J Cole Research Paper

The Meaning Behind Neighbors
Jermaine Cole, otherwise known as J. Cole, is an American hip hop artist based out of New York City. Earlier in his career his music was notorious for having a gangster sound to it due to the lyrics and beats that the songs possessed. Though in his most recent albums Cole’s sound began to change drastically. It was seen a tiny bit in his earlier album ”2014 Forest Hills Drive”, but when “4 Your Eyes Only” dropped, his most recent album, listeners were able to see an entirely different side of him. Cole speaks deeply about the issues of racism and oppression in black community’s around the United States by rhyming about his own experiences growing up and beyond. One song in particular on the album that I believe

touches on these issues immensely is Neighbors. The intense lyrics and music within the song provides such a powerful message that cannot be ignored.
An interview with J.

Cole’s producer, Elite, tells the real story of what Neighbors is all about. J. Cole rented out a house in the woods outside of a rich white suburb in North Carolina, his birthplace, where artists and producers apart of his team “Dreamville” went to record. Neighbors of the house became suspicious believing that since many black people were in and out that it was some sort of drug operation. Eventually one neighbor told law enforcement that he knew people in the house were growing and selling marijuana. In response the police started a huge investigation costing upwards of a million dollars. SWAT team eventually raided the studio believing they would find massive amounts of drugs, but they were simply greeted with recording

equipment.
The song starts out with some very bassy beats and sounds, which Cole jumps into and raps “I guess the neighbors think I’m sellin dope”, which he repeats over again. This helps set up the meaning of the song, but it isn’t fully understood until the first verse. Cole immediately goes into talking about black oppression by using a robust metaphor and rhymes within the first few lines. “Yeah, I don’t want no picture with the president I just wanna talk to the man. Speak for the boys in the bando and my nigga never walkin’ again. Apologize if I’m harpin again I know these things happen often.” These lyrics completely set up the mood of the song and make the listener understand where it is headed. These first lines in the song are a powerful metaphor that asks for answers regarding oppression. Why does the US government thinks everything can be fixed with small acts of kindness, such as a “picture with the president”, when people children are growing up oppressed believing that the only way out is the crack house. Right after he states that he apologizes, expressing that what he’s saying is irrelevant because he believes it won’t be fixed.
After he briefly touches his past life, he goes into rapping about his current life and the situation that developed into the song,“That's why I moved away, I needed privacy.

Surrounded by the trees and Ivy League . Students that's recruited highly. Thinkin' "You do you and I do me". Crib has got a big 'ol back 'ol yard. My niggas stand outside and pass cigars, filled with marijuana, laughin' hard; thankful that they friend's a platinum star. In the driveway there's no rapper cars just some shit to get from back and forth, just some shit to get from back and forth. Welcome to the Sheltuh, this is pure. We'll help you if you've felt too insecure. To be the star you always knew you were. Wait, I think police is at the door”, which leads into the chorus “Okay, the neighbors think I’m sellin’ dope.”. What these lyrics explain clearly is the racism that is still present in America today. J. Cole made his money legally just like most of the black community in America and wanted to create a safe haven for other black artist to be successful. Just because him and his friends are ethnically and culturally different than the white community in America people viewed them differently. Differently enough to call the police on them with little to no reason. He uses other examples like this later in the song to explain his differences from the mainstream white community affect his everyday life. One other example of this is some of the lyrics in his second verse. “Took a little break just

to annotate. How I feel, damn, it's late. I can't sleep cause I'm paranoid. Black in a white man territory. Cops bust in with the army guns. No evidence of the harm we done. Just a couple neighbors that assume we slang. Only time they see us we be on the news, in chains, damn. Don't follow me. Don't follow me” He clearly solidifies the oppression he has been experiencing by using these last rhymes. He explains that he feels ostracized from the community he works around and is paranoid at all times because of it. He is aware that no one around him trusts him, because so much of the black community has been portrayed to be “in chains”. He then exits off the verse by saying “Don’t follow me” over and over again to express one final time that he is doing nothing wrong.
This song all in all explains someone’s first hand experience of being oppressed as a black person in American society. J. Cole explains throughout the entire song that no matter where he is in life, if that be the projects or developed areas, he will still be viewed as a menace to society by many people, especially the white community. Rap artist such as J. Cole and a few others are finally beginning to create real poetry in their music. Rhymes that are not all superficial and pretentious. The issue of racism and oppression in America is still a very serious issue, and when most of the hip hop artist today rap about how much money they have, drugs they do, and cars they drive isn’t going to make people understand the oppression of the black communities in the long run. Songs such as Neighbors and many more is revolutionizing the hip hop music and will hopefully help people understand the issues of racism and oppression on a deeper level and finally do something about it.