J. Cole will cap off the year with his fourth album 4 Your Eyez Only. Before it arrives on Dec. 9, the North Carolina MC has debuted a 40-minute documentary titled “Eyez,” which captures the recording process. He takes fans inside the secret studio sessions and even previews a few of the 10 tracks that will be on the project.
In one scene, he describes his mindset going into the album. “You get to this height or this level in your career, in terms of platform, the next one might go down, it could go up,” he says. “You’re never guaranteed to be this high again. While I’m here, let me use this opportunity to say the realest shit I’ve ever said.”
Despite his success and fame, Cole continues to shy from the spotlight. “I’m living a life that’s very detached. I’m not on social media, I’m not in the news, I don’t click the headlines,” he explains. “It’s family and fucking music. If I’m not allowing myself to feel what people are feeling, then of course I’m gonna lose sight of that original inspiration.”
On one unnamed track, he takes aim at a particular rapper, possibly Drake, and his ghostwriting allegations. “Maybe it’s my fault for idolizing ni**as based off the words they be rapping / When come to find out these ni**as don’t even write their shit / Hear some new style bubbling up, then they bite that shit.”
4 Your Eyez Only, the follow-up to 2014’s double platinum 2014 Forest Hills Drive, is now available for pre-order on iTunes.
TIDAL members and non-members alike can watch the documentary below.