J.Cole’s Journey is Applying Pressure During The Off-Season
The bright lights of fame beaming down on Jermaine Cole’s career from his fanbase’s watchtower left many wondering: how many waves does Hip-Hop’s “Middle Child” have left? Then 2020 happened and COVID-19 sent the world flying from the seat of its pants quicker than Uncle Phil chucking Jazzy Jeff’s body into the Bel-Air streets.
The residual effect was many creatives re-opening their respective labs, including the 36-year-old hip-hop artist out of Fayetteville, North Carolina whose recent freestyle is substantive evidence that he’s back to RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ (NSFW).
Prior to Quarantine, Cole’s excursion up & down 95-South was a dream between UNC & NYC. Rap was carefully groomed in Gotham City with the inception of street mixtapes. By altering the trajectory of music forever, rap’s fertilization was unfolding live time with future legends in the league putting in more work on wax than Mr. Miyagi. In 2009, the inaugural seeds of hip-hop came full circle by cultivating into the greatest mixtape year of all-time. Don’t believe me? This cap-free hot take comes with receipts:
Drake: So Far Gone
Nicki Minaj: Beam Me Up Scotty
Gucci Mane: Writing On The Wall, The Movie Part 2, Burrrprin t
Wiz Khalifa/Curren$y: How Fly
Lil Wayne: No Ceilings
Another arson-caliber, ’09 DatPiff-downloadable was J.Cole’s The Warm Up. Once Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, listened to the mixtape’s headlined track, “Lights Please”, Cole moved into the culture’s lyrical consciousness. 10 years of multi-platinum albums, minimal features and sold out concerts later, Cole resurrected with new music. The Real is Back’s latest documentary, “Applying Pressure”, illuminates his latest lyrical process and three life lessons curated up for the culture:
1. Appreciate Your Position While Plotting Your Promotion
Widely regarded as one of the generation’s greatest MC’s, rumor had it that Jermaine’s dreams to pursue a basketball career was reignited and recorded in the Puma commercial. Following in Master P’s footsteps, Cole is attempting the artist to athlete leap by building his foundational bones thru the NBA’s Basketball African League. The newly formed league is a great move for Cole, the continent of Africa and The Association. Bringing attention to the Motherland’s disentombed talent will change the game forever. The BAL will supply local representation and community resources for young African athletes aspiring for more.
However, in Cole’s case, some would say his financial flexibility should leave him feeling like he had nothing else to prove. In his latest project, “The Off-Season”, Jermaine alludes to raking in 7 figures a show overseas and currently having 100 Million Dollars in the bank. The latter is aligned with Jay-Z’s monetary mandate during his famous Nipsey Hussle freestyle — Rap artists should lay low until your surpass the 100 Mil threshold.
I know y’all probably thinking, “100 M’s and you hooping in Rwanda??” Especially into the COVID unemployment era where lower/middle class citizens have furloughed into full-on couch potato mode. Yet, a man who has enough cake to employ Betty Crocker full-time is still…growing? In his documentary, Cole sounds like a man who still wants more despite his net worth. He’s a man who appreciates where music got him while still pursuing an athletic dream. He reflects on how he didn’t work on his basketball craft in his 20’s but had the audacity to complain about his lack of opportunity. We all know people who’ve read from this script — wanting something for nothing. We may have even seen that person in the mirror today. Reason more why we should all strive for greatness by continuing to put in the work despite past achievements.
2. Unlock Your Full Potential
Achieving your full potential first starts by taking a healthy inventory of your current situation. Living below your means early allows for long-term equity later. The Culture struggles to acquiesce to this patient approach — staying down till you get up just became trendy. Meanwhile, America’s non-black contemporaries are reading, learning, saving and investing many pennies early into vehicles that will yield incremental ROI over time like real estate and art. It’s time for the culture to make carbon copies of this study guide for mass distribution. Cole addresses Rap’s adjunct professors in the song, Applying Pressure, who are guilty for teaching the cheat codes to the wrong test.
“These niggas whips hard, behind closed doors, can’t pay the lease (Uh)/Ain’t nothin’ wrong with livin’ check to check ’cause most have to (I understand that)/Instead of cappin’, why don’t you talk about being a broke rapper? (I don’t understand that)/That’s a perspective I respect because it’s real.”
Starting from the bottom is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s the by-product of black rappers going broke trying to impress people that don’t even like them is real that’s embarrassing. Cole enlightening the youth to this cautionary tale of public figures flexing with a flaccid figure on “The Off-Season” was extremely necessary. A failure to humble yourself while you’re still in the trenches impedes upon progress to achieve your personal apex.
3. Organization Breeds Opportunity
“Don’t be busy, be productive” is a quote that should be etched in every daily itinerary towards your destiny. Jermaine discusses how legendary producer Pharrell Williams operates on a tight schedule (ain’t got a choice with 4 kids I’d reckon). Cole found the “schedule” concept foreign until he had kids himself, leading to firsthand understanding of Skateboard P’s perspective. Family became priority. Music was secondary. That clear organization up top gave him the opportunity to impact the next generation within a tertiary role down the line.
His work on the new album with Rap’s yung gunnas like 21 Savage on “My Life” and “Pride is The Devil” with Lil Baby lend themselves as unforeseen opportunities for an artist who’s shied away from features. A small piece to the puzzle that many will overlook is how Cole introduced his guests artist as “with” vs. “feat” on the album names. This may appear as a minuscule nuance but Cole’s wording relays a layered message to all of us:
Let’s not just break bread together. Instead, let’s build bakeries.
Beyond the bars, the mentoring opportunity J.Cole has with younger artists could change their lives in a positive way. I imagine its partly why he made a vow that collaborating would be something he’d start doing more of. In your 30’s, you recognize the power of relationships and hidden gems that can be mined out of the next generation. With his record company named Dreamville, it’s only right J. Cole jettisons his shovel straight out the mud as he continues to cement the foundation for others to build on. Given the next season of Jermaine’s life being “The Fall Off”, it’s only right. All the more reason why NOW IS THE SEASON for black men in music, sports, medicine, business, and philanthropy talking more to each other about tapping into your potential, prioritizing productivity and capitalizing on every opportunity in the long game of life.
Originally published at https://www.writingontheball.com on May 17, 2021.
