Cole’s eyes but that through a young slain man known as James McMaillian. And what we were served were a world difference from the pre-album releases “False Prophets” and “Everybody Dies.” A fan theory has spread across the internet that the perspective of the album isn’t actually through J. Now that his backstory is well known, the question would always be what content would make up his new album. “No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls It tolls for thee.”įor someone who prides himself a storyteller, the newest album by J. Taken from his 1624 work, aptly titled Devotions upon Emergent Occasions,taken from the epigraph is this piece,
Though known more widely from the Hemingway title, the original phrase actually comes from the metaphysical poet John Donne, who wrote a series of meditations and prayers on health, pain, and sickness (sound familiar?). There is a reason the title track of the song is For Whom the Bell Tolls. The cyclical nature of the mindset created by our society, by systems of greed and capitalism that create these self-fulfilling prophecies.
Granted people are quick to tie political rap activism more squarely to Kendrick Lamar, it’s Cole’s songs which find themselves more relatable on a personal level.
This artist in his own words wants to be a “vessel for the truth” which takes the form of reflecting of offering a poetics take on the black struggle in America. In 4 Your Eyez Only, Cole channels the spirit and movement he found in “Be Free” and abandons any sort of the commercial aspirations or catchy hooks that comprised his previous album. Having disappeared almost entirely since his previous album, releasing two songs, over the tim, firstly Jermaine’s Interlude on DJ Khaled’s album as well as a song last November alongside Kendrick Lamar. Cole’s evolving stance on fame primarily necessitated if Forest Hills Drive was any example, that he wasn’t a fan of it. Cole’s artistic merits while simultaneously writing nothing of worldly relevance themselves (looking at you Shea Serrano.) Then in the other corner you have sub-par mediocre writers who slander J. So it’s for that reason, before I get further into the album review, I’d like to dismiss most if not all the early reviews of the album which primarily read like one-listen write-ups, a process to which this album is not friendly. He doesn’t have the easy-going likeable of Drake nor does he have the whatever it is people like about Kendrick. Cole is difficult for most entertainment writers to cover. Cole has come full circle, though maybe not in the way that many had expected. Now, with the release of 4 Your Eyez Only, J. Stadium bass heavy anthems like G.O.M.D and Firing Squad were there to balance the softening back-end of the album, which featured a more melodic and piano heavy movement. Cole the artist and superstar finally found a convergence. Then, it was finally with Forest Hills Drive that J. As a personal fan of Born Sinner, I loved what the work was, and it showed an evolving sense of comfort. Cole’s transition back to his roots of music. But following a lukewarm freshman studio release, we saw the beginning of J. As an introspective rapper he’s chronicled that struggle and journey, beginning with his early career mixtapes The Warm Up as well as the massively underrated Friday Night Lights. Throughout his career, J Cole has had trouble reconciling his own ambitions for stardom with a perso nal calling for storytelling as an art form.