J. Cole sends a message about the government's war on drugs, and specifically those innocent victims who are lost in its battle in the visuals for his TLC-featured single "Crooked Smile," the second official single from his sophomore studio album, "Born Sinner," which is split into two halves as the 28-year-old North Carolina rapper explained to Hartford, Connecticut radio station Hot 93.7: "The first half is depressed and like hell. The second half is like heaven. 'Crooked Smile' is the theme song for the second half of the album. It is like making it out of the depression and celebrating it."
Samples Jennifer Hudson's "No One Gonna Love You," this piano-driven banger "Crooked Smile" is an uplifting ode to all those who continue to self-love, hold their heads up, especially women, and the importance of inner beauty. Produced by Cole himself, the song finds him counseling women to embrace their inner beauty and what God has already created with his paint brush. "It's a very empowering song," Cole said of the track at a London playback of the record. "I don't have that Colgate smile and people keep reminding me about it. People are always looking to criticize you and I started to feel self-conscious about it - it takes you back to high school."
The song features Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas from iconic R&B girl group TLC singing on the track's hook. Originally a trio, along with the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, the R&B threesome recorded a string of hits in the 1990s. Though Cole really does have a crooked smile, he said that the tune's message is bigger than his own imperfections. "The song is bigger than just my thing, it's about everybody's thing," he said. "Society tries to tell you there's something about you that makes you inferior to the images they're trying to put out there. [The song] is really me embracing my [imperfections] and trying to get other people to embrace theirs."
In the video for "Crooked Smile," there's nothing to smile about when watching the heavy narrative unfold. The song is a pleasant bit of self-empowerment, but the video has an even bigger message, taking on racial profiling and the war on drugs. Dedicated to Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a 7-year-old girl who was shot and killed during a police raid on her house in Detroit back in 2010, the Sheldon Candis-directed clip features a plea from Cole at the end: "Please reconsider your war on drugs." Though the track, which depicts two family stories that converge during a raid. Midway through the song, as tragedy unfolds, the song drops out and echoing the sentiments of Cole's "Miss America."
Samples Jennifer Hudson's "No One Gonna Love You," this piano-driven banger "Crooked Smile" is an uplifting ode to all those who continue to self-love, hold their heads up, especially women, and the importance of inner beauty. Produced by Cole himself, the song finds him counseling women to embrace their inner beauty and what God has already created with his paint brush. "It's a very empowering song," Cole said of the track at a London playback of the record. "I don't have that Colgate smile and people keep reminding me about it. People are always looking to criticize you and I started to feel self-conscious about it - it takes you back to high school."
The song features Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas from iconic R&B girl group TLC singing on the track's hook. Originally a trio, along with the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, the R&B threesome recorded a string of hits in the 1990s. Though Cole really does have a crooked smile, he said that the tune's message is bigger than his own imperfections. "The song is bigger than just my thing, it's about everybody's thing," he said. "Society tries to tell you there's something about you that makes you inferior to the images they're trying to put out there. [The song] is really me embracing my [imperfections] and trying to get other people to embrace theirs."
In the video for "Crooked Smile," there's nothing to smile about when watching the heavy narrative unfold. The song is a pleasant bit of self-empowerment, but the video has an even bigger message, taking on racial profiling and the war on drugs. Dedicated to Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a 7-year-old girl who was shot and killed during a police raid on her house in Detroit back in 2010, the Sheldon Candis-directed clip features a plea from Cole at the end: "Please reconsider your war on drugs." Though the track, which depicts two family stories that converge during a raid. Midway through the song, as tragedy unfolds, the song drops out and echoing the sentiments of Cole's "Miss America."
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