whatupshera

[whatupshera]

black women own the power of cosplay

QUEENS

[whatupshera]

90s female R&B groups were just a genre of their own <3

[whatupshera]

“I just want you to know that you don’t have to be perfect. Perfection is often the enemy of greatness. You are enough no matter where you come from.” (x)

[whatupshera]

Yo! What’s up fam. So I will be posting weekly beats, instrumentals or whatever you want to call it. 1st one up is “Space & Rocket” from a project I did a while back.

Listen and Share your thoughts.

[whatupshera]

It’s a Cole World: Why I am a J. Cole Fan

To be honest, I did not become a fan of Jermaine Cole aka J. Cole until 2013 or a little afterwards; when my mentor in college played me a bootleg copy of Born Sinner. Prior to that, my only memory of this artist was on the “new artist alert” on BET’s 106 & Park for video “Who Dat”. I remember saying to myself that this guy is different, yet I was not sold. I knew he had skills, but at the time personally I did not like Hip Hop. The genre, at the time for me, lacked depth. The current acts lyrics were not reaching me.

It was until Born Sinner that I felt something. I felt an odd warmth when I listened to this album. I heard more than the lyrics. I heard beyond them. I heard a soul; a living being. Throughout the album, I listened to a man speak about a life that I could relate to. The juggling and struggling with the paradox of desiring fame and fortune, yet asking oneself at what cost is it worth. My eyes awakening to the world’s obsession with money, but knowing that the only way to survive was to obtain it. I was a broke ass college student who only had dreams to wake them up each day; while it seemed that the rest of the world around me was living the good life. While scrolling through the feed of my social media, songs like “Rich Niggaz” floated through my head as I saw those peers who became more successful and affluent than I. And I would sit in my dorm room thinking: “Why me? Why am I not fortunate like them?”. Then I was given some relief from my despair of comparison with 2014 Forest Hills Drive.

I was in a state of depression, not my worse but it was worsening. Deepening due to the lack of friends, love, hope, success, and even belief in myself. I began turning to meditation to resolve my problems, however I was still trapped in loneliness. I remember placing Forest Hills Drive in the CD player of my Dodge Neon and finally being able to breathe.

“Do you want to be happy? / Do you want to be free?” 

Those simple lyrics allowed me to let go and release the stressed that I had built up into tears. Finally, someone was asking me the questions I had been asking myself; and it felt like they genuinely cared. Throughout the album, not only did I hear a soul, but I saw myself. The simple notion that there was someone who was experiencing and perceiving life in a similar fashion was refreshing. The smoke and mirrors that had been between me and the world were dissipating.

There were so many parallels from the best of time and the worst of time that reminded me of my own hometown of Memphis, TN; where the hunger and need to become rich and leave can lead people into be on two sides of the same coin. J. Cole painted pictures of a young person trying to make their mark on the world while making decisions that lead to the sacrifice of relationships with loved ones, hurting them unknowingly through narrow view that had become dream chasing. Yet, they still managed to come to terms that their ways and strives to do better not only for himself, but those around him as well.  I was living shit too. This world he had created through sound was a vivid as when I opened my eyes.

And lastly, he said to “Love Yours” which even now I play through the tough, dark, and lonely times. Those times when it feels as if the world is constantly comparing you to others in every way possible. I was wishing for an easier way to live my “best life”, but in fact I have been living it. 

J. Cole has taught me that music has truly can transform one’s mental state. It can bring an element of humanity to an individual. It also can be pure love. So, thank you Mr. Cole for humility and honesty. Thank you for sharing your stories and be simply you. Thank you.