Cole with guest producers Elite, Ron Gilmore, Tray Samuels, DJ Dahl, Illmind, Cardiak, CritCal, Vinylz, Organized Noize and Jproof. The album pays particular attention to Cole's individual pursuit of self contentment and happiness, from his youth in Fayetteville, North Carolina to the bright lights of Hollywood. On January 28, 2016, in celebration of his 31st birthday, Cole released his first live album titled, Forest Hills Drive: Live [32] and also released the music video for the album's final single " Love Yourz".

J. Cole Gets Introspective In His "Apparently" Video: Watch – Music News, Reviews, and Gossip on Idolator. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on May 18, 2016. Additionally, the album's name sake was revealed to be the address of Cole's childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Act 1 started on March 2, 2015, in Eugene, Oregon and ended on April 7, 2015, in Providence, Rhode Island, it featured Dreamville artists such as Bas, Cozz and Omen, who were also served as supporting acts on Act 2 and 3. Nobody knows how many were actually pressed, but the manufacturer went bankrupt and very few of these vinyl made it out.It was released on December 9, 2014, by ByStorm Entertainment, Columbia Records, Dreamville Records and Roc Nation.

The album won Album of the Year at the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards, and Top Rap Album at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.In September 2014, during an interview with HipHopDX, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's manager Steve Lobel revealed Krayzie Bone and Bizzy Bone recorded a track with Cole for the album, though the song never made the album's final cut. But whilst this definitely misses out on classic territory, that doesn't mean it isn't a bloody good album for the most part. David Jeffries of AllMusic said, " 2014 Forest Hills Drive comes off as a great, experimental, and advancing mixtape, but it's insider to a fault, as slight as that fault might be.

Lamar remixed Cole's " A Tale of 2 Citiez", [58] while Cole remixed Lamar's single " Alright" from his studio album To Pimp a Butterfly. Kellan Miller of XXL stated, "With every quality drop from the self-proclaimed "God", his ceiling will continue to grow and so will fan expectations. The album's third single, " No Role Modelz", was sent to urban and rhythmic radio stations on August 4, 2015. Andre Grant of HipHopDX stated, "It is less artistic than it means to be, but it is truer than anything he's ever made. Craig Jenkins of Pitchfork said, " 2014 Forest Hills Drive is a decent album selling itself as great.At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 67, based on 17 reviews. Unless you're the type of moviegoer who sits patiently through the end titles, feel free to duck out of "Note to Self" a bit early and head over to SoundCloud. On August 15, 2014, Cole released the song "Be Free", as a response to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.