“Most niggas don't believe in God so they terrified” says Jermaine Lamarr Cole better yet known as J Cole. J Cole still has a big effect in the world we live in today and 4 Your Eyez Only states that he is still the only big name in the rap business. 4 Your Eyez Only is different in a sense compared to all his other albums like 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Yes, they both strategically talk about real life problems that people face in the world today, not just African American problems but this album talks more about how he's grown as an individual and the things that help build him into the man he is today. J Cole song Change in a literal sense means that the only change worth keeping is the change within yourself and when you find that change …show more content…
J Cole uses this because it alludes to one of his song Love Yourz where he talks about his running into money but he could not forget where he came from. If he had forget where he came from he was going to easily end their again and not excell like he is now. He also tell us in Love Youz that family and your loved ones is the only key to happiness. Even though the song is not apart of the album he wants us to take that verse and take it one step further by remembering Love Yourz so instead of saying all that he wants to say he uses a small sentence to still get his point across. “Got a new gun, this one don’t run out of ammo”, when you hear this you will think that J Cole is talking about a gun not running out of ammo, well that's what i thought until i dug down deeper into understanding. J Cole gun is his pen and his ammo is the ink never running out. So he gets to continue to write his lyrics down even the things that nobody wants to address like the elephant in the room.That's one of the reasons so many people across the world love J Cole music because instead of just coming out and telling you the message he makes you dig deeper into understanding and when you do that you might start looking at yourself …show more content…
Throughout this album J Cole says hidden messages that states that without God he would not be in the place he is today, or thinking the way he does. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand” John 10:27-28. It says that God knows who calls upon him and they shall be protected, not saying that they will be without calamity, but they will always be protected. “ Yeah I choose my religion” J Cole tells us what his religion and it says in the bible “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” Matthew 10:33, So he’s making sure that he can tell all the people he can. Lots of people will hear it so can also help others who do not know about christ to want to accept him. “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples” Psalms 96.3. Even though J Cole does not tell all the thing God can do but he does tell that through God you have the power to have a new mindset and to have your eyes open to the world instead of blind. “Jesus piece frozen from sinnin, doin dirt, hoping to God, he know my intentions, to see a million fore I see a casket”. J cole has a Jesus piece that he got from doing things that he knows he is not supposed to do but he hope that God
Feeling unwanted from the closest people in your life who turn away from you when you need them the most, is the worst feeling a person can endure. I chose the song “My Story” by Sean McGee, because people young and old can relate to his song. People from different backgrounds can relate to each other when there are living homeless or raised as a foster child. Sean McGee wrote “my daddy don’t know, my momma don’t care, it don’t matter if I’m here, it don’t matter if I’m dead” people all around the world have the same issues and share a common culture. A master status is the most important status a person occupies, this is a key factor in determining a person’s social position.
The music video for J.Cole’s 2013 Crooked Smile is an expressive, and powerful production. It reveals itself as a short film commemorating seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley – Jones who was killed by an officer during a 2010 raid in Michigan. The video was nominated for the MTV Video Music Award for Best Video With a Social Message (Kaufman, 2014). It begins with an inconspicuous frame of J. Cole solemnly looking though a window appearing to have been arrested. The video then reverts backwards to show a comparison of two men leading similar lives earlier in the day. It is then revealed these men, although similar, are identified as binary opposites through ideological representation. Throughout the video a repertoire is built showing a white man, and a black man (J. Cole) living their natural lives. They then interact as the white DEA officer enters the home of the black drug dealer during a raid. With guns
His path started like many others as Hip-Hop usually just talks about degrading of women, promiscuity, guns and drugs. When Cole finished high school he went off to college at St. Johns University. He had always helped young African Americans at some point in their lives that have had similar dreams of becoming something in life. Rap has always dominated most of the black community to assist in the expression of their feelings, emotions and situations. Single parent homes are very common in the African American Community, and J. Cole’s is also a product of this unfortunate circumstance as he writes about his life through his music. He has been fascinated by rap since he was fourteen and followed his dreams becoming Jay-Z’s
The song “Most People are Good” by Luke Bryan, describes a theme of hope and seizing the day. This song is clearly directed to an adult audience for it could not be relatable to a younger crowd. The song offers words of wisdom and a recollection of youthful times gone by. The song is told in the first person and portrayed by an ageing man or woman who is expressing their beliefs and personal morals through their experience of youth and forgiveness. The hopeful lyrics are informal but provide bright ideas expressed with a buoyant attitude.
The second song, Change, also shows the problem with systematic oppression. J. Cole recounts the time that he saw his friend get shot. This is the main point of the whole album and the song revolves around the tale of this friend who is killed. The last song, 4 Your Eyez Only, brings everything back together and tells the full narrative of his friend’s unfortunate fate. While attacking the life that many people glorify and empathizing with those who are stuck in this life, J Cole closes out his fourth album on a hopeful note. Using the perspective of his deceased friend, he writes a song (the actual album), for his daughter, condemning all that is bad and hoping for her to grow into a somebody. In a heart touching verse the father states “Maybe you hate me, maybe you miss me, maybe you spite
“You Was Right” by Lil Uzi Vert is fairly easy to understand lyrically. The essence of the song deals with unfaithfulness in a relationship as well as the aftermath. Lil Uzi Vert spends a large portion of the song admitting his mistakes to his presumed girlfriend in hopes of making things right between them. The song starts off with the hook, which rests upon the premise of how Lil Uzi Vert should have stayed loyal rather than taking another girl home with him. For example, he says, “You was right, I was wrong” (6) in an attempt to console his girlfriend and apologize. Following the hook, the first verse centers on Lil Uzi Vert’s riches due to his success as a rapper. He ties that in to his relationship by expressing how he wants to share his wealth with his girlfriend. At this stage in the song, Lil Uzi Vert is attempting to win his girlfriend back with his money and general success as a rapper. The hook then repeats itself to indicate that the argument between Lil Uzi Vert and his girlfriend is still continuing. The second verse signifies an escalation in their conflict, as he says, “You just locked the door, so I gotta text you” (42). His girlfriend is refusing to even listen
The first song I am going to start with and explain is his song soundtrack 2 my life, he discusses how he has a very hard time in his young life. He discusses how his mom got him christmas presents and how he was shocked due to being from a very poor family due to not having the advantage of being white. He continues to say how his emotions are pouring out of him as in he is letting all of the stuff that he has gone through that was hard out and he is ready to let it all out for the best of his health. He mainly discusses the pain he has gone through and how it is hard growing up as a young black male. After this main song, he continues to open up on how he coped with this heartache that he has gone through. In song marijuana he talks about how he used to smoke marijuana to help him cope with life. He at one part says how he needs it because it's the only thing to keep him level up in his head, A.K.A only thing that gets him through this everyday struggle of being the minority. Clearly this was cudi's way of living in the reality of a world that blacks are being oppressed every day. In his song the sky might fall which is already a cry for help. He opens up saying what a world that i'm living in will the rainstorms ever end, he is trying to say will all this pain and
Hip-Hop’s criticism of George W. Bush is a good example of hip-hop’s reflection of Black public opinion. The Republican candidate who already had a low approval rating of 57% amongst African-Americans received an even lower approval rating after his lackluster efforts to support Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (Jones, 2003; Cillizza & Sullivan 2013).
Cole’s musical idols, which greatly influenced his musical style. His style captures the attention from younger generations and the adolescent population, whom also came from an uneasy childhood and along the way lost motivation. “I 'm here to spread a message of hope. Follow your heart. Don 't follow what you 've been told you 're supposed to do.” (Music times, 2014) Through this message, J. Cole constantly portrays to be an ambition seeking activist. He hopes to project hope in those who are struggling by sharing his life challenges and voicing how he overcame
When him and his father went to withdraw him the schools priest was unhappy. Cole spoke of going to public school and getting a job to help out his family, the priest surprised asked that he’d rather serve burgers than God? (Black Irish). Cole actively practiced his catholic religion, he prayed, he attended catholic school, and went to the confessional when he was feeling sinful, what Berger (2016) would classify as one Erikson’s four arenas of identity; religious identity. Cole thankfully seemed to be in the stage of role achievement, which Berger (2016) describes as someone who as considered the goals and values of his parents, and culture, accepting some and disregarding others (pg 350). Cole from the beginning (2007) shows a strong interest in baseball, even when transferring to public school the school’s baseball coach saw potential right away and made him the teams pitcher (Black Irish). Cole even tried at one point to go play catch with his father but all he wanted to do was watch television and drink. Cole was also able to find a job and his brother attempted to rob the restaurant and it turned
J Cole released the song "Wet Dreamz" as a part of his album "2014 Forest Hills Drive". On this album J Cole connected his listeners with his life problems growing up at 2014 Forest Hills Drive. In the song "Wet Dreamz", J Cole raps about his affection and love for a girl. Cole starts his song by using repetition,
While on a recent carefree jaunt throughout Harlem, I was introduced to the lyrical genius of one “Big L.” As is common of all true artists, Mr. L passed before his time, but not without a legacy. You see, it is the will of the Almighty Himself that I elucidate the meaning of Mr. L’s first major work, “Put it On,” in order for it to be made accessible to the common man and the upper crust alike, so that this truly majestic piece may live for eternity in the bosom of humankind. To this end, I have composed a line-for-line translation of the complex, sophisticated diction, which, I expect, will henceforth serve as the standard through which all scholars will study this master of the English language.
“We Found Love” is a popular song produced by Calvin Harris and features singer Rihanna. “We Found Love” reached the number one spot in the top charts in multiple countries in 2012 and the music video became popular very quickly after being filmed in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The music video features a young couple living in an impoverished council estate in West Belfast. Both characters portrayed in the music video are in their twenties and of mixed race, one parent being black and the other being Caucasian. Their relationship is distinguished by domestic violence as the couple is seen yelling, pushing and hurting one another, along with stealing from convenience stores, gambling and abusing drugs and alcohol together.
The song I picked for this homework assignment is called Runaway Love by Ludacris and Mary J. Blige. The song is describing the hardships of three young girls and their struggle to survive. Finally, the girls are fed up with the lives they are forced to live and decide to pack up their things and run away. I think this song can relate to many aspects of sociology that we have learned in class. Some examples shown through the song are poverty, education, healthcare, marriage and family. All three girls’ different stories and struggles they face.
“Can you tell me why/Every time I step outside I see my people die” [verse 2] J. Cole is referring to the absurd amount of times a young unarmed black man is killed because of racial profiling. “All we wanna do is take the chains off/All we wanna do is break the chains off/ All we wanna do is be free” [hook] in this lyric he talks about wanting to be rid from injustice and stereotypes and only then will they be