As promised, J. Cole released Road to Homecoming Episode 1, “F**k Money, Spread Love,” which captures the Dreamville rapper as he prepares for the release of his successful album, “2014 Forest Hills Drive”. Directed by Scott Lazer, the series features performances of every song from “2014 Forest Hill Drive”. “Homecoming” is the final piece of a 5 part documentary series, Cole created.

HBO now and Vimeo will be releasing a new episode every Wednesday until “Homecoming” premieres. The docu-series is set to air Jan. 9. Check out Cole’s  “Road To Homecoming”.

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They say that home is where the heart is and the phrase was given life during the 2014 Forest Hills Drive Tour. The Dreamville crew including Bas, Omen and new signee, Cozz, opened the show with their best lyrical abilities. J.Cole brought the comfort of his childhood home in Fayetteville, NC to Birmingham, AL’s Iron City with a full performance of his 3^rd studio album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. The tone was set with “January 28^th” as Cole performed in relaxed attire fit for lounging, a stool and dimmed lights. He captivated the audience as he recounted stories of his most ambitious moves before The Warm Up, including leaving 3 minute verses on an A&R’s answering machine. Reaching back into his catalog, Cole performed hits such as “Lights Please” and Born Sinner’s “Crooked Smile.” The sold out crowd felt the moment by reciting all the lyrics and experiencing Cole’s hospitality.

J.Cole is currently touring in smaller cities and is being joined by the Dreamville team, Bas, Omen and new signee Cozz. Check out photos from the Birmingham, AL show below. Photos by Robin Johnson.

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J. Cole has dropped the video for the 2014 Forest Hills Drive cut “G.O.M.D.” In the 5-minute visual explores race relations between blacks and whites in the South back in the slavery days, with Cole acting as a butler to a white family. Tension between the two groups are high. Watch the video below to see how everything goes or shall we say how everything explodes.

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J. Cole doesn’t always do a slew of interviews, but when he does you definitely don’t want to miss it. Cole sat down with The Combat Jack Show to discuss everything from his new album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, his thoughts on life and music, the controversy surrounding “Fire Squad,” being an activist and so much more. If you didn’t already, you get to know Cole on a deeper level and learn things you probably never knew. Get into the interview below.

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Photo By: Cody York

While some would say that we had a pretty lackluster year when it comes to hip hop albums, a point could be made that we saw some new legends solidify themselves as such. Beloved emcee J. Cole delivered big on his latest album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which is the most recent of all the albums on this list. People have labeled it as “boring” and “just another J. Cole album,” but other fans, including myself, believe that it is exactly the type of album the culture needed. It’s positive, real and above all it’s honest.

Now, Jermaine definitely gave us a great album, but he’s not the only one who delivered on their studio effort this year—in fact, he doesn’t even hold the top spot.

5. Thelonious Martin, Wünderkid

Chicago is home to a litany of tremendous emcees, but one could definitely argue that there is just as much talent on the production front. One of the standouts from Chi-town is Thelonious Martin, who reaffirmed his quality as a producer with his wonderful, recently-released album titled Wünderkid. It’s well-done cover to cover, especially because of features from many including Mac Miller, Michael Christmas and Joey Purp—but it’s the sample-based, eclectic production that shines most on this joint. Overall, it’s an easy listen that’s hard to not enjoy.

4. Isaiah Rashad, Cilvia Demo

If you knew who Isaiah Rashad was before signing with TDE, congrats. Rashad only had a handful of singles (and a fan-made mixtape) out before earlier this year, and just by listening to those it’s easy to see why Dave Free and co. pounced on the Chattanooga rhyme slinger. His debut project to the world came in the form of Cilvia Demo, a southern-inspired, 14-track project. It displayed Rashad’s ability to deliver intricate, metaphor-driven verses as well as create harmonies and write hooks that are infectious and enjoyable. It’s a great introduction to the 20-something artist, and I’m excited for more.

3. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Cocaine Piñata

Freddie Gibbs and legendary producer Madlib seem like an unlikely pair, but even the oddest of couples can make something great. Well, that something great came in the form of Cocaine Piñata, which some would argue as the year’s best hip hop album. While it narrowly missed the top of my ranking, it is a very entertaining and quality album from the two. Gibbs’ hard-as-rock, gritty lines mixed with Madlib’s signature production makes for one hell of a concoction, and was one of the best rapper-producer collab albums to be released in recent years.

2. J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive

J. Cole is one of the most respected and well-received artists of this generation, and solidified his legacy with his latest album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. This was a prime example of quality, true hip-hop by one of the best to do it today. It has elements of story telling mixed with intricate wordplay, all over some pretty smooth production. It’s sold over 350,000 units so far, and surely going to keep thriving into the new year. It does lack a certain “wow” factor, but overall it’s a deep album that requires multiple listens—there’s layers to this album, you really have to peel ’em back to truly capture each message Cole is relaying.

1. Run The Jewels, Run The Jewels 2

Illustration by Nick Gavin

Killer Mike and El-P followed up their critically-acclaimed album Run The Jewels with the sequel, aptly titled Run The Jewels 2. The off-the-wall lyrics combined with the superb, crisp production really makes this album what it is. The chemistry between the emcees also really adds to the album’s overall value, and makes it a fun, satirical ride that most any hip-hop fan could enjoy. Together they form a pair that is unmatched by most factions in today’s generation, and that is going to take them very far.

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DJ Run P is helping us out with sample recall for J. Cole‘s 2014 Forest Hills Drive with his 2014 Forest Hills Drive Samples Mix. This mix is more than just a playlist of what was sampled, it’s a beautifully intricate compilation that makes those samples come alive and helps those listening to 2014 Forest Hills Drive appreciate the subtleties even more. He also included J.Cole’s interview snippets in the mix since they too provide insight about his creative process.

DJ Run P let us in on his own creative process by saying what inspired him to do this mix:

“It really came down to the fact that I looked around and so few people are properly acknowledging how hard it is to make any album let alone a good one.  I don’t spin nearly as much straight Hip-Hop as I used to, so this is my own due diligence to acknowledge a standout this year.  I remember when I used to read every line of the booklet for an album, and now that we don’t really have that anymore my samples mixes are a substitute in a sense for everyone…the Hip-Hop head, producer, and casual fan.”

His words have enticed you, haven’t they? Peep both the tracklist and mix below.

1. Berta Berta – Branford Marsalis (G.O.M.D.)
2. Forest Hills Drive Intro
3. J. Cole – G.O.M.D.
4. Pusha T – Blocka (Feat. Popcaan & Travi$ Scott)(A Tale of Two Cities)
5. Family Circle – Mariya (Feat. Charles Chaz Wesley Simmons)
6. Smoke em Away Interlude
7. Ester Phillips – That’s All Right With Me (St. Tropez)
8. Outkast – SpottieOttieDopaliscious (G.O.M.D.)
9. Sonia Rosa – Here’s THat Rainy Day (Feat. Yuji Ohno) (’03 Adolescence)
10. Rufus & Chaka Khan – Hollywood (St. Tropez)
11. Stanley Turrentine & Milt Jackson – Sister Sanctified (St. Tropez)
12. The Honey Drippers – Impeach The President (Wet Dreamz)
13. Manzel – Midnight Theme (1979) (Fire Squad)
14. Lil Jon – Get Low (Feat. Ying Yang Twins) (G.O.M.D.)
15. Mountain – Long Red (Live) (Fire Squad / Love Yourz)
16. Shit Ain’t Real Interlude
17. Sky Restaurant (January 28th)
18. Point Blank Period Interlude
19. Runnin’ (Dying To Live) – 2Pac & Notorious B.I.G. (’03 Adolescence)
20. That Ratchet
21. Project Pat – Don’t Save Her (Feat. Crunchy Black) (No Role Modelz)
22. Filippo Trecca – La Morte Dell’erminia (Apparently)
23. Why am I Not Happy?
24. Aguaturbia – Heartbreaker (Fire Squad)
25. Wow I did It Outro

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Photo By: Cody York

J. Cole broke a lot of records this year with the release of his new album “2014 Forest Hills Drive“, Beating out Taylor Swift‘s 1989 for Billboard 200’s number one spot! With little promotion, no radio singles and only announcing the release a month prior he managed to sell a whopping 371,000 copies in his first week.  Making it J. Cole’s biggest opening week and the highest-selling debut of any hip-hop album in 2014, knocking down Rick Ross’ Mastermind that sold 179,000 to the number two spot. If that wasn’t enough, the North Carolina Rapper also knocked out a record breaking 15.7 million streams in one week on Spotify, setting an all-time record in the U.S. that was previously held by One Direction with 11.5 million.

You can stream the album via spotify below:

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