J.Cole vs. Noname: The Conversation That Needed to be Heard
J Cole recently dropped a surprise song called the Snow on tha Bluff on June 16th, addressing the female activist, Noname and her recent tweet (that has since been deleted) calling out conscious rappers. My first natural reaction was to be angry because the understanding of the message for me came off as an attack on black women. The original message on how I understood it was, I am a black man and as a black woman you need to educate me on things going on because you didn’t struggle like us black men have, so stop nagging.
I took to twitter as well as I asked my black male friend to get a different perspective on what was going on. Now I don’t believe this is a time for this divide to happen between us in the black community because divide and conquer is the mentality that has been instilled for years within our community. Yet, the conversation is needed. Many state that J Cole’s message is being taken out of context.
My friend Larrion broke down Snow on tha Bluff and how the original was a movie from the perspective from a camcorder that was passed around. He states “ It looks authentic but it makes you question if it is real or not.” With social media, we are given a glance at what high profiled people do and create our own reality of what they do and this is J Cole’s perspective. Which is why he feels fake because the perspective in which we see on social media is just a glimpse. This conversation started with Noname addressing rappers who make music on social injustice but are silent outside of the music. But this started a bigger conversation.
Many women took the J Cole song as an attack of telling women specifically black women that we should watch our tones and attitudes and educate men correctly. Black women were asking black men to hold their friends and themselves accountable. Some black men understood and pledged to make a change. Others completely ignored what black women were saying. Women are sexually assaulted, assaulted, put into uncomfortable situations and more. Black women will stand in front of a black man and put her life at risk so that she can save him.
Black men need to see that all we are asking is that instead of telling us to be quiet and not nag but to actually listen. We need black men as much as they need us. We don’t mean just your friends, family or women that you are attracted to but all black women because we would protect you. In this time black men and women should not be divided but united together. Just take the time out to listen to each other and understand each other's point of view. You don’t have to agree but at least understand.
Photo Credit:
J Cole and Noname - insider.com
Noname's tweet - USA New Hub
J Cole's lyrics: Youtube
Tweet: Tumblr
Report: Maya Howard
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