4 Your Eyez Only
Details
LP / Format
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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
4 Your Eyez Only is ten tracks, no features and perfect ingredients. It's simple, confident, assured — even if the man making it goes out of his way to paint himself as conflicted and confused.
80
He has matured into one of the most important figures in modern hip hop and 4 Your Eyez Only is the evidence of this.
80
It's a special work, one that might require several thorough spins -- across a long stretch of time -- to be fully appreciated by those who love Cole's hit singles.
80
4 Your Eyez Only is a solid, short listen that relies on J. Cole’s strength and comfort zone, perhaps a little too much at times, but the underlying concepts continue to add a layer of depth to his artistry.
78
With 4 Your Eyez Only, J. Cole deserves consideration for tugging at the heartstrings of listeners with raw human emotion but still leaves open the door to reach a musical zenith.
75
4 Your Eyez Only offers insight into the human condition, told from the eyes of a drug dealer simply trying to feed his family ... It’s a narrative that allows Cole to retain his reputation as a gifted MC while displaying his own growth and maturity as a human being at the same time.
75
For the first time ... this is a Cole record on which the faults don’t feel like significant hurdles, especially not in the face of the clear progress made.
69
With a light and airy track listing, ‘4 Your Eyez Only’ is most certainly worth a deep listen, both for his fans, and late comers to his music.
67
A dutiful focus on the album’s central storyline means there aren’t big swings or long tangents in any direction, and aside from that trio of great tracks, Cole seldom sounds like he’s leaving it all out on the field.
60
This is an album about J. Cole, an album where he's the center, the star, the whole point. One's interest in 4 Your Eyez Only hinges on how interesting one finds him, and on how much one appreciates his pure technique.
60
It is his most unassuming record to date, but also his richest sonically. There is still significant room for growth, but he has finally found his voice.
60
Eyez finds Cole furthering his reputation as a storytelling MC full of empathy and bravado.
60
Not a dry eye, perhaps, but not all that exciting, either – which is part of the point, of course.
60
J. Cole returns with a personal set of vignettes on 4 Your Eyez Only.
60
A game changer, this is not. But it’s an improvement on Cole’s previous studio efforts. At a lean ten tracks, it’s one of the more concise rap releases of the ‘10s. 4 Your Eyez Only is the rare hip-hop concept album confident enough to tell a story without the cloying crutch of multiple skits and interludes.
30
There’s no fun to be had here; no guest spots, no radio hits, and no quotable lines at all, only the sound of tepid, pseudo-jazz beats for 44 excruciatingly long minutes.
It's a coincidence that there's a track called deja vu, because I swear J Cole put out the same album 2 years ago
Pretty solid album felt a bit repetitive at some points however it was still a pretty good listen.
Fav track: Neighbours
An album that feels very personal to J. Cole but the dive into his soul leaves the album lacking in quality to some extent. The album is still pretty good but for J. Cole, seems a bit underwhelming. There are some fairly boring songs on here that have not much to them other than some decent lyricism. Other tracks are amazing and show why he is regarded as one of best rappers of modern times. Some I like even if they're not the best, musically speaking. Overall I do enjoy this project but ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | For Whom the Bell Tolls 2:07 | 82 |
| 2 | Immortal 3:20 | 83 |
| 3 | Deja Vu 4:26 | 77 |
| 4 | Ville Mentality 3:11 | 78 |
| 5 | She's Mine, Pt. 1 3:32 | 78 |
| 6 | Change 5:31 | 88 |
| 7 | Neighbors 3:36 | 84 |
| 8 | Foldin Clothes 5:16 | 70 |
| 9 | She's Mine, Pt. 2 4:38 | 79 |
| 10 | 4 Your Eyez Only 8:50 | 94 |
Total Length: 44 minutes
Year End Lists
| #8 | / | The New York Times: Jon Caramanica |
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2w
If ppl on this site didn’t have a weird negative bias against J.Cole this would totally be like a 77-78, this is a lovely record and super soulful with some real emotional writing. Definitely my favourite Cole album
1mo
This album's grown on me so much over the years... It's now my favorite album from him.
1mo
yall’s anti cole bias really shows here, if this was made by any other rapper it would be 80+
Added on: December 1, 2016