More than the traditional music video, documentaries appear to be the new wave for artists looking to expand their visual storytelling and offer deeper perspective.
J.Cole is among artist taking this route and will be dropping, J.Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only, A Dreamville Film, his second documentary via HBO next month.
The project, comes after the Dreamville frontman’s 2016 concert film debut and tour documentary, J. Cole Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming. It also follows the release of his 10-track LP of the same name.
The documentary follows Cole’s pursuit of giving context to his rhymes and bringing the bigger picture to life with a raw visual aesthetic. 4 Your Eyez Only will interwine cuts from the album with confessionals of people living in the South.
Entertainment Weekly reports that the North Carolina bred lyricists captured stories from low-income residents in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Atlanta, Ferguson, Fayetteville (Cole’s hometown), and Jonesboro, Arkansas (his father’s hometown).
With a socially-conscious tone, J.Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only, A Dreamville Film aims to mirror the frustrations within these neighborhoods as it relates to viable housing, voting laws for felons, integration and so much more.
Check out the trailer below and watch the full doc on April 15 at 10 pm EST or stream it on HBO Now.
