after hearing the new single by J. Cole that’s sure to blow up with the recent release of his first album, i really felt like i had something to say. i’ve been moving in this direction mentally for a while and more and more i’ve come to a place where it’s just hard for me to stomach some of the things that have become the norm of our culture as young-ish folk. i am very careful of what i let my eyes see and what i let my ears hear. after all, the things you ingest slowly and surely become part of your mental landscape. your psyche is shaped and altered by these things. the reason why this is so tricky is because it sneaks in the back door while youre looking out the front window. you think youre just singing along, but every time you repeat those words, it’s a mantra. every time you watch that chick on the reality show sleep with a new dude after the club, it becomes more normal to you.
i could go on about multiple sources, but for the purpose of this post, i’m going to focus on this particular song. it is called “can’t get enough,” and truth be told, the first time i heard it i thought it was bangin. it was heavily edited and i wasn’t listening to the lyrics, i was hooked by the jamaican, islandy sound of the beat. it was unique.
then i got ahold of the unedited version, listened to what he was saying and got pretty salty. another song i’m gonna throw in the burn pile.
so here i go.
dear j. cole and to whomever else it may apply-
it’s not cool to write songs about having mistresses, hoes, and side-chicks begging you for sex. it’s not cool to say “give me head dont give me headaches,” as if a woman is here solely for sexual pleasure and should be dismissed at the first point of upsetting you. because youre really that important.
it’s pretty gross to me that you’d say “i aint comin up off my last name ’cause i cant take no stressing,” because according to you, that is what one of the most beautiful and fulfilling agreements in life is? marriage is only stress? way to perpetuate an ugly destructive stereotype instead of using your voice for good… for fostering responsible love and teaching a generation of impressionable young men, who already have so few good models of love, that you can find a good woman if you act like a good man. way to continue with the societal programming of impressionable young women by reminding us the way we get attention is through being good in the bedroom and shutting our mouth about anything important.
i understand. you’ve been fed the poison and you dont even realize youre passing it on like a disease. youre not confident as a man so you perform a song about women not being able to “get enough” of you… because youre some sort of sexual king and you assert your manhood by collecting women. you’ve got a lot of people fooled. thank God I am no longer one of them.
you see, i used to think i had to be a lay down, shut up “yes woman” in order to be accepted and loved. the kind of girl youre trying to train in your songs. she gets to ride in the benz and party on the yacht. she thinks she’s having fun, but she’s selling her soul because secretly what she wants is love. it’s in her DNA, no matter who she is. she might even convince herself she doesnt and that it’s ok. but it’s not.
so while you continue to spread your virus through your music, i am one woman who will continue to block out the garbage and eat the fruit of the tree of REAL knowledge, not the spoiled leftovers you’re serving up with a bottle of Ace of Spades on a silver platter.
i could talk til i’m out of breath, but i know you and the artists like you wont change. youre making money this way. youre gaining fame. this is the way of the world. all i can hope is that one day someone out there shares the cure with you.
xoxo
~Ms. A.
Tags: cant get enough, j. cole