The album 2014 Forest Hills Drive has become one of the first albums to go platinum with no features. This led to J. Cole releasing the album, Forest Hills Drive : Live to celebrate his success.
As stated by Dreamville Records, "History turned into an album. Just in time for Cole's born day, Forest Hills Drive Live includes thirteen tracks recorded live from Cole's sold-out show at Crown Coliseum in his hometown of Fayetteville, N.C. The show was also featured in his HBO documentary Forest Hills Drive:Homecoming".
The album is special in the sense that it was recorded at his hometown Fayetteville N.C and J. Cole performed on his birthday , January 28th.
As I have mentioned on my music review about 2014 Forest Hills Drive, it's one of the best albums of all time. This is another reason why J. Cole released the live album, Forest Hills Drive : Live.
J. Cole has stated that, "..this album is a journey...". I believe he was making reference to his personal life as a person and a rapper. Wanna know how? Well let's look at the track list :
1. J. Cole's birthday
For example, the track January 28th is actually the date of his birthday. Moreover this is a journey about his life as a person and an artist as it is shown on the lyrics below:
"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself. I go by the name of J. Cole, Cole fucking World, and I'm from the Ville. A few months back, I dropped this album, it's called 2014 Forest Hills Drive, and shit I don't know if people heard about that shit. They tryna say, they tryna say it was the first album to go platinum without no fuckin' features and shit. They said that, they said that, I ain't say that, they said that, but since they said that, since they said that. Fayetnam, if it's cool with y'all, andw only if it's cool with y'all, I'm tryna perform the whole fuckin' album for ya'll tonight if that's cool with you. Can I do that shit on some Ville shit? Ok then, on some Ville shit, ok then. But y'all know this whole album is a journey, from front to back, this whole shit is a journey. So before we get too far in the fucking journey, I wanna press rewind and take ya'll to a time where I was just a young boy"
J. Cole not only introduces himself to the audience, but he also talks about 2014 Forest Hills Drive. It has become one of the best albums released by J. Cole and he lets his audience know that he will person every track from the album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. This proves the reason why J. Cole is considered to be the king in the rap game. He did not forget about his roots and he appreciates everyone who supported him throughout his journey.
2. J. Cole is considered to be the king in the rap game
This is shown on the track Fire Squad. J. Cole said on Verse 1 :
"Ain't a way around it no more, I am the greatest
A lotta niggas sat on the throne, I am the latest
I am the bravest, go toe to toe with the giants
I ain't afraid of you niggas, I'll end up fading you niggas..."
When he said, "I am the bravest, go toe to toe with the giants", I believe he is making reference to the time when he released an album called Born Sinner the same time as Kanye West released his album, Yeezus. Cole going toe-to-toe with the giants in the rap game proved to be successful because Born Sinner debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. This is why Cole boasts about his success which shows his journey as a rap artist as being successful.
3. J. Cole's Speech
Out of all the songs on the track list, Love Yourz seems to stick out from the live album the most. This is because J. Cole gave a speech as it is shown below:
"Ion think y'all really understand... how much this shit means to means to me, man y'all just-
I'm back home and y'all just sat through my whole fuckin' entire album and shit that's fuckin' crazy, thank y'all for doing that shit man
I been planning this night for a long time so this shit is- crazy to see like- turning to reality and shit
And I appreciate y'all for sitting through this shit I want to tell y'all some shit
About this album so when you leave here tonight-
I know people been- people been telling me niggas playing the album like crazy and I appreciate it but
But we leave here tonight, I want y'all to know what this album meant to me
So when you driving home
And you playing it this week, next week, next year, whenever
You gon' always remember what this shit is about
What I had to go out into the world and learn- on my own
I'm coming here to tell y'all tonight this is what this album is about
And I'm taking this message across the fuckin' world ion' care
Here it go:
When we young
And even when we old
The world is constantly, constantly pumping us with images, and messages, about what life is about right, and what- what we need to make us happy
In the United States, we call it the American Dream right
But what does it always include?
A lot of fucking money
A big ass house
A brand new car
A wife that's not even genetically fuckin' possible to have and shit
And bitches
And bitches too
They tell us we need all that to be happy right
So what ends up happening?
The world is setup so that 99% of us can't live like that, but what do we do?
We idolize the people that do live like that right?
We call them celebrities
We follow they lives
We go "oh man it looks so perfect, I want to be living like them"
And I'm coming here tonight to tell y'all I'm the same dude
That was on the other side of the fence, right here in this city, right down the fuckin' street working at the fucking skating rink daydreaming
Oh y'all niggas love the skating rink
Daydreaming about shit like "Man I want to live like that, I want that" right?
And then I went and got that shit
But I'm telling y'all this
I'm not saying that to stunt, I'm saying that to say this
When I got over there, on that side of the fence, and I started to look closer I'm telling y'all
As not fuck J. Cole I'm telling y'all as Jermaine
As I really started to take a closer look at all that shit we want, and all the shit we need that makes us happy
I started to see for my, with my own eyes like wait a minute
That shit don't feel right, that shit feel weird
And I started to notice that, all of that shit that they tried to tell us is all bullshit and it's all wrong and it's not what we need to make us happy
I had to go figure that shit out on my own
And how do I know that?
How do I know that?
This is how I know that
It's a man right now in the world, he got millions of fucking dollars, he got a billion fuckin' dollars right
He got everything that we think we need to be happy, he got it
He got the money, he got the cars, he got the big ass crib, 3 or 4 of them bitches, he got the genetically impossible wife, and he got bitches. But yet, this dude is fucking miserable right, he's empty inside, he's miserable
But you got a family, that comes from where we come from, from this city right here, worse conditions than what we come from
They couldn't afford to a ticket to this show tonight if they fucking wanted one right?
But yet somehow, they got more happiness and joy in their life right now than this man will ever have in his life
How is that possible?
How's that even possible?
He got everything they told us we need to be happy and he's miserable
And they ain't got shit
But they happy
What do they got that he don't got?
(Love)
What's that?
(Love!)
That's that fuckin' Cumberland County public education system there coming into play Goddammit
I need everyone to put your cell phones in the sky one time tonight Fayetteville we gonna light this shit up one time
Ay yo
A nigga been dreaming about this shit"
The way I see it, Love Yourz seems to be about the importance of loving yourself and that we shouldn't compare ourselves to others. J. Cole puts emphasis on the issue that money does not equal to happiness.
4. Since this album is about his journey as a person and an artist, let's look at the track, Intermission. On the track, Cole takes everyone back to the time when he released Friday Night Lights and Cole World : The Sideline Story. For example, the tracks, "Lights Please" and "In The Morning" are not only found on his mixtape, "Friday Night Lights" but also on his first album, "Cole World : The Sideline Story". The track , "Nobody's Perfect" is found on "Cole World : The Sideline Story".
The way I see it , the mixtape Friday Night Lights and Cole World : The Sideline Story seems to be very important to J. Cole. This is why he decided to share with his fans as a way of thanking them for supporting him thoroughout his journey of being a rap artist.
Forest Hills Drive : Live album is the only live album released by J. Cole so far and it's definitely an album worth listening to. The album was released on January 28th, 2016.
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