Rapper J. Cole tweeted this past Sunday night that he will be releasing his third studio album, titled “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” on Dec. 9.

Well past his sideline story and grown out of his sophomore mentality, the rapper has made a name for both himself and his hometown of Fayettevile, North Carolina. In the tweet, Cole included a seven-minute trailer for the album that filmed him returning to this hometown and visiting the places that sparked his career. The places include his old high school and the football bleachers where he performed his first cypher, an old skating rink, and the house where he spent much of his childhood, which is the inspiration for this new album.

I have to admit that I write this article with a bit of a bias since J. Cole is in the lineup of my top three rappers, but what he says holds its own weight.

“I’ve gotten to this point in my career and realized that yeah I’ve got a lot more dreams and I wanna go further, but at the same time I don’t want it if it’s at the expense of my happiness…or if I have to become someone who is so out of touch with what’s real: the people that love you and the people that you love.”

He goes on to mention other stars that have found that they like the Hollywood life more than their hometowns, and calls them out by saying that “that stuff isn’t real.”

Cole holds that ideal so true that he bought his old house back at 2014 Forest Hills Drive to return home and ground himself. It’s refreshing to see an artist that can make it big, even in the mainstream culture, and still be able to return to his roots. Other rappers should take notes from the 29-year-old German-born rapper and learn to humble themselves (*cough* Kanye *Cough*).

He had one more surprise for fans this week, as they have a chance to enter to be invited to his childhood home for an early listening party. Cole wrote on his website that this is the only way fans will hear it early since he will not be releasing any singles, in order for fans to hear his childhood story straight through.

The album is set to drop Dec. 9 and consists of 13 tracks, and in my personal opinion will mirror the deep lyrics of his “Truly Yours” EP’s while throwing in the style from “The Warm Up” mixtape.