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Of all the Albums released within the past year, one of the most successful was J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Jermaine Lamarr Cole, better known by his stage name J. Cole, is a German-born American hip hop recording artist, songwriter and record producer from Fayetteville, North Carolina. He got his start in 2007 by releasing a mixtape called “The Come Up” and shortly after was contacted by Jay-Z and was signed to his label in 2009.

2014 Forest Hills Drive was J. Cole’s third album and his most notorious. Though his first two albums both also reached number one on the Billboard top 200, J. Cole has sold over one million copies within the past year, and about 350,000 were sold within the first week of the album’s release.

The album was first supported by four singles that included “Apparently”, “G.O.M.D.”, “Wet Dreamz”, and “No Role Modelz”. This album and its songs all tell a story about something that happened in J. Cole’s life, like“Tale of Two Citiez,” where it talks about the hardships of growing up in the city and trying to survive. J. Cole is the second coming of Eminem, with his creative detailed life stories turning into a very catchy and influential rap song.

2014 Forest Hills Drive reached platinum status in October and the sales of the album have continued to climb. J Cole commented on his success saying, “It’s so humbling to know that so many people can relate and enjoy my music, to think I would make it to this stage is unreal”

Most of the songs on this album are about the four to five-minute mark with the exception of “Note To Self,” which lasts an outstanding 14 and a half minutes.  “Note To Self” is the outro to the album and tells about how he needs to continue his same ways because in the end it’ll all be worth it.

At the end of the day, J.Cole’s “2014 Forest Hills Drive” is one of the most successful albums of 2015. With its one year anniversary on December 9 , it can be said that this album was one of the best. If you haven’t already, and I don’t know why you haven’t yet, take a listen to some of the songs on the album and find out for yourself how great this artist is.