falling back in love with hip hop ( j cole angie martinez interview )

“History repeats itself and that’s just how it goes
Same way that these rappers always bite each others flows
Same thing that my nigga Elvis did with Rock n Roll
Justin Timberlake, Eminem, and then Macklemore
While silly niggas argue over who gone snatch the crown
Look around my nigga white people have snatched the sound
This year I’ll prolly go to the awards dappered down
Watch Iggy win a Grammy as I try to crack a smile”

J Cole is fast becoming my new Favorite MC. Outside of being one of the shinning lights of the newest recruiting class of rappers, Cole’s insights and passions for people have brought a feeling to me that I thought was long gone. It’s been a minute since I slid a CD in and let it Rock from beginning to end and actually paid attention. Coles latest effort Forest Hill Drive is that album. This is a musical review though. This isn’t a critique of how hard the beats bang or how many bars the young’n has; this is an evaluation of the man he is evolving into.

The 29 year old North Carolina MC has embraced fame, success, and American culture in a way that I haven’t seen in some 25 years. I recently read an article where he spoke about why he decided to take a trip to Ferguson after the shooting of mike brown. I’m paraphrasing but here’s the gist of what he said, “ When I was in college I was involved in all kinds of things, President of BSU etc.. We always talked about what we do if… After the Mike Brown tragedy I realized I’m not in college anymore, I realized that I now had resources. I had the opportunity to at least fly down and show my face, show my support. I didn’t go as a offering to the people, I went as a offering to myself.

Cole has also been spotted marching with the #blacklivesmatter movement in NYC after the death of Eric Gardner. And recently He came to the Angie Martinez show to give some perspective as to who he is and why he does the things he does.

http://youtu.be/Zqspvm3kwEw

In that interview Cole eloquently breaks down the misfortune of capitalism to a demographic that probably had to google the word after they tuned out of the interview. This is a needed voice in the culture of hip hop, I’ve said for years the only two universal languages are music and math as a voice Cole is taking full advantage of his platform to inform the world that thought is “Cool “ and for that I can appreciate him. Only time will tell if this will be another trend that hip-hop can take credit for starting. Lord knows the world needs it.

Tou