It’s been a momentous few weeks for J Cole. Serving as the tertiary character in the Drake-Kendrick feud all year, he stepped into the spotlight himself by slowly doling out his original mixtapes to streaming services, coming alongside an explainer podcast series to take listeners into the recording sessions for each. The culmination of this endeavor was the 10th anniversary of 2014 Forest Hills Drive, an occasion J Cole celebrated with a deluxe edition, dropped as a physical exclusive first before making its way to streaming platforms. Now fully accessible to all, here’s everything you need to know about the deluxe for the seminal J Cole LP, 2014 Forest Hills Drive.
Heavy Storytelling Tracks Pace Most Of This J Cole Deluxe
Early, “Home Soon” and “Die Together” showcase the double-entendre heavy storytelling that defines much of this J Cole deluxe. The first takes audiences through a concept track of gang violence and infidelity, punctuated at the end of each verse with the song’s title, either regretfully delivered to a parent instead of a final “I love you,” or seen by a lover sent by someone who’s already otherwise committed.
The latter takes on a more laser-focused approach, still spread over multiple verses but instead focusing in on one unnamed protagonist, also coming to an early end at the hand of gun violence despite his dreams of growing old with his wife and child. Previous tracks in between Cole’s Mixtape and albums era like “3 Wishes” very much inform the material here, something of a calling card during the rapper’s early career despite falling out of favor in recent endeavors.
That said, all of the material in this category is extremely affecting but it’s understandable why the rapper left them on the cutting room floor. First, the two aforementioned songs and additional tracks like “Judgment Day” all fill a similar lane, and lest he launch into an earnest concept album, packing many of them into the same tracklist could be thorny. Simply put, 2014 Forest Hills Drive wasn’t and isn’t that type of album, instead focusing more on Cole’s personal journey, elucidated both by the material and its peripherals, from the name to the rapper sitting atop his childhood home on the cover. Further, this retrospective look at the recording sessions for this record allows us to trace back how the following LP, 4 Your Eyes Only, would come about. The ground-level, brutally transparent narrative style would eventually play out there, particularly on the title track.
A New Look Into How 2014 Sessions Influenced Later Work
Despite the divergence from what we now know as the breakout LP for Fayetteville’s finest, you can draw lines between tracks featured on this deluxe and what J Cole eventually let loose for public consumption. Jump to “Black Man In Hollywood” for a genuine point/counterpoint when looking at a song like “G.O.M.D.,” expressing the same racial themes seen on this newly unveiled cut with sonics more cohesive with the aesthetic direction of 2014.
“Winter Wonderland” is obviously synergistic with the timing of when this deluxe hit the ‘net. It’s not a Christmas song in terms of emotion obviously, recounting mostly the lows that Cole experienced during the colder months of his upbringing, but marks a rare holiday-themed hip-hop track without being kitschy.
“Miles” with Bone Thugs is definitely a good song, but is arguably more interesting when talking about how the way general audiences perceive Cole has changed over the years. Overall, the performances here are characteristically solid, but the “diarrhea in my diary” bar recalls a moment where the Cole lyrics that would hit the timeline were these sorts of groan-inducing metaphors and similes rather than instances of him being the absolute feature titan he’s become in recent years. Additionally, it’s interesting to consider the timeline where this track makes the final cut and we’re stripped of the “platinum with no features” moniker that propelled his legend and fanbase for years after this record hit the shelves.
The Eight Tracks Are Truly For The Completionists
With how far hip-hop has diverged from the sound that 2014 Forest Hills Drive capitalizes on, it’s safe to say that this deluxe will serve hardcore J Cole fans who fell in love with him and the record at its original release rather than convert new ones. But don’t underestimate how many fit into that category—smart money is on a chart resurgence for the record and its new addendum as we close out the year.
Catch the 2014 Forest Hills Drive deluxe and all of the J Cole backlog now wherever you stream your music.
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