The 10th-anniversary edition of J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive finally has a release date. On Sunday (Dec. 8) night, the North Carolina rapper revealed that the project will be available to stream digitally via the website for his “Inevitable” audio series at 12 p.m. ET on Monday (Dec. 9).
The debut will coincide with the ninth episode of the podcast, which serves as the first installment of a two-part special. Taking to Twitter, Cole also shared that 2014 Forest Hills Drive was meant to be a “double album at one point in time.”
Somewhere down the line, the tracklist was trimmed to just 13 tracks, but fans can look forward to a few more with the upcoming deluxe release. “This anniversary edition contains eight of the songs that were included in that version,” he wrote. The new additions are “Home Soon,” “Die Together,” “Judgement Day,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Keep Heaven Dancing,” “Miles,” “Black Man In Hollywood,” and “Obviously” — the last four weren’t mentioned in Cole’s initial November announcement.
The Dreamville Records founder, unfortunately, didn’t confirm whether there would be any guest appearances; though, considering 2014 Forest Hills Drive spawned the “platinum with no features” meme, it seems unlikely. The album’s expanded version also raises the question of whether listeners will be able to stream it on DSPs. For now, they’ll only be able to access it through the “Inevitable” website, which remains locked behind a $10 paywall.
Also slated to happen later in the month, Cole will take the stage at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 16 for a special one-night performance dedicated to the career-defining LP.
In a sit-down with NPR, the “Wet Dreamz” rapper spoke about unveiling the project without much of a rollout: “It's not an easy pitch, telling your record label that you want to put out an album with no singles. And that you only want to announce three weeks before, and you don't want to do any promotion.”