Review Summary: The life and times of Jermaine Cole.
Just over a year after releasing his second straight gold album, Born Sinner, J. Cole went a very unexpected route for his next release. Cole decided to go against his previous formula for success and dropped 2014 Forest Hills Drive with practically no promotion (the album was announced just three weeks before it came out) and, didn't release any singles until after the album was released. Cole's low-key promotional approach is fitting for 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which is his most personal piece of work to-date.
2014 Forest Hills Drive is clearly an immense passion project for Cole. The album title stems from the address of his childhood home- which he recently re-purchased after it was foreclosed on when he was in college- and Cole spends a majority of the album reflecting on his youth and the experiences that made him the man he is today. Aside from the personal narrative that brought him back to his roots, Cole produced or co-produced nearly every song on the album for the first time in his career. Cole's DIY approach to 2014 Forest Hills pays dividends. With so much invested in this album, Cole made the conscious decision to delve even deeper into what makes him tick. Cole has never been shy of sharing his feelings, but he's never come close to bearing as much of his soul as he does here.
On "Wet Dreamz", Cole addresses losing his virginity and the fear he had of the girl finding out that he had never sex before. Addressing the awkward feelings and personal doubts that come with losing your virginity is the complete opposite of the overwhelming sexual confidence you typically find in hip-hop. Cole's reflections on the topic are painfully real and it makes "Wet Dreamz" one of the most honest hip-hop tracks to be released in ages. Cole displays a similar level of powerful personal storytelling competence on tracks such as "03 Adolescence", which details Cole's envy for his drug dealer friend's lifestyle and his friend's envy for Cole's choice to stay on the straight and narrow and attend college, and "A Tale of Two Citiez" in which Cole documents the struggles of adjusting to going to college in New York City after growing up in rural North Carolina. With the generally sharper insight Cole offers up on 2014 Forest Hills Drive, it's clear that Cole is finally starting to come into his own as a storyteller.
Even though the album sees Cole being more open about his struggles than ever before, Cole's ego is still massive, and it drags down the quality of the record. Cole may be vulnerable throughout the duration of 2014 Forest Hills Drive, but that level of candor is completely counteracted by the self-congratulatory style that Cole raps with. He's practically begging for kudos from the hip-hip community throughout this album. While it's great that he isn't afraid to address a lot of unconventional topics and expose so much of himself on 2014 Forest Hills Drive, his staggering lack of humility makes the album a much more empty effort than it should be. If you look at hip-hop's best storytellers (Nas, Slug from Atmosphere, Kendrick Lamar, countless others) they are able to tell deep, introspective tales without simultaneously putting themselves on a pedestal. Arrogance and modesty are two personality traits that just don't mesh and until Cole realizes that, the full impact of the messages he is trying to convey in his music will not be felt.
2014 Forest Hill Drive is a clear step forward musically for J. Cole yet is still hindered by the same unjustified arrogance that has hampered him throughout. Cole has plenty of ambition, a really good flow and a budding skill for crafting meaningful narratives, but if he doesn't tone his overwhelming self-admiration, he'll never realize his full potential. Now that Cole has overcome his previous woes with repetitive song structure and lackluster production, he has all the tools to join modern hip-hop's elite. He just needs the right attitude to match his musical ability.
