By: Serina Gousby
Forget everything that hip-hop culture has exposed to you when it comes to “ratchetness” and Miley Cyrus’ version of “twerking.” If you are a fan of invigorating, emotional and impactful music, J. Cole might be the hip-hop lyricist that you would fall in love with. Jermaine Lamarr Cole, best known as Grammy – Nominated American hip-hop recording artist J. Cole, will be the headliner for this year’s Suffolk fall concert, and there is no question that he will make that night memorable. On Sept. 24, I was honored to see him on his world tour “What Dreams May Come,” which also featured hip-hop recording artist Wale. With his impressive style and intense energy, Cole’s interaction with the audience made the show very personal. He was able to illicit real and authentic emotion from the crowd, which kept their attention on him throughout the entire show.
Raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina-raised artist has been known as a lyrical storyteller since his first mixtape in 2007 called The Come Up. Two years later, he became the first artist signed to hip-hop mogul Jay Z’s record label, Roc Nation. With the hype of his second and third mixtape, The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights, his first album, Cole World: The Sideline Story brought much success and recognition, granting him a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist and his first certified gold album in 2011.
His current certified gold album Born Sinner, which was on June 18, has sold over 600,000 copies so far, which surpasses Kanye West’s Yeezus album that was released on the same day. The album is very complex and well balanced with singles like “Power Trip,” an R&B and rap collaboration that articulates lust and love which features R&B artist Miguel; also, “Crooked Smile,” which features the legendary girl group TLC, presents the message to every woman about loving themselves despite of all of their physical flaws.
As a hip-hop music lover who listens to artists like Nas, Kendrick Lamar and Tupac, J. Cole has proven himself to be a future legend in the hip-hop community. His music, going from underground to mainstream, is very stable and has not disappointed the many fans that first knew him through his mixtapes. In addition, his music is very connected to him since he mostly writes and produces all of his material. However, there are critics who have said that Cole’s music seems boring. Cole responded on HipHopdx.com saying, “everybody has their own style of music that they like. I could never let that affect me in the way I make music. The people who like Soul Plane are probably gonna think Shawshank Redemption is boring. It’s not the end of the world.”
Here is the question: why do you think Suffolk decided to invite him to the fall concert this year? Some of us may have loved this decision, some don’t like rap music at all, or some just don’t know who J. Cole is. Cole is not the average rapper; he attended St. John’s University in New York on an academic scholarship, majored in communications, minored in business, and graduated magna cum laude. He is a person with great intelligence and valued education. Regardless of what he does, he is an example to remind us that we will benefit from our education no matter what the path will be. In J. Cole’s words, “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.” The Suffolk fall concert will be held on Nov. 6 and tickets will be available soon.
