" Tears for ODB, drug-induced poetry

What’s the use? Strung-out from that drug abuse, woe is me

80's baby, so I know my pops was gettin’ high

In the 90's, me and mama barely gettin’ by

2000's I was concentratin’ more on gettin’ fly

Gettin’ bitches, gettin’ rich to get the shit I couldn’t buy

You know the story, you know my allegory

I was sent from Heaven with a set of horns, they’d better warn y’all

I’m here for more than just to kick some witty metaphors, dawg

This more of the type of shit you spit to set a war off

‘Cause niggas be poor, get money and still don’t know

Why the fuck they can’t cop a house, the system meant to lock us out

But I’m knockin’ down the door, strapped up with a four-four

Robin Hood, shit and yeah, I’m ‘hood rich. "

Lyrics from J.Cole's "Tears for ODB"

With the spontaneous and exciting news that J. Cole has his fourth studio album coming out on December 9th, I can’t help but walk around with a smile. There are many reasons why I love Jermaine Lamarr Cole, but it’s hard for me to simply sum it up and explain it. Many times, I feel like I have a connection with someone that I’ve barely met but have had countless encounters with through music. The first time I saw J. Cole was in June 2010 when he was on 106 & Park to release the video for first single, "Who Dat," and I like the true Virgo I am, I began researching. Through my search engine, I discovered, personally, some of the greatest music I had ever heard.

J. Cole gets it, and that’s why I love him so much. When I say “it”, I’m referring to what it means to be a person. He’s not perfect, and he makes that very clear. In return, it makes him appeal to not just me but all of the other people who know that we are not perfect. When I found J. Cole, I was starting middle school, and I needed someone outside of my loving family, who got “it” and J. Cole was that person for me. His lyrics were saturated with authenticity and humaneness, and I required that as a 12-year-old transitioning into a new world.

In rap music, everything has its place, from trap music to socially conscious lyricism. Too much of one thing, or too much of the other is unhealthy, but Cole represents balance. I appreciate and thank him for being himself and telling his story through his music because I can say I don’t know who I would be without it.

("4 Your Eyez Only," Cole's fourth studio album being released on Dec. 9th, 2016)