2014 Forest Hills Drive

... classics.

Like, I still think it's, like, a dope project, but going from, for example, uh, 2014, Forest Hill Drive, to, um, K- uh, what's the one before, uh, with the Il- Illuminati?

Born Sinner?

Born Sinner.

be.

We can start at Forest Hills Drive if y'all want to start there.

If

you think this is Cole's best album, you ain't listened to enough Cole.

Yeah, or you're just not a listener of rap.

You're just not a listener.

You know, like if you say Forest Hills Drive is Cole's best project.

That's a commercial.

Like, while he was performing his old shit, he would say, like, while he was performing his new shit, I would say, he would be like, yo, I know that y'all probably don't know this.

I know that y'all probably came from fucking Forest Hills Drive.

Like, y'all came from my mixtapes.

So I know a lot of y'all in this room that not hear or don't know the songs that I'm about to sing.

By the way, hit the like button and drop a comment for me because that really does help.

So it's at this point where he's coming fresh off the success of 2014 Forest Hills Drive and he's still living in New York.

Cole basically dropped the album and was at a fork in the road in life and the path that he decided on was to get engaged, married, and move back to his home state.

And once I knew, I just went and got the ring, like it wasn't even, I just knew.

That diss track from Tank dropped on August 11, 2013, and at the time, Cole was on a huge tour for Born Sinner.

He was touring all over the world, and he only went back to North Carolina one time, and that was in Charlotte.

From there, he jumped right into recording Forest Hills Drive and all that album was recorded in New York and LA.

So up to this date, it seems as though Cole had not been back to Fayetteville and basically the last thing he was told before moving back was that he wasn't safe there anymore.

But here, he's talking about the same city from two different perspectives.

Or you could also say he's talking about the two sides of the same city, the Forest Hills Drive area where he lived, which was kind of the more affluent area, and then the inner city, which was a lot rougher.

And I just think

the title and that concept of juxtaposing the two parts of the city he grew up in and acknowledging that even while he had friends and family compatriots who were engaging in sort of the harder side of life right he acknowledges that he kind of came from the relatively more affluent part of town I think that reflection is super interesting I think the story is super interesting and dad he's really good at what you talked about with the hands in the air he's really good at taking the same lyrics and using them again and as the listener you recontextualize them because of the

it's 14 and a half minute

caused all the drama

Well, if it's not obvious, that song concludes 2014 Forest Hills Drive by J. Cole.

The long-awaited.

I went with my best friend, Danny, and we paid like no money for the tickets.

It was in like a D3 basketball gym and it was the Forest Hills Drive album, if that means anything to anyone.

Long story short, it was the best concert of my life.

It's probably tied with Taylor Swift, if I'm being so honest.

yeah, he's done them.

I mean, look, I became a different level of Cole fan when Forest Hills Drive came out.

And the album itself, I understand why so many people loved it.

It wasn't necessarily my album.