. Also as a J. Cole fan and follower since mixtapes like the Warm Up, this album is predictable, some of the bars and verses sound a little recycled. However this album is very much needed in hip hop, not only because it's extremely relatable and have some of the best jazz saxophone arrangements that's comparable to John Coltrane, but it's true hip hop.

J. Cole is one of the few artist that is mainstream with a hip hop structure. He keeps the mainstream informed, making sure that they know hip hop isn't dying or dead. The cadence, structure and tone in Cole's flow is comparable to the "Golden Era" of hip hop. J. Cole storytelling forces listeners to reflect on society, and feel the reality in the words. Although I wished he'd used more wordplay techniques on this album, and got deeper in the topics. Songs like Immortal and 4 your eyez is classic Cole, but I do think he could've been a little more clever in his choice of words. J. Cole is very straightforward on this album, so no you don't need a certain level of intelligence to understand the concept of the album, sorry fans. Does this album make Cole a goat, no but he's definitely talented and deserves the recognition he receives.