2014 Forest Hills Drive

2014 Forest Hills Drive
Studio album by J. Cole
Released	December 9, 2014
Recorded	2014
Studio	Jungle City Studios and MSR Studios in New York City Perfect Sound Studios in Hollywood Windmark Studios in Santa Monica Audio Valley Recording Studio in Ottawa
Genre	Hip hop
Length	64:39[1]
Label	Dreamville Roc Nation Columbia
Producer	J. Cole (also exec.) Mark Pitts (exec.) Illmind Phonix Beats Vinylz Willie B Pop Wansel Ron Gilmore JProof Nick Paradise Dre Charles Cardiak CritaCal Team Titans
J. Cole chronology
Born Sinner (2013) 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014) Forest Hills Drive: Live (2016)
Singles from 2014 Forest Hills Drive
"Apparently" Released: December 9, 2014 "G.O.M.D." Released: March 23, 2015 "Wet Dreamz" Released: April 14, 2015 "No Role Modelz" Released: August 4, 2015[2][3]

2014 Forest Hills Drive is the third studio album by American hip hop recording artist J. Cole. It was released on December 9, 2014, by Dreamville, Roc Nation and Columbia Records.^[4] Recording sessions took place over the whole year, while the production on the album was primarily by Cole himself, along with several others such as Illmind, Vinylz, Phonix Beats and Willie B. It was announced three weeks before its release and had very little marketing, with no singles or promotion taking place prior to its release.

The album was supported by four singles; "Apparently", "G.O.M.D.", "Wet Dreamz" and "No Role Modelz". Upon its release, 2014 Forest Hills Drive received generally positive reviews from critics who admired its ambitious concept, production and lyrics. The album debuted at number one on Billboard 200, selling 353,000 copies in its first week. The album has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[5] It is nominated for Best Rap Album at the upcoming 58th Grammy Awards. As of February 2016, the album has sold 1,126,000 copies in the United States.

Background

The album's title is the name of an address from J. Cole's childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he was living with his mother, his brother and his stepfather. In 2003, after Cole graduated from high school, the home was foreclosed on while J. Cole attended St. John's University in New York City. In 2014, the rapper re-bought the house, marking his first home purchase.^[6] It is where he wrote some of his earliest raps and became serious about pursuing a career as a musician.^[7] The album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive recounts the story of Cole leaving North Carolina, and moving to New York City all in pursuit of his dreams; it battles with the transition that were taken in order to find his success and fame within the Music Industry. The majority of Cole's childhood involved him and his family frequently moving from place to place while their mother tried to make ends meet. Cole now plans on allowing a new family to move in to the house he once called home for an extremely cheap renting price, in the hope that they will find their feet in life like he once did.^[8]

Recording and production

The production on the album was primarily handled by J. Cole, along with its guest productions, including Dreamville's in-house producer Ron Gilmore, DJ Dahi, Illmind, Willie B, Phonix Beats, Vinylz and Pop Wansel, with additional production provided by Cardiak and CritaCal, among others.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]}

Promotion

On November 16, 2014, J. Cole released a video trailer, where he announced he will be releasing his third album, titled 2014 Forest Hills Drive on December 9. The video also featured footage regarding the making-of the album. Additionally, the album's name sake was revealed to be the address of Cole's childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina.^[16][17][18] On December 5, the music video for the song "Intro", was released.^[19] On February 13, 2015, Cole announced he would further promote the album with a tour titled, Forest Hills Drive.^[20] The tour was divided into three different acts. "Act 1: Hometown", "Act 2: The Journey" and "Act 3: Hollywood". Act 1 started March 2 in Eugene, Oregon and ended April 7 in Providence, Rhode Island, it featured Dreamville artists Bas, Cozz and Omen, who were also opening acts on Act 2 and 3.^[21] Act 2 started April 30 in Zürich, Switzerland and ended May 18 in London, England, it featured Jhené Aiko and Pusha T. Act 3 was the longest leg of the tour, it started July 12 in Seattle, Washington and ended August 29 in Cole's hometown Fayetteville, North Carolina, and featured Big Sean, YG and Jeremih.^[22][23] Cole brought out Drake and Jay Z to perform at the last show in Fayetteville, North Carolina.^[24]

On December 15, 2015, Cole announced a mini-documentary series titled, J. Cole: Road to Homecoming ahead of his HBO special Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming, which aired January 9, 2016, and released episode one the same day.^[25] Episode two was released on December 23.^[26] Episode three was released on December 30, Kendrick Lamar, Wale, ASAP Ferg and Rihanna made appearances.^[27] Episode four was released on January 6, 2016.^[28] All episodes were available for free on Vimeo until January 9.^[29] On January 28, 2016 in celebration of his 31st birthday, Cole released his first live album titled, Forest Hills Drive: Live^[30] and also released the music video for the track "Love Yourz".^[31] Both Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming and Forest Hills Drive: Live covered his fall 2015 show at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina.^[32]

Singles

On December 9, 2014, the song "Apparently" was serviced to American mainstream urban radio, as the album's first single.^[33][34] Cole would also go on to release the music video for "Apparently", on December 9.^[35] The song has since peaked at number 58 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[36] The song is nominated for Best Rap Performance at the upcoming 58th Grammy Awards.^[37]

On March 23, 2015, the album's second single, "G.O.M.D." was released to mainstream urban radio. The music video was released on March 26.^[38] The song has since peaked at number 9 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.

The album's third single, "Wet Dreamz" was released to rhythmic contemporary radio on April 14, 2015.^[39] On April 21, the music video was released for "Wet Dreamz".^[40] The song has since peaked at number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[36] The album's fourth single, "No Role Modelz" was released, while it was sent to urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 4, 2015.^[2][3] The song has since peaked at number 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[36]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	67/100[41]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[42]
Complex	[43]
Exclaim!	8/10[44]
HipHopDX	[45]
Pitchfork Media	6.9/10[46]
PopMatters	[47]
Rolling Stone	[48]
Spin	6/10[49]
USA Today	[50]
XXL	XL (4/5)[51]

2014 Forest Hills Drive received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 67, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 17 reviews.^[41] Erin Lowers of Exclaim! said, "J. Cole's determined to make music that matters to him. He shines without any features, standing strong in his delivery and carrying his story to the forefront of the 13-track project. While it may not be his Late Registration, he has definitely graduated into a class of his own."^[44] Andre Grant of HipHopDX stated, "There are many things that can be said about J. Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive. It is ambitious and hokey and simplistic. It tries its hand at twists and comes up short ("Wet Dreamz"), and it sticks to Cole's strategy instead of changing it drastically. It is less artistic than it means to be, but it is truer than anything he's ever made. Its narrative, the tropes, and the strategies are completely overcome by the album's terrifying integrity. It is immensely relatable because it is not afraid to be corny and cliché."^[45] Craig Jenkins of Pitchfork Media said, "2014 Forest Hills Drive is a decent album selling itself as great. It wraps itself in the garments of a classic, but you can see that the tailoring is off."^[46] Kellan Miller of XXL stated, "Hip-hop fans can be some of the most difficult to satisfy, and while there is no atrocious songs on 2014 Forest Hills Drive, this album reinforces the faith that Cole is a superstar. With every quality drop from the self-proclaimed "God," his ceiling will continue to grow and so will fan expectations. On the finale track, "Note To Self," Cole gives a long-winded thank you session against the sound of merry horns: "Everything happened too perfectly and in line." J. Cole is rightfully satisfied with the end product, as will the fans."^[51]

David Jeffries of AllMusic said, "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." ^[42] Mikael Wood of Los Angeles Times stated, "2014 Forest Hills Drive, his third major-label disc, is thick with the residue of these immersions. Even when he's drawing on his own experiences — the album's title refers to the address of his childhood home — he exercises an observational acuity that suggests how much noticing he's been doing lately."^[52]

Accolades

* denotes an unordered list

Awards

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling a total of 371,000 copies, with 353,000 copies consisting of whole album sales and the remaining 17,000 copies determined based on individual song sales and streaming data. This is a tracking change that was implemented by Nielsen SoundScan and Billboard in December 2014.^[61] 2014 Forest Hills Drive became the best first week sales of J. Cole's career, outpacing the first week sales of his second album Born Sinner (2013), by 74,000 copies (297,000 copies).^[62] In addition to the album's sales toppling early projections by over 100,000 copies, 2014 Forest Hills Drive also broke One Direction's record for most album streams on Spotify, being streamed over 15.7 million times in its first week, compared to One Direction's 11.5 streams.^[63] Drake later broke this record with 17.3 million streams for his album If You're Reading This It's Too Late.^[64] In its second week, the album sold 135,000 more copies.^[65] Cole became one of only six rappers to reach number one with their first three full-length studio albums, joining Drake, Rick Ross, Nelly, DMX and Snoop Dogg.^[66] As of February 2016, the album has sold 1,126,000 in the United States.^[67]

Track listing

Notes^[68]

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer.
• "January 28th" contains additional vocals performed Kaye Fox.
• "A Tale of 2 Citiez" contains additional vocals peformed by Kaye Fox.
• "St. Tropez" contains additional vocals performed by Rose "TS" Desandies.
• "No Role Modelz" contains additional vocals peformed by Kaye Fox.
• "Hello" contains additional vocals peformed by Kaye Fox.
• "Note to Self" contains additional vocals peformed Rose "TS" Desandies and Yolanda Renee.

Sample credits

• "January 28th" contains a sample of "Sky Restaurant", written by Yumi Arai and Kunihiko Murai performed by Hi-Fi Set.^[69]
• "Wet Dreamz" contains a sample of "Mariya", written by Charles Simmons performed by Family Circle and samples "Impeach the President", written by Roy Hammond performed by The Honey Drippers.^[70]
• "03' Adolescence" samples "Here's That Rainy Day", written by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heuse performed by Sonia Rosa with Yuji Ono.^[71]
• "A Tale of 2 Citiez” does not sample anything, but Vinylz did the entire beat himself using just a piano and distortion effect.^[72]
• "Fire Squad" contains a sample of "Heart Breaker", written by M. Farner performed by Aguaturbia.^[73]
• "St. Tropez" contains a sample of "That's All Right With Me" performed by Esther Phillips and samples "Sister Sanctified" performed by Stanley Turrentine with Milt Jackson and interpolates "Hollywood" performed by Rufus and Chaka Khan.^[74]
• "G.O.M.D." embodies portions of "Get Low", written by Deongelo Holmes, Eric Jackson and Jonathan Smith performed by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins and samples "Berta, Berta", written by Delroy Andrews performed by Branford Marsalis.^[75]
• "No Role Modelz" contains a sample of "Don't Save Her", written by Marvin Whitemon, Paul Beauregard, Jordan Houston, Tenina Stevens, Earl Stevens, D. Stevens and B. Jones performed by Project Pat.^[76]
• "Apparently" contains a sample of "La Morte Dell'ermina", written and performed by Filippo Trecca and samples "CB#5", written and performed by Carlos Bess.^[77]

Personnel

Credits for 2014 Forest Hills Drive adapted from AllMusic.^[78]

Charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

• 2014 in hip hop music
• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 2014
• List of Billboard number-one R&B/Hip-Hop albums of 2014

References