On the sixth anniversary of his third album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole delivered a gift to his fans: the music video for “Fire Squad.”
In the BBGUN-directed visual, which was shot in Kingston, Jamaica, a little girl faces off in an intense chess game with an elderly opponent and cautions him of any man who crowns himself a king “because deep down, he clings to the need for power.” But Cole (real name Jermaine Lamarr Cole) doesn’t cling to said power; he owns it fearlessly. “We all kings/ Kings of ourselves first and foremost/ While the people debate who’s the king of this rap game/ Here comes lil’ ol’ Jermaine,” he raps in the outro.
His Dreamville Records announced on Twitter that it’s re-uploading many of the North Carolina MC’s old music videos after they were previously deleted. “And because it’s the anniversary #FHD here’s the world premiere of the never before released video for ‘Fire Squad,’” Dreamville’s official account wrote.
The “Fire Squad” video joins the official music videos for “Simba,” “Lights Please,” “Lost Ones,” “Work Out,” “Who Dat,” “Can’t Get Enough” featuring Trey Songz, “Nobody’s Perfect” featuring Missy Elliott, and “Sideline Story” on Cole’s YouTube account.
His 2014 Forest Hills Drive album went No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in December 2014, spending 313 weeks on the all-genre album tally.
Watch the “Fire Squad” music video below.
