J. Cole Thanks People For Loving His “History”

detail from cover of the original 2014 Forest Hills Drive

“Hip hop deserves a live album,” proclaimed J. Cole. And with that the rapper dropped a 13-track doozy called Forest Hills Drive: Live from Fayetteville, NC. Cole is both savvy and sentimental: Fayetteville is his hometown and he let fly the live tracks on his birthday. (Jermaine Lamarr Cole is 31.) The 2015 show that supplies the material is already famous — HBO did a special on Cole, Homecoming, that includes the Fayetteville show. Jay Z and Drake both made appearances.

The concert was essentially a live version of Cole’s massive 2014 hit album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. The live drop was, you might say, well-received. “Happy Birthday to the King,” read one comment at iTunes while another said “thank you for bringing back memories of the best concert ever.” Cole tweeted his gratitude: “thank y’all for the love,” he wrote. Forest Hills Drive: Live from Fayetteville, NC is “history turned into an album.”

Thank y’all for the love.

— J. Cole (@JColeNC) January 29, 2016