Unity Through Hip-Hop

Unity Through Hip-Hop

Rapper J.Cole released his new album titled 2014 Forest Hills Drive just this past December. His new album has already gone platinum and is the first album to do so without any supporting features from other artists. J.Cole's album could not have come out at a better time in this country, with social media and other new outlets, issues of underlying racism and police brutality have been brought to light by rappers such as J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar. Cole addresses these issues and more on his new album.

One of the more popular songs off of Cole's album is titled G.O.M.D. In the music video Cole plays a house slave in the South, where the other slaves show resentment towards Cole because of the better treatment he receives for being the house slave. Cole then comes to the aid of his fellow slaves by freeing them and supplying them with weapons and a battle rages on against the white plantation owners. Here is the music video to G.O.M.D

In the video Cole is resented by the other slaves because he has lighter skin. Often lighter skinned slaves were made the house worker because plantation owners saw them as more trusting and "white" than darker skinned slaves who worked in the fields.  This racism with a race is still relevant today within certain communities, claims Cole in a recent interview with MTV. Cole states that people are often unaware of this racism because of everything else going on, but it is still prevalent in black communities today. He says "What were not aware of is the dysfunction within our own community, the fact that there are levels to us economically and because of the different skin colors within our own race, we're not aware of that, we're aware of the other sh-t." Cole also goes on to state that the G.O.M.D. video is suppose to represent "the need for unity and togetherness" within the African American community. There is so much happening in these communities right now with unprovoked police shootings, gang violence, etc, that sometimes people overlook certain little aspects of everyday life, instead of stopping and thinking about what there really saying, promoting, or doing they often overlook these things such as racism, and brush these things off as unimportant. Cole often criticizes young Black Americans because they want to go out and change things in their communities but they don't realize that they might be part of the problem because of everything else going on. Hip-Hop and rap music have always been a way for people to connect to with one another. It offers a perspective that many people can relate to and that's why people respect J.Cole and he recognizes this. These factors influence his music and he knows this, he is more than just a performer to a lot of people so when he speaks about a heavy topic people listen. With more music on the way from J.Cole I hope that people really listen to his music and positively act in a way to bring change to an issue they are patient about.

Rappers like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar is what hip-hop and the younger generation in American need. Instead of spitting out the same cliche lyrics about smoking weed, getting money, and sexual relations with copious amounts of woman, Cole and Kendrick are challenging people to make a change. With more and more rappers making a jump towards producing more music with redeeming values I personally believe that we will see a change for the better regarding racism, police brutality, and gang violence.

Sources:

• http://www.mtv.com/news/2117461/j-cole-gomd-video-meaning/
• http://www.musictimes.com/articles/32884/20150324/j-cole-gomd-music-video-2014-forest-hills-drive-watch-wet-dreamz.htm
• http://carolinablitz.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/J-cole.jpg
• http://hw-img.datpiff.com/mdba18c8/Kendrick_Lamar_J_Cole_Music_Fiend_Presents_Kend-front-large.jpg