What Is The Story Behind J. Cole’s Snow on tha Bluff?
The notorious rapper, Jermaine Cole, came out with a rap song called “Snow on tha Bluff.” The song’s release date was June 16, 2020, about three weeks after the George Floyd murder. The content is very eye-opening for any listener because it involves a subtle dialogue between another rapper, Noname. She has been vocal about celebrities not doing enough about the racial climate.
Why is it called “Snow on tha Bluff?”
J. Cole is documenting his life through his own experiences regarding social justice, as the film’s framework is similar. The film is the story of Curtis Snow, who sought out a director, Damon Russell, to make a film about his life as a crack and drug dealer.
What is the film, Snow on the Bluff about?
This film was released in 2012 and it stared a “robbery boy” named Curtis Snow who was also a drug dealer from Atlanta. He gets into a multitude of dangerous criminal situations as he plays a fictionalized version of himself. The title is a reference to the protagonist’s last name, Snow, and the neighborhood where the drug and crack dealing occurred, The Bluff.
The film starts out with three college kids thinking that they could acquire free drugs from a drug dealer. They cross paths with Curtis Snow. The college kids drive him to a house for him to fulfill his order with a camera that one of the students is using to film the drug dealing.
Curtis Snow would pull a gun on them and steal their camera. Snow would give it to one of his friends, Damon Russell, to film his day-to-day life as it occurs. Snow would steal drugs from other drug dealers like a Pittsburg-based drug dealer named White Kangol.
Later, a gunman would ambush Snow and Snow would flee from the scene. He collapses on the street and the police arrest him due to a connection to a prior robbery. Snow spends four months in jail and when he gets out he plans on getting revenge on Kangol by ambushing his girlfriend. The reason why he plans to get revenge on Kangol is because of his heightened suspicion that he was behind the ambush.
Instead, Snow’s ‘baby momma’ and girlfriend get killed by an unknown person. He sinks into depression as he has to take care of his son while drug dealing.
At the end of the film, he calls an ad about a movie he has an idea for, Snow on the Bluff.
First Verse: 1st Rhyme Scheme
“Niggas be thinkin’ I’m deep, intelligent, fooled by my college degree
My IQ is average, there’s a young lady out there, she way smarter than me
I scrolled through her timeline in these wild times, and I started to read
She mad at these crackers, she mad at these capitalists, mad at these murder police
She mad at my niggas, she mad at our ignorance, she wear her heart on her sleeve
She mad at the celebrities, lowkey I be thinkin’ she talkin’ ‘bout me….”
First, Cole acknowledges how people perceive him as an intelligent individual because of his thought-provoking hip-hop artistry, which includes his lyrical content, music videos and a ‘4 Your Eyes Only’ documentary. The documentary would incorporate the songs from the self-titled album and stories of the black plight of housing and voting laws.
When he uses the term, ‘niggas,’ he is referring to his fan base that includes more than just black people. He has a variety of songs like the extended version of his ‘Be Free’ song, ‘Lost Ones,’ ‘Crooked Smile,’ and more where his content is socially conscious.
In his song ‘Crooked Smile,’ the music video would show Cole playing the part as a drug dealer and the consequences for that. The police would raid his home in Detroit and accidentally kill his daughter, Aiyana Stanley- Jones.
In other words, Cole is a conscious rapper. A conscious rapper is part of a genre of hip-hop that promotes awareness of societal issues.
In terms of that definition, Cole has rapped social justice for the community in his career.
He graduated from St. John’s University in Queens, New York. This milestone in his life attributes to how deep his rap songs are, and people champion him to doing so.
The lyrics: “My IQ is average….” tells me that he is humbling himself. He does not want to seem like he is boasting about how educated the rapper is among his fans and peers in Hip Hop since he went to college.
Next, he would praise Noname for being more intelligent than him.
The reason is because of how active she is in the Black Lives Matter movement with her book club. The book club features two books being read per month with authors that are people of color. The female rapper has constructed a space where people can have the opportunity to be educated by reading and discussing these books.
This space includes a vital skill that people need to understand each other, listening. The reason why listening is essential in this space of a book club is for the readers to acquire the message from the author’s respective books. These discussions entail questions as it pertains to the book for people to get a better understanding of the message.
From a macrocosm perspective, if people effectively listen to each other and try to understand each other with questions, they would accurately perceive what the other person is saying.
“…I scrolled through her timeline in these wild times, I started to read…”
This lyric illustrates Cole reading her tweet: “Poor black folks all over the country are putting their bodies on the line in protest for our collective safety and y’all favorite top-selling rappers not even willing to put a tweet up. niggas whole discographies be about the black plight and they no where to be found.”
In the summer of 2020, a police officer murdered George Floyd which ignited more people to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Noname has a problem with some ‘top selling rappers’ who seemingly have not supported the movement.
“…She mad at these crackers, she mad at these capitalists, mad at these murder police/ She mad at my niggas, she mad at our ignorance, she wear her heart on her sleeve/ She mad at the celebrities, lowkey I be thinkin’ she talking’ bout me…”
Cole would point out the things Noname has animosity for, which may attribute to the stereotype of black women being angry. This idea would be problematic because it reinforces the idea that white people may stereotype black women as angry.
However, this racial climate has shown people a white police officer murdering a black civilian. It makes sense why Noname is angry. People have context, making people outside the black community understand her or any other black woman’s anger more than ever.
In regards to the last lyric of the first rhyme scheme, Cole takes offense to that tweet which led to the release of this song because of the content of Noname’s tweet being synonymous with him as an artist.
First Verse: Second Rhyme Scheme
The first two lines of the scheme refer to his education at St. John’s University, where he graduated with a degree in communications magna cum laude. A communications degree requires the capacity to talk about your perspective and listen to others with the openness of the mind to change it. I can relate to this because I graduated with a communications degree in magna cum laude. We have achieved a high GPA of 3.4 or over.
Cole takes offense to how Noname’s tweet sounded, in terms of the tone of it, because of his commitment to social justice in his artistry that she seems to disregard.
However, you can argue that she is not disregarding his past commitments to social justice; she is calling for celebrities to use their platforms to promote the movement because of how big they are. They have fan bases that are massive enough to contribute to the cause immensely.
Also, there was no better time than that time to help the movement because of the evolution ofit due to its inclusion of people outside of the black community.
Then, Cole would go on about how the female rapper has grown up in a conscious environment with a system that dictates how people treat each other in America. Her parents were aware of this, too, so they taught it her. They know this because they grew up in a conscious environment where racism was more apparent than ever.
First Verse: Third Rhyme Scheme
This rhyme scheme is where Cole gets into his reasoning for his problem with Noname. He thinks that her frustration comes from more people not calling for celebrities to use their platform to advocate for social justice, especially those who have done it in the past.
According to her, most people do not see a problem with that which is valid because that idea will only help the movement.
Cole feels like she is talking down on him.
Ironically, you can argue that Noname has a problem with his tone because of how “controlling” he is in his lyrics.
In other words, they both feel disrespected, so they release their respective tracks to express their thoughts and feelings about the situation.
He is challenging how she is going about the movement, which people may consider bothersome if you have been active in the movement.
Still, during that particular summer, it was more needed than ever because of how much attention it had during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic gave people time to stay indoors for an extended period, and what did they do during that time as a form of entertainment?
The answer to the question is social media. This answer makes sense because we are in this digital media era where everything is filmed or photographed for awareness. Somebody took a video of the George Floyd murder, and everybody was home on social media to see it, so it brought more attention to the event.
Cole recognizes the female rapper as a leader because of how active she is in the movement as she leads her own book club.
Although, he is expressing her approach to advocating for more celebrities like Kendrick Lamar to use their platforms for social justice as a poor quality of a leader.
“….how you gon’ lead, when you attackin’ the very same niggas that really do need the shit you sayin…’?”
Cole is writing how Noname’s attitude towards celebrities not doing enough for the movement should have gone in another direction.
Instead of attacking people for not doing enough, uplift them to do better because that way, they will be more prone get inspired by her words to exhaust every option they have to help out in the crisis. Cole thinks that other people need educational words of encouragement.
From Cole’s perspective, she is screaming at people to do more for the Black Lives Matter movement.
This perspective is like if your mother yelled at you to clean the dishes in your childhood, how would that make you feel?
Would you feel annoyed, mad, or even frustrated?
How about if you have been consistently washing the dishes in the past?
How would you feel if your mother screamed at you to wash them as if you had never cleaned them before or even said no?
First Verse: Fourth Rhyme Scheme
What reason is Cole talking about that took black ancestors two hundred years to get freed?
Freed from what?
Cole writes that it took two hundred years for white masters to free their black ancestors as slaves. The reason for that long duration of time is the lack of community with us. We have torn each other down from time to time again.
For example, why has there never been another Black Wall Street? It would do wonders for the black community if an entity like that was constructed again. I believe that lack of community is the answer to that question.
How many of us make up the United States?
If black people were all united like the Jewish community, could we promote financial freedom and adjust the generational wealth disparity compared to white people?
Next, the lyric refers to the stereotype of black people not being knowledgeable about money and how to save it. The repetition of images and stories from media reinforcing this idea has made us believe in this.
Why is it that white people don’t have this stereotype?
Or even Asians? We limit ourselves, and even so, we can do anything.
Freedom is a long journey. The reason for that is the environment around people perceived to be different from other people, so they deserve treatment that is different. That may mean being black, gay, female, short, and many more social groups.
During this long journey, you will go through ups and downs repetitively because of external and internal factors that limit or encourage you, like your parents, adults, friends, institutions, mentality, media, and many more.
This idea is where the phrase, patience is a virtue, comes into play because the endgame of the journey is the dream of freedom.
In my interpretation, Cole calls for Noname to educate black communities on how we need to come together to promote the movement.
First Verse: Fifth Rhyme Scheme
Cole questions her motivations for her tweet because celebrities like him have helped the movement. He isn’t active on social media like most people, who can resonate with his ‘fuck a retweet’ line because of social media being another tool to spread awareness. This questioning is reasonable because actions speak louder than words and matter significantly during that time. Spreading awareness through social media is not enough because innocent black people are still being killed.
The Fayetteville- based recording artist would reference her education in terms of her having all of the answers, which leads to the following rhyme scheme.
First Verse: Sixth Rhyme Scheme
Cole did not know how to go about the Black Lives Matter movement because of how much he had done when it came to his artistry. He has been reinforcing messages of the black plight, inequalities, community, and many more in the hope of making an impact on his listeners. He is a top-selling artist with an ongoing music discography for over ten years. He has grown a massive fan base of various races, genders, sexualities, and social groups.
Music brings people together, and the hope is for the listeners to enjoy it.
In his case, conscious music is in his catalog, so his lyrics impact his fans because of how “real” they are. The hope is for those fans to become aware of those realities and do something about it.
How much of an impact does protest music have on people?
Music is J. Cole’s superpower, and he has used it to the best of his ability.
Cole calls for Noname to ‘treat people like children’ in regards to her having all the answers.
The reason why is that people, including him, don’t know what to do to help the movement because of how much they have done. People have protested actively with media forums like television, music, film, and on the streets, so it comes to a point where you may ask, what more can I do?
We all want to enjoy life, so love, patience, and time are crucial qualities people need in order to achieve their aspirations and dreams. People don’t like hate, rushing, or being rushed because that causes negative stress and emotion.
Lastly, change will come because of the participation rates of the movement, but the change is unforeseeable. The solo artist calls for more education for us to create more ways to help the movement because those ways may have a more significant impact than the previous ones.
There needs to be more of a united front for people who want to help the movement with solid leadership. This back-and-forth between the two highly esteemed rappers was the opposite of that. It symbolized the idea of people having more room to grow when it came to creating new ways to better the movement.
First Verse: Seventh Rhyme Scheme
Cole is a thinker, as one sees through his writing. He struggles with the thought of him not doing enough for his community. He claims that he has saved up enough money to ‘buy his way outta slavery.’ This means that he doesn’t have to go through the harsh housing conditions, limiting finances, and violence that ordinary black people, in terms of status, in impoverished conditions go through.
However, you could argue that Cole is still a ‘slave’ because of his song, ‘Neighbors.’
It was a story about his neighbors accusing him of selling drugs out of a rental home in North Carolina. In actuality, it was a safe space for him and his signed artists of Dreamville Records to make music.
There are levels to everything; in simple terms, there is a degree or extremity of everything in life, and Cole experienced a small percentage of it.
Cole grew up poor with a childhood filled with poverty and violence. He is a rich man from his luxurious artistry and uses it to make his children’s lives better than how he grew up. He can create opportunities for his family, such as comfortable housing, a safe neighborhood, food, clothing, and more.
Although, Cole feels guilty for not providing for his community because of how progressive society has been regarding race.
Yes, we have progressed racially regarding how we perceive each other and what that has entailed such as black people being in more leadership positions like the presidency.
But, there is room for improvement because there are still a variety of inequalities that still exist that contribute to why cops murder black people and the consequences for those events not being appropriated enough.
He believes that he is responsible for providing for his community because of his status, and he needs to do more.
First Verse: Eight Rhyme Scheme
These lyrics allude to Cole being hard on himself, where he may think he is some fraud because of his inactiveness for the movement that Noname stated. Some stranger would encounter him and refute that idea to commend him for his work.
As I said earlier in this post, Cole’s superpower is making music, and he has appealed to this specific listener.
However, has this listener actively done something to help whatever he is writing about in his song?
It’s great that people listen so they become aware of his content. Could they do more with that awareness?
Is that why society isn’t as progressive as it could be?
Should we all do more?
First Verse: Last Two Lyrics
Cole challenges his activity to help the movement. He feels like the ‘Snow on tha Bluff.’ It is where Curtis Snow, an Atlanta robber and crack dealer, was connected to a series of home invasion robberies by the police that he did not cause.
In terms of Cole, he has documented stories of the black plight through his music, but he is unaware how much of an impact that has made on his listeners. It’s impossible to quantify impact which attributes to the ignorance of his impact.
Music can only do much more than spread awareness of an issue like the black plight.
Does it make people do something about it?
That is the root of Cole’s internal conflict, unlike Noname, who educates people through dialogue and communication to promote the movement with her book club.
In terms of Snow, he documented his ‘thug life’ with the camera he stole from the three college kids for Damon Russell to film as a documentary. The documentary has also been described as a reality television show as it shows the reality of drug and crack dealing with no resolution at the end.
Both individuals have documented about an aspect of the black plight in their artistry to spread awareness.
Although, Cole has called for his listeners to take action in relation to his lyrical content and Snow shows the potential consequences of being drug and crack dealer.
Bridge
The ‘bridge’ would have three reiterating lines: “The sun is shinin’ today.”
This story is a humbling moment for Cole, where he is reflecting on his work for the Black Lives Matter movement.
He is not doing enough for the movement, which may be viewed in a positive light by people because it means that he has some room to grow as an activist.
Also, Cole’s approach in his interaction with Noname is the ideal way to progress as a society peacefully.
Ultimately, Cole humbles himself reflectively because of how little he knows about what to do to help the Black Lives Matter movement progress.
Does anyone even know what to do?
Yes, we could look at history and try to do things differently, but human nature always gets in the way of people using the movement for their benefit.
Outro
Cole indulges in his despair for the Black Lives Matter movement and its promotion was due to many tragic events like George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, and many more. He calls for the people to join him in his mourning for the social event and use that emotion to be courageous enough to do more for the Black Lives Matter movement.
As Cole is just a boy in God’s eyes, we are his children then, so we can all grow together, and the only way to do that is to teach and listen to each other as the two esteemed rappers, Noname and Cole, did.
Conclusion
Everybody has a part to play in promoting the Black Lives Matter movement and other social movements. Not one person can do it alone, so it is up to us to do it together as one nation.
I see it like a basketball team. Basketball teams comprise of 12 or 13 players specializing in leadership, shooting threes, defense, playmaking, and more with a coach. The best basketball teams have a structure where each individual excel in their role for the team’s betterment. Where there is structure, there is also a rich culture that promotes enjoyment for the team to run efficiently.
Yes, people like Cole should always strive to do more with their role in the movement, but there’s only so much one citizen can do, so we should excel to the best our ability and, when needed, do more.
