2014 Forest Hills Drive Zip
Review by David Jeffries
With no singles and little promotion, J. Cole released his third studio album 2014 Forest Hills Drive on Tuesday. The 29-year-old North Carolina MC returns to his roots on the follow-up to 2013′s Born Sinner, which was inspired by his childhood home. Cole does away with features and relies on himself for the 13 introspective tracks. Want to stream J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive Instrumental Album? Audiomack has a high-quality full album stream, album art & the complete tracklist — guaranteed. Click to listen now!
Named after the address of his childhood home in North Carolina, J. Cole's third studio effort was released with no supporting singles, and there are no featured artists, either, because 2014 Forest Hills Drive is one of those personal, conceptual, and 'heavy' albums. Most importantly, it's admirable bordering on excellent, sure to inspire returning fans to herald it as a classic even if it doesn't woo the skeptical, casually wandering out of its intro with two smooth and soulful numbers that are so free, they're just shy of being clumsy. Key cut 'January 28th' puts gut-wrenching hard truths of the Pusha-T type ('What's the price for a black man's life?/I check the toe tag, not one zero in sight') next to wobbly wordplay that could have been lifted off some old Digable Planets LP ('Flow is bananas/Here, peel this back'), while 'Wet Dreamz' finds J. Cole the producer offering a beat that's rather Alchemist or 9th Wonder inspired, and then slathering it in plush strings for a perfect single on an album that refuses singles. Later, 'No Role Modelz' mixes a tribute to the late actor James Avery ('Rest in peace Uncle Phil'), with a bubbling beat that's a variation on cloud-rap (co-produced by Phonix Beats and Cole), and a snarky, snappy set of put downs that are like an elevated Fergie ('I don't want no bitch from reality shows/Out of touch with reality hos'), but all these flights of fancy fly freely since the album lacks an anchor. 2014 Forest Hills Drive comes off as a great, experimental, and advancing mixtape, but it's insider to a fault, as slight as that fault might be. [2014 Forest Hills Drive was also released in a clean version.]
| Title/Composer | Performer | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2:09 | |
| 2 | 4:02 | |
| 3 | 4:00 | |
| 4 | William 'Willie B.' Brown / Johnny Burke / J. Cole / James Van Heusen | 4:24 |
| 5 | 4:29 | |
| 6 | 4:49 | |
| 7 | 4:17 | |
| 8 | 5:01 | |
| 9 | 4:52 | |
| 10 | 3:39 | |
| 11 | 4:53 | |
| 12 | J. Cole / Carl McCormick / Calvin Price | 3:33 |
| 13 | 14:35 |
Forest Hill Drive Download
North Carolina rapper J. Cole visited Ferguson, Missouri, to demand justice for Michael Brown and protested in New York for Eric Garner – but none of that political fire burns on his third album. Cole still can’t separate his interest in world issues from what’s in his pants: He speaks some incisive truths about class, race (“Fire Squad”) and relationships (“Wet Dreamz”), but those insights are too often undercut by crass humor. (“No Role Modelz” includes the faux-clever refrain “She shallow but the pussy deep.”) The production falls short, too, with dull beats to match his languid flow. It’s time for the Cole who marches in the streets to start showing up on record.
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2014 Forest Hills Drive Lyrics
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