J. Cole’s latest album, 4 Your Eyez Only, has enjoyed the requisite amount of fanfare expected of the beloved North Carolina rapper. A fan theory, however, reveals a possible plot device that Cole was playing the character of a drug dealer who falls in love and attempts to turn his life around for his baby daughter.
The fan theory floating around online appears to have some measurable plausibility if fan comments are to be believed.
“Cole is rapping to his daughter saying sorry but if you’re hearing this album I am dead the life in the streets got to me,” writes the fan.
They continued with, “The album isn’t directly about J. Cole. It’s about his friend. J. Cole wasn’t in the streets dealing drugs. He got out. His friend is the one on the last song rapping to his own daughter. Then, on the last verse of the last song, J Cole himself appears and talks to his friends daughter himself. He tells her that his dad died from his life in the streets but he was still a good person.”
Of course, J. Cole’s real life doesn’t mirror any protagonist angle present in the fan theory. The Fayetteville native graduated from St. John’s University in New York while embarking on a promising career that led to his eventual signing with Roc Nation and the creation of his Dreamville imprint.
Check out the full narrative below.
Who didnt get that in the first place?
For real. It’s not groundbreaking. Cool concept but this shit was underwhelming.
This is Stan-ning on a whole new level. I thought Em stand were bad, but this is straight up pathetic.
agreed. he’s not that deep.
Breaking down an album is stanning now?
No. I meant the whole orgasmic experience people have before listening to the album in full and making silly comments that it’s a classic or what not 1-3 songs deep, or a few seconds in. I dig Cole, but I’m not going to jerk off on social media until I give the full album a couple of listens.
For realz? The whole album is fire, not Forest 2014, Not Born Sinner, but still 4 Your Eyez Only #classic. Why. Cuz it’s better than anything out there right now since Forest 2014. If you’re waiting for mainstream, wait on Drizzy.
Wait, so you’re telling me Cole’s been listening to The Cool and Tetsuo and Youth right?
Is this friend possibly the same guy from 03 Adolescene?
“Fan Theory” and “Intricate” should not be used here. It’s not a hidden message at all. Cole’s constantly given head nods to rappers before him throughout his music, so him taking a Pac-esque “thug life” gage point in the piece is clear. Note, he also called out how he feels removed from his community and how he needs to be their in order to tell the story accurately on EYEZ.
What? “Fan Theory”? That’s the plot of the album, and it’s not hidden LOL