J. Cole’s New Video, “Who Dat”
J. Cole
By James Johnson
We know what you’re thinkin’ “J. Cole, who dat?” … Though your thoughts might have included better use of grammar and pronunciation … Well, sit back and we’ll tell your inquisitive ass.
J. Cole is likely the most promising new artist to ever come out of Fayetteville North Carolina. Cole (aka Jermaine Cole … no points for creativity) broke headlines across the country when it was announced that he was to be the first artist signed to Jay-Z’s newly created label, Roc Nation.
Cole’s latest music video, that he actually went out of his way to have filmed in downtown Fayetteville (on Worth Street), and have populated by Fayetteville residents, isn’t exactly getting the rousing local support he probably hoped for.
Recently, Fayetteville State University, whose cheerleaders are in the video, and E.E. Smith high school, whose band is featured in the video, publicly blasted the artist for the strong language used in the song. Uh, apparently there was some huge conspiracy in which both schools were entirely unaware of how to operate iTunes, communicate with their staff or students or use Google, leading to their being blindsided by the release of the video.
Though strong language is inappropriate in a professional setting, or in the classroom, or when at your nanna’s house, schools have generally looked the other way in-regards to art. After all, if the “n-word” is forbidden in a song, how does one apply that to Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird?
Does popular art have to have a certain age to it, before it can be protected by freedom of speech? Does obscenity have an expiration date? Is it a matter of subjectivity? Strong language is fine in books we like, but offensive in music that we don’t? Is it fair for teachers to impose their views on what constitutes art on the students?
Judge for yourself - we have below the uncensored video for “Who Dat.”
This video is great! Great concept. I love BBGUN’s work. The song is badass too. Kudos to all involved in the production of this video. True art takes time. J.Cole is just keeping it real. The song is about real life. Art is usually injected with real life experience. Who would expect anything otherwise? Those damn conspiracies!!! They’ll get the best of you every time.
It never amazes me how “un-artistic” something suddenly becomes just because it doesn’t fit into what someone else might think it appropriate or tasteful. Last time I checked creating something, no matter if it’s it be art, music, or just a new friend, should be something that speaks to YOU. I love the fact that J. Cole is pursuing something that is all his own no matter what the local majority may think. At least he is keeping his hometown close at task by putting Fayetteville in the video at all….that’s more than most artists would own up to unfortunately. I Love it.
~Nicole
It’s just raw poetry and an artistic expression. It has some bad parts and good parts, but overall the video will bring more good than bad. Millions of views to a once unfamiliar city will be great. The concerts will attract thousands, we mite need to build a bigger venue for this kid, lol. I support J.Cole in finding a way to boost his city and having the ability to do it in his own expression. Schools are trying to satisfy the old school leaders who don’t even listen to rap. Why would the image of the schools be affected by those who watch rap videos? Go JCOLE! GO FAYETTEVILLE!
Here’s the text from an e-mail I sent to a local columnist about the issue:
Mr. Pitts:
I find myself disappointed by your column today. When you said “Anderson’s recent comments…hurt the school more than the video”, you’re buying into the premise that the video does indeed hurt the school. It’s one thing for school administrators running a high school to shun having their students being included in a video for a song with explicit lyrics, but quite another thing for public college officials to do so. These pompous clowns at FSU are passing judgement on a highly evolved artist who’s on top of his game and puts out consistently high quality music. They should be more than proud to be associated with an artist of his integrity, substance, and quality. Isn’t the grand purpose of college to prepare young people to pursue excellence? Well, J. Cole is an artist whose music is consistently excellent. For them to have a knee-jerk reaction because some of his lyrics are explicit is small-minded and parochial.
Do FSU’s literature classes avoid books with profanity? Do they have classic books like Huckleberry Finn or Slaughterhouse 5 in the library? Do their film appreciation classes only cover G-rated films? J. Cole is a serious artist who makes serious art, but these administrators feel qualified to pass judgement on it because it has profanity and explicit language? They seriously need to take a look in the mirror and reassess their qualification to pass judgement on the cultural significance of Hip Hop artists and their music. If they do so honestly, in the end they will find that they owe J. Cole an apology for even beginning to question whether the inclusion of their cheerleading squad in the video for a such a high quality song by such a talented artist is a good thing. J. Cole is not some talentless hack who puts out disposable hot garbage for the masses, he’s an artist in the truest sense of the word.
WOW!!! A Rapper useing profanity……SHOCKER!!! I think it’s GREAT J. Cole has got himself and the city some attention, but I myself am SICK of Rappers and profanity laced lyrics which only “dumb down” society. How about some “raw poetry” without gutter language?