Prolonged album promotion cycles have gone the way of dinosaurs so J. Cole didn’t make his fans wait long at all between the time 4 Your Eyez Only was announced and the actual release of the project. Word leaked last Thursday that the surprise follow-up to 2014 Forest Hills Drive was imminent and now seven days later it’s here as one early Christmas gift for rap fans.
With such a small window to work, Cole had it easy in terms of keeping fans undivided attention. His Eyez documentary gave everyone a look inside the process involved with the album’s creation and it featured two songs, “everybody dies” and “False Prophets,” that included sharp critiques of his musical peers, namely Wale and possibly Kanye.
The album is Cole’s fourth studio release and it has big shoes to fill. All three of Cole’s studio albums — Cole World: The Sideline Story, Born Sinner and 2014 Forest Hill Drive — have gone platinum or more, with Forest Hills being certified 2x platinum in September of this year — with no features. At this point though, Young Simba’s proven he’s more than capable of handling the high expectations so there shouldn’t be much worry.
4 Your Eyez Only is now available for stream on Apple Music and purchase on iTunes.
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