J Cole’s Snow on tha Bluff just came out. I don’t usually do this, though I must admit I’ve done something like this once before. But I’ve had too many thoughts on J. Cole’s recently released song, Snow on tha Bluff, so much so that it makes sense for me to share. I’m sharing this most especially for the Black men who look up to J. Cole, love his music, and saw no problem with what he said and maybe even related to his feelings a little. Though the message of the entire song is problematic, I’m breaking it down by the most problematic lyrics. Here’s why “Snow on tha Bluff” is so problematic.
“It’s something about the queen tone that’s botherin’ me”
Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Let me start off by mentioning that J. Cole opens the song off by praising the intelligence of this “young lady.” (There’s talk about who this young lady might be but I’m just going to say she represents many Black women.) He notes how intelligent she is, even conceding that she is “way smarter” than him. Of course, as life has taught us, we know there is also a “but” coming. So, what is it for J. Cole? Her tone. Imagine that. With one line, J.Cole discredits the intelligence and qualifications of Black women to her tone. In effect, what he’s actually saying is, “It doesn’t matter how smart you are, if you don’t say it to me the “right” way, that way I want to hear it, I’m not listening.”
Men with the same “tone” would likely be praised for being outspoken, or, at the very least, they would be heard.
As a teacher, I’ve seen first hand how “tone” can land a Black girl immediately in detention and suspension. “Tone” is often the reason Black women lose out on promotions or outright get demoted. Yet men with the same “tone” would likely be praised for being outspoken, or, at the very least, they would be heard. But J. Cole reminds us that Black women aren’t afforded that luxury.
To me, J. Cole’s and many other men’s problem with a Black woman’s tone isn’t that their feelings are hurt, it’s that a woman dared to be anything other than the “nice”, demure, docile woman that society continuously tells her she should be.
Indeed, tone is meant to communicate feelings. For example, I’m sure you are understanding a lot about how I feel through the tone of this post, right? So chances are, if there’s something about a Black woman’s tone that’s “bothering” you, there is MUCH more bothering her worth taking some time to understand, regardless of how she expresses the feelings that she would be well within her right to have. But reducing a Black woman’s intelligent thoughts and articulate expression to her tone is dismissive and disrespectful. I’m tired of it.
“She strike me as somebody blessed enough to grow up in conscious environment with parents that know ’bout the struggle for liberation and in turn they provide her with a perspective and awareness of the system and unfairness that afflicts ’em”
Ah yes, the reason this woman knows so much about oppression is because she was “blessed” to grow up in a conscious environment, and not because she’s lived life as a Black woman who has her own lived experiences of oppression in the form of sexism and racism (at the very least). Oh and by the way, if you’re as good at policing people’s tones as J. Cole is, you might have been able to tell that my last sentence was sarcasm.
My “awareness” about issues of race, gender, and class certainly did not come by inheritance.
The problem here is J. Cole tries to state that this woman has so much knowledge simply because she just so happened to grow up in a conscious environment with parents who knew the struggle and gave her an awareness. How about she knows a struggle because she lives it and couldn’t ignore it? Maybe she took some time to educate herself, or listen to someone else? I can’t speak for every Black person, but my “awareness” about issues of race, gender, and class certainly did not come by inheritance. All I had to do was step outside of my apartment each day and the world showed me one way or another. J. Cole uses this as a scapegoat and nothing more to justify his lack of awareness and reduce it to mere chance that he wasn’t in an environment that allowed him to learn about these things. So no, I’m not buying the idea that J. Cole missed out how his chance to learn about these things because of the environment he was raised in.
Instead of conveying you holier, come help get us up to speed S***, it’s a reason it took like two hundred years for our ancestors just to get freed.These shackles be lockin’ the mental way more than the physical”
Something about this doesn’t sit right with me. I think it’s because this line is directly or indirectly suggesting that “our ancestors” remained enslaved because they didn’t have knowledge or didn’t realize the bondage they were in? This sounds VERY similar to the argument Kanye West made when he said “slavery was a choice.” to some effect because of some form of mental imprisonment. To be clear, the ONLY reason why enslaved people remained enslaved is because white slave owners made sure of it. That’s it. I refuse to accept any implication that some form of mental slavery or ignorance kept Black people from their freedom. Black people in America were enslaved for over two hundred years because white people enslaved them for over two hundred years. The end. J Cole’s Snow on tha Bluff
“And the frustration that fills her words seems to come from the fact that most people don’t see“
There are multiple points in the song where J. Cole insinuates that this woman is upset because of his ignorance or lack of awareness. This is evidenced in the phrases like the lyric above as well as where he says “she mad at our ignorance.” I can’t speak for every Black woman but at least for me, it’s not frustration at ignorance, it is frustration at apathy. Lack of care. Indifference.
It’s not because this is the first time someone is telling them, it’s because this is the first time they are listening.
Black women having been educating in some way, shape, or form, simply by virtue of being Black women. The issues brought up are not new, and they’ve been spoken about time and time again in the past. So if people like J. Cole are truly learning about issues that affect Black people, especially this Black woman, for the first time, it’s not because this is the first time someone is telling them, it’s because this is the first time they are listening.
There is certainly more I could say about what’s wrong about the song, but for now that is all I will articulate. Thanks for reading and indulging in my thoughts for a few minutes. If you have reactions feel free to leave some in the comments of this post or on my Instagram!
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11
