J. Cole The Middle Child
A Tale of Greatness
Not many like Jermaine Cole can trace their roots to that of Suburban living and still find the words to elevate themselves to superstardom. Like J Cole I come from a Small town with not a lot going on within it, and unlike many artists, he departs from the flashy lyrics of luxurious living and speaks on the average life and issues of many people. He speaks on growing up with no father, on No Role Modelz, speaks on being black in America, on January 28th, affirms the importance of self-love and the beauty of the struggle, on Love Yourz. Cole does this on his primer album 2014 Forest Hills Drive that went triple platinum with no features that catapulted him to a household name.
Sure Hip-hop has always been an art form of self-expression that tells stories of people not highlighted in society but in this instance, Hip-hop was not something that I could say I identified with. At the time before I was introduced to J Cole my parents had no love for the Hip-hop genre; they referred to it as ‘Gangster Music’ and something that I shouldn’t be listening to as a 13-year-old kid. Of course, I found myself wanting to listen to it more because they said I couldn’t, and eventually when I discovered Pandora I had the means to do so. I’ve always felt sheltered from things because of my parents so I’ve always felt that I was out of the loop on cultural experiences that my friends and other kids had already experienced. Eventually my friends from my baseball team, after laughing at me for never hearing Hip-hop before, recommended me classic rappers like Snoop Dogg, N.W.A, and legends like Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.
From the onset, I became a big fan of the Hip-hop genre as it was unlike most of the popular music at the time as it was not a reminder that I did not resemble your prototypical ‘American.’ Race in America is a part of life. It is as unifying as it is divisive and even at a young age it’s something minorities have to grapple with. For children of immigrants, this is even more prevalent. There is this constant struggle of navigating your own culture and the American culture, in essence, you’re trying to fit in but you’re also trying to avoid cultural assimilation. Hip-hop was able to bridge that gap between the two for me.
With Hip-hop I was able to see other faces than the white ones that we’re being shown to me on film and television. Yes, I did not see myself physically in these rappers but their success and talent showed me that you can not be white in America and still be successful, famous and even a cultural icon. Hip-hop to me became a reminder that while this country labels as ‘Minorities’ we are anything but that, we are creators, we are trailblazers and we are trendsetters. In many ways, without us, this country would not be what it is today. I learned that at a young age because of the revolutionary words from artists actively speaking against the system that actively oppresses us.
As I dove deeper into Hip-hop I eventually moved out from the 90s and moved into contemporary Hip-hop which became a whole different genre as the sound and the messaging changed. Since Hip-hop became the popular genre of American society the message of the old school became lost in the new generation that chose to forgo the street stories of life in America to pop hits meant to glorify party culture. While Hip-hop has always found itself talking about smoking, drinking, and partying I would also find deep songs talking about some (lack of better words) ‘real shit.’ This became harder to do as I was pressed to find artists that could fulfill my need for personal stories and deeper lyrics. A problem that was resolved with my discovery of the big three of Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and J Cole. Each were well known and talented artists that had great songs with the deep lyrics that I had become accustomed to from the old school but everything changed for me with the release of 2014 Forest Hills Drive.
I don’t usually resort to saying something ‘changed my life’ but damn 2014 Forest Hills Drive changed my life. To this day when anyone asks for my ‘favorite album’ or the ‘best album ever made’ without hesitation, I say 2014 Forest Hills Drive. After it was released it changed my entire perception of J Cole from a young MC trying to be apart of this new sound to a living legend who was carrying the torch passed on to him from the great rappers before him. His entire second studio album Born Sinner served as an apology for his previous album that like many rappers at the time felt studio made. This is relayed over ‘Let Nas Down’ on Born Sinner, where Cole recounts his affirmation of the legends as writes of the bible and his idols that Cole feels he let down. While Born Sinner served as recognition and a pledge to do better 2014 Forest Hills Drive served to answer that call.
J Cole became that guy for people, one that introduced them to the genre as did the legends before him and remade it for a new generation. J Cole’s songs became the voice of our generation as his words became quotes we lived by. People became connected because of our love for his music and he became one of the most influential and famous rappers in the game. Cole differed more than most as he did not let the fame get to him and decided to use his platform to continue producing music for the art and not for the ‘clout.’ This became evident as he continued his success with 4 Your Eyez Only and KOD but was enshrined with his work outside of his own music. By creating a label, Dreamville, that sought to continue the essence of Hip-hop for a new generation that would pass on the torch to continually combat the increased appropriation of Hip-hop by studios and the music industry. J Cole has served as the middle child between the old school and the new school as he learned from the legends of the past to mentor the upcoming artists of the future.
