[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hile it seemed that the world was being set ablaze throughout the entirety of 2016, this year has repeatedly gifted us with great music to get us through the times. Just before 2017 arrives, the month of December has been no different with release dates slated for Childish Gambino, J.Cole, Ab-Soul, Kid Cudi, and Drake. On Dec. 2, Childish Gambino released Awaken, My Love! which proved to be a soulful masterpiece. On Dec. 9, Rapper J.Cole released his fourth studio album, 4 Your Eyez Only, which will undoubtedly come to be known as a hip-hop classic. Cole has also delivered a concept album that tells the emotional life story of James McMillan Jr., a drug dealer-turned-family man. J.Cole uses this story to shed light on problems within the black community.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, America holds 25 percent of of the world’s inmates with 1,267,000 people behind bars by the end of 2010. Now, 1 in 3 black men can expect to be incarcerated in his lifetime. Another well known problem is Police Brutality. J.Cole successfully brings attention to these issues by telling the story of James McMillan Jr., a young man that grew up without a father and started selling drugs. After falling in love and having a daughter, he becomes more socially aware and struggles to find a job because he has 2 felonies. By the end of the story on the closing title track, “4 Your Eyez Only”, James recognizes that he was set up to fail, “Took me two felonies to see the trap/This crooked ass system set for me/And now I fear it’s too late for me to ever be/The one that set examples that was never set for me”. James realizes that he is part of a never ending cycle that stems from a flawed prison system. The very last verse on the album is told from J.Cole’s point of view in a message for the listeners. He says, “I dedicate these words to you and all the other children/Affected by the mass incarceration in this nation/That sent your pops to prison when he needed education.”
Another important theme of this album is Love. The story begins with a hopeless James as he questions his own will to live in the opening track, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. With a haunting instrumental and dark lyrics, this intro paints a dark picture as James is drowning in loneliness and sorrow. All of that changes in “She’s Mine, Pt.1”, one of the most vulnerable and beautiful love songs ever created. James has fallen in love with a woman he meets in “Deja Vu”. Over a romantic instrumentation, Cole softly sings, “I never felt so alive” as James is taken over by a feeling he’s never experienced – Hope. This leads to the next track, “Change”, which marks a turning point in James’s mentality as he becomes more optimistic. This love and happiness grows even more in another sweet song, “Foldin Clothes”, which describes James’s life at home with the soon-to-be mother of his child. This happiness reaches it’s peak in “She’s Mine, Pt. 2” where James is overwhelmed with joy after the birth of his daughter. This song really pulls on the heartstrings with lines like, “You are now the reason that I fight/I ain’t never did nothing this right in my whole life”, or “I just wanna be right by your side/On any night that you be cryin’ baby/I dry your eyes, I dry your eyes”. The birth of his daughter is so special that James finally believes that “There is a God”.
J.Cole new album makes me want to be a better father to the child I don’t even have yet. #4YourEyezOnly
— PRICE (@Novelistprice) December 9, 2016
*she’s mine pt 2 plays*
*hears baby cries & heartbeat* #4YourEyezOnly @JColeNC pic.twitter.com/9Vn6QGlrTD— jazzy ? (@JazmynJenkins) December 9, 2016
After James finds something to fight for, he is able to recognize the bigger issues with society. We have listened to him grow from an angry kid to a happy father. Sadly, it is all torn away from him in the closing title track, “4 Your Eyez Only”. James wasn’t able to run away from his crimes, “Karma keeps on catching up to me/And if my past becomes the death of me/I hope you understand”. In this song it is revealed that James has died, and the entire album is actually a tape that he has recorded for his daughter to listen to after he’s gone. This is James’s last attempt to be a positive father figure for his daughter. He uses the recording to pass on the lessons he’s learned.
After a pretty confusing year, J.Cole has dropped a very solid and beautifully executed concept album that fearlessly treks into sensitive subjects. Cole is able to use hip-hop to tell a beautiful story that effectively brings attention to very real problems that our society deals with today. While we anxiously look ahead to the future, It’s sort of comforting to know that artists like J.Cole are just as concerned as we are.
