J. Cole’s ‘4 Your Eyez Only' Album Goes Gold

J. Cole famously went platinum with no features and seems poised to do it again. The North Carolina rapper’s new album 4 Your Eyez Only has already been certified gold by the RIAA.

“#4youreyezonly is the only 2016 4th quarter Hip/Hop album release to earn @RIAA certification, @JColeNC! @Dreamville @RocNation,” the RIAA tweeted today (Jan. 12).

J. Cole’s quick attainment of gold certification is all the more impressive since his album barely had any promotion behind it. Cardiak, one of the producers on the LP, spoke to XXL about how J. Cole makes a huge impact while staying out of the public eye.

“Other than him putting these albums out, you don’t hear from him,” Cardiak said. “He’s not in the spotlight. He’s not on social media. You don’t know what he’s doing or what he’s thinking. To me, that’s what draws people in. It’s like ‘I wonder what Cole’s doing. What is he thinking?’ Just like, What is he doing. Everybody’s wondering. When you just putting out music and that’s it, you leave the people wondering and all that. Whenever he announces that he has an album coming out, everybody jumps on it ’cause everybody’s interested in what he’s thinking and what he has going on. He just had a daughter. Nobody knew that until the album came out. It’s crazy. Nobody knew anything. I think it’s dope he’s such a private person and when he comes out everybody just goes for it. That’s dope.”

For more insight on the making of J. Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only, check out all of XXL’s interviews with the producers of the album.

#4youreyezonly is the only 2016 4th quarter Hip/Hop album release to earn @RIAA certification, @JColeNC! @Dreamville @RocNation pic.twitter.com/T8Qb2SPhxi

— RIAA (@RIAA) January 12, 2017