Seven years ago today, J. Cole released 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which not only debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 but has never left since that day. The legendary Cole record still lingers in the top 100.
2014 Forest Hills Drive featured the platinum songs “No Role Modelz” and “Wet Dreams” and first went platinum as an album in September, 2015. In 2019 it was certified triple platinum. The project kickstarted the popular “J. Cole Went Platinum With No Features” meme when it became his first album to be certified by the RIAA.
The Dreamville founder’s first two studio releases, Cole World: The Sideline Story and Born Sinner, didn’t earn their platinum certifications until after 2014 Forest Hills Drive achieved the feat.
The album’s anniversary comes after Cole’s latest project, The Off-Season, was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2022 Grammys. The album was also certified platinum earlier in December, breaking Cole’s streak of going platinum with no features since the album included appearances from 21 Savage, Morray, 6LACK, Bas, Cam’ron, Diddy, and James Fauntleroy.
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Cole also sat down for a highly-anticipated interview with media personality Nardwuar, where Cole heavily implied that he turned on Dr. Dre to the power of Kendrick Lamar. The “No Role Modelz” rapper was noticeably shocked when Nardwuar asked for his opinion on the matter, and sat there in silence for several seconds before answering the question.
“Who told you that?” he finally replied, puzzled. “Who gave you that piece of information? … The answer is, yes. I did. I’m not gonna say I was the first to tell him […] I was like, ‘Yo, you gotta sign this kid from Compton, Kendrick.”
“I don’t know what I would’ve signed him to, you know what I mean?” he explained. “We didn’t have our business intact, but that’s how much I rocked with him at that time. I met him and instantly, I was highly impressed. That would’ve been the first artist in my mind [to sign], but come to find out, he had bigger shit going on.”
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Revisit 2014 Forest Hills Drive below.
