“4 Your Eyez Only” serves as a message to Cole’s newborn daughter, and recounts memories for the daughter of a childhood friend. This person is most likely James McMillian, Jr., a friend who Cole speaks of throughout the album.

Cole first recounts the life story of his friend, who fell to the temptations of the world, and later shares his own attempts to stay on the path of righteousness. His last verse reveals the whole album is actually about his friend’s life and not his own, though Cole’s life has parallels like falling in love and having a child. Cole got out of the streets, but his friend did not.