BYOD Review
of: J. Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only
By: Magno
Nogueira
After two years of waiting J. Cole’s
fourth studio album is finally here and after listening to it on repeat the
whole weekend I can finally share my thoughts on it. The album’s melodic and is sonically
appealing. There isn’t much of anything to really turn up too, which what most
people want from hip hop now-a-days, but it’s a project you can enjoy relaxing
at home or maybe while on a blunt ride. But, the more I’ve listened to the records I
began to understand the album is a lot deeper than just the music. I missed the story the first couple times
listening to “4 Your Eyez Only”. When I finally was able to sit down and
dissect the lyrics, I then realized that the whole album is written from the
perspective of a Father sharing his life story with his daughter, explaining
his life, the choices he made, experiences that made him reconsider his life
style and how he matured too late to escape his lifestyle alive. The deceased father is most likely James
McMillan Jr., a friend of J. Cole who was caught up in the street life and was
murdered. He mentions this in the last
verse of the song “Change” when he says “I made it home, I woke up and turned
on the morning news, Overcame with a feeling I can't explain, Cause that was my
nigga James that was slain, he was 22.”
“4 Your Eyes Only” introduces itself with “For Whom the Bell
Tolls,” being told from the perspective of James, praying to God and confessing
his depression. He feels like he’s going to die and needs help. He says in the second line of the first verse
“But what do you do when there's no place to turn? I have no one, I'm lonely,
my bridges have burnt down, Lord, Lord.” He’s saying that he ruined
relationships with everyone who can physically help him now he can hear the
church bells calling him, and God being the only one he can ask for help.
Then the album changes its pace and tone,
when J. Cole starts rapping on the next track “Immortal.” It starts off “Now I
was barely seventeen with a pocket full of hope, Screamin', dollar and a dream
with my closet lookin' broke, And my nigga's lookin' clean, gettin' caught up
with that dope.” This verse is setting up the narrative by explaining why he
got involved in the street life. Cole
then goes on to explaining the negatives that come from selling dope, which is
having to avoid the police; seeing your friends pass away; explaining how their
names will live on by the people associated with him on the block, and the ones
who stood on the plot, aka the ones who are at his funeral and visit his burial
plot. “In my mind I been cryin', know it's wrong but I'm sellin', Eyes wellin'
up with tears, Thinkin' 'bout my niggas dead in the dirt, Immortalized on this
shirt, Real niggas don't die, Forward with the plot, One-Seven-Forty-Five, For
him at the plot.”
Now, at first I was disappointed in
the next song “Déjà vu”, because the beat that was used is the same as Bryson
Tillers “Exchange”. Which using that beat gives the album a mixtape feel. But,
come to find out there is controversy as to which producer made the beat
first. You can read more about this on:
After
learning of the beat I was able to finally enjoy the song. This song is about a
guy who has feelings for a girl at a party who is already in a relationship,
but he eventually sees her out alone and is able to get her number. Now this
could be about J. Cole, but in an attempt to have it flow with the theme of the
album it could be about James and how he met the mother of his daughter
Next song slows down a little bit
and explains the “Ville Mentality,” and how that’s got Cole thinking about
retirement like he mentioned in “Jermaine’s interlude” on DJ Khaled’s “Major
Key” album. This also ties into the theme of the album where James could be
feeling he should get away from his current situation knowing it won’t be long
until he disappears. You can see how it can be in reference to both of them
when Cole says “…Damn it, won't be long 'fore I disappear, You call it runnin',
I call it escapin', Start a new life in a foreign location, Similar to my
niggas duckin' cases, Can't take the possible time that it faces.” Then it’s
like he reconsiders these thoughts when he says in the second verse, “Nigga
play me, never, Give up my chain, never, Give up my pride, never, Show my pain,
never, Dirt on my name, never.” This is the “Ville Mentality” and this way of
thinking is what can put someone in a situation where they could possibly lose
their life. You also get a feeling as if he’s talking from James’ perspective
when the little girl speaks on how her father died and how she wishes he was
around.
Moving on we get into “She’s mine,
pt. 1” where Cole is speaking on how he fell in love with his wife. But, with this you can tell he’s speaking
from James’ perspective as well and how he fell in love with his child’s
mother. You may understand this when he
says “She gets him, you get me, She hugs him, you kiss me.” This explains how
he’s talking about his love and the love between James and his girl.
The song “Change” speaks on how
James is looking to change his lifestyle, maybe trying to do this by taking
basketball more serious and focusing on that. There is a reference to this when
Cole says, “Yeah, prodigal son, got a new gun, this one, Don't run out of ammo
lately been working on my handles, Can I ball, become a star, and remain myself.” This change in mentality comes too late
though because by the end of the song he dies and ends at his funeral service.
“Pistols be poppin' and niggas drop in a heartbeat, Scattered like roaches, a
body laid on the concrete…No time for that, ain't no lookin' back, cause I'm
running too, I made it home, I woke up and turned on the morning news …that was
my nigga James that was slain, he was 22.”
After the death of James in the
story line J. Cole starts to speak on things going on directly in his
life. Now in “Neighbors” Cole is talking
about a true story of how his neighbors called the police suspecting that
people were selling drugs out of his home, but it was being used as a recording
studio and when the police raided the house that’s all that was found. This
song takes a break from the narrative to speak on the racist stereotypes that
still exist in America. He explains this
in the second verse “…Took a little break just to annotate.”
Cole then dives into “Foldin
Clothes,” where he is speaking on doing what is most important to him at the moment
and that’s trying to help his wife in anyway while she is dealing with the
pregnancy.
In “She’s Mine, Pt. 2” Cole is
speaking on falling in love with his new born daughter. It can also reflect on the feelings for his
friend James and how he felt about his daughter when she was born.
The last song on the album which is
the title track “4 Your Eyez Only,” is where you discover that the whole album
is a message from Cole’s friend James to his daughter. The record starts by explaining James’ life and
James’ request if anything happens to him for Cole to tell his story to his
daughter. With hope that this will help her understand why he made the mistakes
that he made and how he tried to change, but the change didn’t happen soon
enough. J. Cole explains this in the last verse when he’s telling James’
daughter, Nina, about a conversation that him and her father had, also
explaining the purpose of the album "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, the only thing 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."
Every song on the album is relatable to J.
Cole and his friend James. Their lives pretty much reflect each other besides
for a few crucial choices that took them into two different directions, one
towards the street life and the other into making music. J. Cole’s journey being the BYOD way, turning
a negative situation into a positive one, and the others journey being one of
someone trapped in the mentality of the street life, the “Ville Mentality.” Each of them are telling their story but for
two different audiences, James for his Daughter’s eyes and J. Cole for the eyes
of his daughter and his fans. When I first heard the album I gave it a B but
after finding the deeper meaning behind the music I have to give it this
project an A. If you didn’t notice these
things the first time you heard the album than go back and listen again because
it may change your perspective on the album.
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