J. Cole is my favorite artist.
Jay-Z released The Blueprint 3 when I was in 10th grade. Song #9, A Star Is Born, features J. Cole. Chamberlainn told me J. Cole was a rapper from Fayetteville and said to check out his songs, which I did. I loved J. Cole’s mixtapes, The Warm Up and The Come Up, and looked forward to hearing more music from him. J. Cole released Friday Night Lights the next year; my junior year of high school. To this day, it’s my favorite mixtape ever.
My classmates and I were enrolled at Beaufort County Community College. Twice a week, we would take a 90-minute bus ride from high school to the college for our classes. When I wasn’t annoying my classmates with my singing, I was daydreaming, looking out of the window, and listening to Friday Night Lights. I played Friday Night Lights so much, you would think it was the only mixtape on my iPod touch.
Two years later, during my freshmen year of college, I was in study hall with terrible writer’s block. I played Friday Night Lights on repeat until I finished my paper. I made an A+ on that paper. Playing this mixtape from start to finish became the norm whenever I needed to write a paper. Literally, from 2012 to 2017, if I had a paper to write, Friday Night Lights was played from beginning to end.
I’m the biggest J. Cole fan ever.
I was certain I would meet him in Fayetteville one day while out casually shopping with mom or something. Never happened. J. Cole released 2014 Forest Hills Drive the day before my 21st birthday. My friends and I went out to eat in downtown Raleigh that weekend to celebrate. This was around the time J. Cole was doing random pop ups on fans. I came home after a great night with my friends and jumped on twitter. I was instantly devastated because I saw a tweet that J. Cole was in downtown Raleigh taking pictures with fans! I was furious I missed my chance to meet my favorite rapper! The next year, I told myself I was gonna go to J. Cole’s last show in Fayetteville for his Forest Hills Drive tour, but only if I could meet him. When the time came to purchase those tickets, I let my anxiety get the best of me and decided to just watch the live streaming of the concert. Fast forward to 2019. I finally, FINALLY saw J. Cole at the Dreamville Festival! I didn’t get to meet nor see him up close, but I was finally able to see him perform in person!
So, I summarized my 10-year fanship (is that a word?!) to say …… when I was searching for a muse and stumbled across this beautiful flower and heard the song lyric “but just in case it’s perfect, let me introduce”, I knew it was time to share my pictures with the world. It’s the little signs that confirms my spirituality. Yah connected with me through nature and my favorite mixtape. I be chilling, just minding my business, being mindful in nature, and Yah speaks to me; I love it.
Life Lesson:
· Share your passion with the world.
How I Apply it to My Life:
· I released a book and I’m writing a blog. I need to share my ideas, just in case it’s perfect to someone other than myself.
Song:
· J. Cole – Too Deep For The Intro
SLIDESHOW: A picture from my 21st birthday dinner & pictures from the Dreamville festival.