Listening to music allows my mind to find concrete solace during the chaos that I may be currently experiencing. Music is a crucial element in my everyday life. Listening to the soothing tranquil sounds of the ocean, slowly escape my headphones first thing in the morning, calms my anxiety and helps me set great intentions for the day ahead.

While waiting for the bus (which seems to always too late), I can allow my mind to transfer into another universe and confidence wash over me, while I listen to Drake’s song, "Nice for What." Bouncing my head up and down enjoying his lyrical wordplay and the mellow beat dance across my eardrums. Another, aspect of music that I also enjoy is the heated debates that take place between two passionate individuals, as they raise voice and gesture their hands to showcase which artist they think is more talented. The more common debate among hip hop/rap fans is: Between Drake, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar, who is the better rapper?

At home, on social media, and even on campus, I hear people passionately disputing and defending their favorite artist. I’ll hear things such as:

“Drake is too mainstream and pop.”

“Kendrick’s wordplay is amazing!”

“J. Cole is too real and is spittin’ straight facts.”

“Drake is the most influential! He just gave away 1 million dollars in God’s Plan!”

“Kendrick is the most woke!”

“J. Cole is what the culture needs right now."

Although, I may agree with some of these comments. I personally believe that all three of these artists are extremely talented and they all offer something new to the culture. Instead of placing them against one another, I intensively listen to all their work and base my judgment on that. I don’t hold any artist to a standard, but rather pay attention to how they use their enormous platform to speak on issues that are drowning our society. Issues such as racism, ridiculous standards of beauty, perception of people of color in the U.S, police brutality, equality, etc. J.Cole just dropped one of the most debated and controversial albums to date with his release of K.O.D.

Throughout the album, J.Cole reminds us that materialism will lead us nowhere and to focus on things and matters that are truly important. Music is a powerful tool that can be used to ignite change or change someone’s life. Instead of placing such talented artists against one another, celebrate what they have to offer to their communities and their listener.