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J Cole – 4 Your Eyez Only: 5 Star Album Reviews šŸ’½

Throughout the website you will notice that we love music; in fact, we live and breathe music! This article covers a must-listen review of a top 5 album, showcasing the absolute bangers being produced. Our previous review was of JAY-Z’s 4.44.Ā We do this in a unique bullet point style process of listening to the music and jotting down everything from instrumental style, flow, lyricism, emotion, memories, similarities, and reference to samples.

Every album we review gets assigned three out of thisĀ ?Ā Five Starā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøĀ ratings, highlighting the hottest tracks on the album that we recommend you listen to.

Take this journey with us, press play, while we press play on the latest album from J Cole – 4 Your Eyez Only.

1.”For Whom the Bell Tolls”Ā  (2:07)

  • Triplets 3/3 time signature
  • Swells and trumpets
  • Melodically riding the beat
  • ā€œI DON’T KNOW!!ā€ – nice!
  • Reminds me of being on a train, watching the rain hit the window

2.”Immortal”Ā  (3:21)

  • Heavy beat – bass booming
  • Hit hats and snares are bullets!
  • Jermaine (J Cole) is destroying this beat
  • Flow is fire – talking about real life
  • Hearing that pain/frustration in his voice
  • We don’t die…form on the plot… don’t die…form on the block…
  • ?Ā Five Starā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøĀ 

3.”Deja Vu”Ā  (4:24)

  • Wait… this is Bryson Tiller’s Exchange!!
  • Nice rework with deep bass
  • Cole’s storytelling skills are as sharp as ever
  • Chorus has booming bars!
  • Hearing Drizzy’s influence on the flow (or has Drake taken this from J…)

4.”Ville Mentality”Ā  (3:14)

  • Triplets again, swing style
  • Jazzy melody with J singing
  • Similar to Kendrick’s style, dual vocals rapping/singing at different octaves
  • Quotes from school girls – nice touch
  • J shouting the message/mentality

5.”She’s Mine Pt. 1″ (3:29)

  • Slow and chilled, almost like a personal letter to his girl
  • Catch me… don’t move…catch me…
  • Lyrics are simple but the delivery is expressive
  • Confession style spoken word

6.”Change” (5:31)

  • Uplifting melody and beat
  • Riding the beat clean – nice head nodding flow!
  • Reminds me of Sundays, chilling, enjoying life
  • Great message – we need to change inside not just complain about external factors
  • ?Ā Five Starā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøā­ļø

7.”Neighbors”Ā  (3:36)

  • …(Turn’s speakers up, thanks to the deep base)
  • BOOM!
  • Fast flow, battle rap style, and switch ups
  • Melody reminds me of the first time reversing vinyl on a deck
  • Pause. This is a real story, which involved the SWAT team apparently – damn neighbors!
  • Selling dope albums, yeah that’s true!
  • ?Ā Five Starā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøā­ļøā­ļø

8.”Foldin Clothes” ( 5:16)

  • Funky, uptempo beat
  • Cole’s lyrics are all about appreciation
  • Nice harmonies!
  • Another personal letter style song
  • Reminds me of a post-Valentines Day backing track in a film

9.”She’s Mine Pt. 2″Ā  (4:38)

  • Definitely talented piano playing, expressive
  • Similar to track 5 as suspected…
  • More lyrics this time, cool approach
  • Two octaves style rapping again – Must be K dot’s influence?
  • Spoken word style flow now
  • Undertones of a baby crying / talking throughout

10.”4 Your Eyez Only”Ā  (8:50)

  • Jazzy and bassy
  • Trumpets have returned!
  • Storytelling mode on fleek!
  • Really emotional topics being mentioned
  • Detailed story that’s more gripping with every second
  • Reminds me of a documentary about a father learning to deal with the family dynamic

This is a great album, which is now Cole’s fourth consecutive number one album! Just like his previous 2014 Forest Hills Drive, this new album doesn’t have any features. So to do so well again and reach number one, is a testament to Cole taking ownership of his craft, which in turn is building his legacy.

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