One person that was noticeably absent from the music conversation in 2016 was J. Cole, who didn't make much of a peep outside of the occasional collaborations he's done ("Jermaine's Interlude" on DJ Khaled's Major Key, Spillage Village's "Can't Call It"). However, that all changed last week when the Roc Nation star unexpectedly announced the release date for his highly anticipated fourth studio album, 4 Your Eyez Only.

This marks Cole's first solo release since dropping his critically acclaimed LP, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, two years ago. The Dreamville Records leader had previously hinted at dropping a new album in 2016, but as the year progressed, many fans assumed they would have to wait until next year to take another stroll through Jermaine Cole's world. However, the increasingly insular MC decided to crash the party with what has instantly been touted as arguably the biggest rap release of the fourth quarter. Now J. Cole has the full attention of the rap world in the palm of his hand.

Although much of the details and minutiae surrounding 4 Your Eyez Only have yet to be unveiled -- producers, guest appearances and the official tracklist -- we've managed to glean quite a bit of information from Cole's Eyez documentary, which was released this past week. The visual gives fans a glimpse of the creation of 4 Your Eyez Only, as well as the rhymer's artistic sate of mind heading into what is looking like the definitive release of his career thus far. Here is a rundown of all the interesting tidbits we know about J. Cole's 4 Your Eyez Only album thus far.