My Thoughts: "Snow On Tha Bluff"

Note: I Love Jermaine Lamarr Cole

So let’s talk about J. Cole’s new song, “Snow On Tha Bluff”. Let the record show that I consider Jermaine Cole to be one of my celebrity husbands, one reason being because he has always been conscious with his raps, and he doesn't need a feature for a banger. He raps about more than the average hip hop artist (getting bitches, money or drugs).

That is why I am so disappointed in him. After listening to the single a few more times, I found that the Twitter threads attacking him were right. He has let out his inner misogynist, and I was beyond hurt. Honestly, I was a bit triggered. We’ve all had that one guy that we thought was it. The guy who's woke, uplifts Black women. All for him to not be there when you need backup.

Black women are in the street dying on brotha’s behalves. For the cause! And this was the song he felt he needed to make?

Don’t get me wrong, J. Cole had some valid points in the song. Don’t idolize celebrities. He’s not as smart as we make him out to be, he doesn’t have all the answers, lalala. Be kind to one another. Don’t preach to the choir. The way you say something does indeed determine how well it will be received. I understand all of this.

But we cannot ignore the context in which he chose to communicate this message. He didn’t have to use specifics. This is about Noname. He felt hurt. He felt called out by her tweet (though I would argue she wasn’t directing this at him. It was still accurate for most rappers). We cannot ignore the fact that Black women have been mistreated by all of society, including and at times especially our own men, for CENTURIES.

The Problem With Queen’s Tone

Where I find the problem in his message: He fixed his lips to critique a Black woman on her tone and proceeded to give her advice when he is admittedly ignorant. He didn't say "Educated Black people". He didn't say, "Kings AND Queens" or call out woke Twitter. He spoke specifically about a Black woman and her tone.

And while he wasn’t talking about me, yes, I took that shit personally. Why? Because as a Black woman who has spent a lot of my time educating, while watching the majority of other Black women in my life do the same, I felt attacked. I felt overlooked, unseen, and unappreciated. Cole coming for “her tone” undermines the work that Noname and countless other Black queens do for the cause.

I am not saying that the kind of Black woman he was referring to does not exist. I’m not saying there aren’t times we can humble ourselves. I am saying that this was not the time nor the place to point that out. And Cole can watch his tone, too.

He thought, a day after Toyin’s body was found in the streets that it was a good time to tell us, “You know what sis, you are preaching but can you watch how you talk to me? Can you treat me like a child?” Nigga, we don’t have time for this! We are in these streets! Come help me or get left!

He framed it as though, if Black women don’t teach him, it’s not his responsibility to learn. That’s not a Black woman’s responsibility, it’s his. It is not a Black woman’s job to educate a Black man on his inner misogyny (and yes, J. Cole has some misogynistic demons in his closet. Making "Crooked Smile" doesn't make him exempt). Just like it’s not a Black person’s job to educate White people on all the ways they oppress us. There's books, there's Google, movies, etc. But still, we’ve been trying to point out that his use of “queen” and calling her smarter than him was a backhanded compliment.

Noname didn't grow up learning this shit. She taught herself. Then she started a book club. If that’s not trying to teach, what is? For once, instead of being defensive, can we actually listen to Black women? Even if you feel we are misinterpreting his message, can you validate our pain for a moment?

Can you hear us when we tell you that you need to do better, with no buts? Can you hold yourselves (and your rappers) accountable for the ways in which they make us feel less than and under appreciated? For the ways they cause us harm?

Can we, instead of calling Black women out for their tone, acknowledge that Black women are literally dying on the streets on y’all’s behalf? And that Black women have been educating populations for centuries?

Black women have to write the book, read the book, decode the book. All for it to fall upon deaf ears. Y’all say that you are for us but fail us when we really need you to step up and I’m beyond tired.

I promise I don’t want a war with Black men. I just want some reciprocity.

Idolizing Celebrities

Lastly, to his point about idolizing celebrities, I agree. We should not idolize them. We hold them to too high of a standard. However, I feel that won’t change, at least not in our current society. Whether J. Cole likes it or not, he stands out from the rest, and people do look up to him, Black men especially. He is somewhat responsible for the influence he has, and therefore, he should at least try to be the leader or conscious rapper we all believed he was. His reaction to being called out felt like a cop out. 'Aye yo, I’m not the one, but go check out Noname.' While I'm glad he had sense enough to point his followers to another direction, it was also a shift of responsibility. That alone is not enough, nor is it fair. Black men need to step up. We're tired of doing all this shit by ourselves.