2014 Forest Hills Drive is released

Why it matters

2014 Forest Hills Drive came out December 9, 2014, on Roc Nation/Columbia. It is J. Cole's third album. The title is the address of his childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The album was promoted with no features and no lead radio single. It sold 353,000 copies in its first week despite this and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. The album is, structurally, an autobiographical record about Cole's journey from Fayetteville to college at St. John's University in Queens to the Roc Nation signing to commercial success. "No Role Modelz," "Wet Dreamz," "Apparently," "Love Yourz," "03' Adolescence." The Hot 100 chart placements were modest for the singles; the album-sales business in late 2014 was modest for everybody. But the album is the one that consolidated Cole's audience as one of the most committed in rap. It eventually went diamond (over ten million units), which made Cole the first rapper to go platinum without features in 25 years. You can argue Cole's production sometimes plays it safer than the album's ambition wants. The audience does not seem to mind. The album is the one most Cole fans cite first.