вЂњI never felt so alive,вЂќ he hums, his voice cracking with feeling. 1вЂќ has the rapper gushing about a romantic love. While most celebrities clamor to social media or glossy covers to share significant personal milestones, Cole only drops sonic hints of his maturation and vulnerability. Cole for '4 Your Eyez Only' Album Artwork Photographer Anthony Supreme Talks Working With J. вЂњTo die a young legend or live a long life unfulfilled?вЂќ he wails on вЂњImmortal.вЂќ вЂњCause they only feel you after you gone, or IвЂ™ve been told/And now IвЂ™m caught between beinвЂ™ heard and gettinвЂ™ old/Damn, death creepinвЂ™ in my thoughts lately.вЂќ вЂњIвЂ™m searching and praying and hoping for something I know IвЂ™m gonna see itвЂ¦ Lord.вЂќ Despite critical and commercial acclaim, he grapples with his mortality and what heвЂ™ll leave behind. The rapper is self-reflective, digging into his headspace. вЂњI see the rain powering down, before my very eyes,вЂќ he moans against a jazz-tinged background on the title track. Sonically minimalistic, he forgoes catchy hooks and big features for a stripped-down, lyrically-focused album that delves into entangled and complex emotions about life, death and legacy.Д¤ Your Eyez Only is a personal conversation, first and foremost, with Cole himself.

вЂњFor Whom The Bell TollsвЂќ opens the rapperвЂ™s most melancholy and introspective effort to date. John DonneвЂ™s quote about the interconnectedness of humanity - in life and death - is omnipresent on J. And hopefully, you get past the вЂњboringвЂќ nature of his music to understand the deeper message.вЂњAny manвЂ™s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls it tolls for thee.вЂќ We need to absorb his message because it is a deep one. He also produced every song from вЂњVille MentalityвЂќ to вЂњSheвЂ™s Mine Part 2.вЂќ He is a complete musical talent and we need to appreciate what we have while he is still here. His wrote his entire album by himself which has become a highly debated topic in the rap community as of late. Cole seems content with being the polarizing figure that he is, and you have to appreciate his artistry. Whether or not others agree with it is fine for him. Cole did on 4 Your Eyez Only was reach to his core fans and made an album that they can appreciate. Sure, 2014вЂ™s Forest Hills Drive was able to tap into a broader audience. Cole is far from boring and itвЂ™s not necessarily вЂњwoke.вЂќ This is a black man from a poor background talking to other poor black men about changing our lifestyles before it is too late. And itвЂ™s fair that people will assume that he is boring or that this is some type of вЂњwokeвЂќ music. Cole took this old Kanye West model on music and ran with it. It comes across as depressing because it is only at the end of the subjectвЂ™s life that he realizes what it truly means to be a вЂњreal nigga.вЂќ Kanye West has this famous line on the song, вЂњThrough the WireвЂќ, in which he raps, вЂњBut he wasnвЂ™t talking about coke and birds / It was more like spoken word / CeptвЂ™ heвЂ™s really putting it down.вЂќ J. For example, the ending of вЂњFoldinвЂ™ ClothesвЂќ where Cole raps, вЂњNiggas from the hood is the best actors / Gotta learn to speak in ways thatвЂ™s unnatural / Just to make it through the job interviews / If my niggas heard me, they would say / Damn, whatвЂ™s got into you.вЂќ His music always felt like it was meant for people who live in the middle - focused on bettering their life to make it out of poverty, but understanding that they may be too hood for the corporate world. Trying to balance that existence takes a toll on a young man, and J. But, if you exist in that world, then his music hits you like a ton of bricks, especially for young black men who are leaving their homes and venturing out into a space that is not necessarily accepting of them. If you live outside of the world that he is speaking about, then you can definitely feel the music and vibe with it. ColeвЂ™s music has always reached out to a specific audience, though. In an almost nine-minute ending track, the young man, now dead, is sending a message to his daughter so that she can understand his story and why he is now gone. He now understands that he lives for her, but he cannot leave the drug life behind him. He has a daughter and his whole stance on what it means to be a man changes. He starts doing little things like moving to a better neighborhood in order to build a better life and вЂњFoldinвЂ™ ClothesвЂќ - things that are not necessarily associated with being a вЂњreal niggaвЂќ in the Black community. On вЂњImmortalвЂќ, the young man that he is rapping about is bragging about his status in the streets with lines like, вЂњReal niggas donвЂ™t dieвЂќ and вЂњIf they want a nigga / they gonna have to send the swat team / IвЂ™m going out like Scarface in his last scene.вЂќ However, the young man falls in love with a woman and it changes his entire life. It starts off about a young man who is on the streets, drug dealing and hustling.

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