Dec 13, 2016

Pitchfork 7

 

Dec 13, 2016

The intro dark but beautiful.

 

Dec 13, 2016

KLD3816 review: 10/10

 

Dec 13, 2016

It seems like 4 Your Eyez Only is getting more positive responses now than it did when it was released

 

Dec 13, 2016

They just started playing Neighbors at the Cavs game. I started jamming to it, Don't care.

 

Dec 13, 2016

no wonder omen tries his best to be boring

 

Dec 13, 2016

Fair enough my man. I think the general tone of the album has that darkness to it and that's what Cole set out to do. In that regard he succeeded in making a depression album compared to born sinner

 

Dec 13, 2016

d---, sorry to hear.

But yeah, album'a definitely a classic to me in terms of quality and I've still barely seen a bad review that doesn't miss a crucial point, it's crazy. So many people who aren't giving Cole the benefit of doubt would have dissected this like a sacred book if rock-loving critics didn't find him average because they can't relate

 

Dec 13, 2016

 

Dec 13, 2016


Bunch of words and ain't sayin' s---, I hate these rappers....

 

Dec 13, 2016

Feel like people are missing the point of Neighbors.

My take:

It's from Cole's perspective. Not "James". It's meant to link in Cole to the album narrative. The concept illustrates Cole trying to escape his fame within his own community to achieve annonimity in the wealthy community as well as being able to focus on his music without the responsibility of being a figure head and role model.

"Don't follow me. Don't follow me..." is him subconsciously speaking to his community as well as stereotypes, wishing to leave behind his responsibility (presumably including the responsibility to tell James's story to his daughter and to the youth at large) in order to pursue his career.

But by the end of the track (for obvious reasons) Cole realizes he'll never be able to integrate into the other community, not even on some "you do you, I do me" style (as he states was his preference). So he's faced with returning to his community to address his inner issues as well as the community issues (both with James and society at large).

The "well mothafucker I am" line is James haunting Cole, and represents that weight of the community responsibility that Cole feels subconsciously, always lingering in his mind, reminding him of what he left behind.

The outro represents Cole begrudingly realizing he has to return home to fulfill his responsibilities to James and the community.

I think the tones of voice he uses are very intentional as well. The verses have a laid back, soft and smooth delivery, showing and calm demeanor and intelligence that he makes an effort to portray outwardly. The hook is angry and distorted to show his inner frustration as a black man of working hard to represent something positive but continuing to be stereotyped by society despite all his efforts.

Basically I look at it as Cole and James went their separate ways after their conversation about James's premonition and his fear for his daughter. 4YEO could take place as a parallel narrative to 2014FHD between ATO2C and GOMD.

 

Dec 13, 2016

It amaze me how people can come up with theories & sound cogent af. I'm not intelligent enough to theorize like this. Props bro.

 

Dec 13, 2016

I think all of this is spot on, as well as written in a great way, but one of the things I was hoping to get opinions on, are we sure James is really the character who's perspective this album is told from? I've heard a lot of people say that but I'm not so sure that even works out. I think the death of James is told from the perspective of the main character, not that James is actually the main character. Part of the reason I think this is because obviously his death is told from a person who was actually there, and most likely Cole wouldn't have been there himself, and if he was he would've been like 18 yrs old. You could argue maybe he wasn't literally there but if that's not meant to be taken literally it just seems like it would be inconsistent with how the story is told in general.

 

Dec 13, 2016

"I don't want a picture with the president, I just wanna talk to the man" Cole's been predicting all of kanye's moves

 

Dec 13, 2016

 

Dec 13, 2016

First of all y'all shi--ing on rich niggaz on your top cole tracks. Possibly my number 1 album cut.

Secondly I can't believe I did not like false prophets or every body dies at first. They are both bangers. I guess I was anxious to see some development and meta rap (rapper problems) did not look like that.

My false prophet theory is that the first verse is not about a specific rapper but just capturing fan resentment with rappers in general. Everything in the first verse has been written about one rapper or another on this forum (at least the JCN section; can't imagine visiting another section).

Finally, honestly cole/ib geniuses... You can not underestimate gravity of what they've done with cole's career (cole summer was just in 2013). remarkable.

 

Dec 13, 2016

U cud prolly slide change right there too... but yea theres not really a debate after

 

Dec 13, 2016

Man i used to hate this dude....

But he legit articulated exactly how I felt bout this project couple days back up to now

And my god why do none of the songs b--- fr. Even the "bangers" feel soft

 

Dec 13, 2016

Yea but u shud also embrace other perspectives
Especially one less bias and more impartial. All he did was hold dude accountable
Just saying

 

Dec 13, 2016