J.Cole’s ‘2014 Forest Drive Hills’ best album yet
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By Deanna Smith, Staff Writer //
The year 2014 was home to an insane amount of musical monuments such as Sam Smith’s “In The Lonely Hour,” Ed Sheeran’s “X,” and Taylor Swift’s “1989,” but even amongst all those accomplishments, J. Cole’s recent album “2014 Forest Drive Hills” has managed to be atop the best of them.
Jermaine Lamarr Cole, a.k.a J. Cole, was born Jan. 28, 1985 and has since made a huge name for himself in the music world while continuously standing tall on music charts. Roc Nation, owned by successful entrepreneur Jay- Z, is the record label that gave Cole his chance to shine.
Many know Cole from his 2011 hit In the Morning featuring Drake or when he blew up the charts with the song Power Trip featuring Miguel in 2013 and the world has just been awaiting something more from the talented artist.
With very short promotion time, Cole released his newest album in early December of 2014, giving everyone something to add to their Christmas lists. Selling 354,000 copies in just its first week, Cole easily made it to the top of the Billboard charts and remained there to claim spot No. 3 in the Billboard 200.
After listening to this album one time through, I kept it on replay for about two days after, falling deeper in love with the rhythm and lyrics. It is rare to find songs, let alone entire albums that get the listener thoroughly involved track after track. The single “Apparently” is amongst the most well-known from the album thus far, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.
The 13-track story tells not only how Cole grew up, but how he became the person he is today. What makes music memorable besides the catchy beats or lyrics is the connection that it makes with the people who listen to it, and that is what this album has done.
Even if hip-hop or rap is not your preferred genre of music, music lovers should listen to this album because it takes you down a path that opens up your mind more musically. It is also a great way to step away from the more typical music being played on the radio daily. There is at least one track for all those who take the time to listen to it.