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The Underrated Complexity of 2014 Forest Hills Drive (a thread)
overview: this album takes us through the journey of coles life with each track serving as a point on a timeline. let’s go 
Intro: this song is mainly cole singing about recurring themes like happiness, love, and freedom. it is reminiscent of the 2013 david letterman performance “Be Free”, because it was recorded around the same time.
January 28th: cole dives in by titling the song after his birthday because that is where the journey of this album begins. he talks about his songwriting process, as well as some of his current life and his standing with some other rap legends.
January 28th pt. 2: he uses this song to compare his starting point to his destiny of making it big. this is also an ode to rakim, who shares his bday.
Wet Dreamz: this iconic song features cole’s first time with something that he becomes very familiar with: girls. this quotable anthem represents the part of this timeline where cole is in his teens, probably middle or high school.
‘03 Adolescence: in this important song, we learn some more about coles life growing up and the social and mental blocks he dealt with. in the last verse cole learns to appreciate his gifts and his opportunities. he runs with this idea and it becomes his work ethic for years.
A Tale Of Two Citiez: J. Cole gets in to St. John’s, afterwards starting his rap career. as he begins this second leg of his journey, he realizes that lots of people weren’t as lucky to make it out as him.
A Tale Of Two Citiez pt. 2: in this storytelling song named after a charles dickens novel, he depicts two plans for making it out, one clean and one dirty. we learn at the end how these stories intersect.
Fire Squad: j. cole surveys the view from his quickly rising place in the rap game in this song and realizes the disproportionate opportunities that white people are given in the game, especially with the 2013 grammys. he launches a tirade on the game in this aggressive thumper.
St. Tropez: this interlude-type song mainly serves to set the scene for the next track, G.O.M.D. its soothing vocals sing of j. cole being “on his way to hollywood”.
G.O.M.D.: my personal favorite cole song, and the definition of a guilty pleasure one, this song details j. coles flaunting of newfound status, not just in the rap game, but in life.
G.O.M.D. pt. 2: with beat build ups and switches, and surprise verses, this is one of the best produced songs of all time, not even mentioning the choppy, rapid fire verses.
No Role Modelz: this iconic megahit is a lot deeper than it seems upon another read. it addresses the growing amount of women who have certain tendencies to “play the field”.
No Role Modelz pt. 2: cole pins these tendencies to the fact that they have no role models, while also pondering the thought that he isn’t all that different. in the end, he realizes that it is condescending to try to “save” someone who is content with their current lifestyle.
Hello: an extremely underrated j. cole song, we see a beginning similar to st. tropez/intro. but as the beat builds up, in turns into one of j. coles best verses very quickly.
Hello pt. 2: this song brings cole back down to earth as he has to deal with some real life problems, such as an impossible relationship with a woman that he wishes could happen, but realizes it can’t.
Apparently: cole reflects on his life decisions in the first verse and starts to appreciate the people who helped get him to wear he his, as well as somberly recognizing the mistakes he made along the way.
Apparently pt. 2: the second verse (another one of my favorite cole verses oat) is braggadocio us and aggressive as cole flaunts his ability, showing his reversion to his old ways and the inevitability of this happening at some point.
Love Yourz: as cole has finally grasps what is important in life, he uses his platform as a message to others to enjoy their own life.
Love Yourz pt. 2: this is the point in his career where he flips from a mostly braggy rapper in mixtapes, sideline story, and born sinner to a conscious rapper who is dedicated to helping people in 4yeo, kod, etc.
(end of thread) i really hoped you enjoyed this. i love doing these so interact if you want more or recommend a different concept in the comments
