Soon after, however, Curtis meets a friend to discuss up-to-date information on a mark.
In one scene, as he cuts and bags up crack to sell, he explains how he watched his uncle do exactly the same thing when he was a kid, and comments that his son is the same age he was and watching him engage in the same behavior. Her death causes Curtis to sink into depression, as he now has to take care of his young son while continuing to deal drugs. He attempts to get revenge by ambushing "white hat's" girlfriend, but in retaliation, they kill his girlfriend and mother of his child. He collapses in the street nearby, where he is found by a police patrol and subsequently arrested in connection with a prior robbery, and spends four months in jail.Īfter his release from jail, Curtis is enthusiastically welcomed back by his neighborhood, and is clearly anxious to get right back into the drug dealing game.
Luckily the bullet wounds are not fatal and the ambusher's gun jams right as he comes close to Curtis, allowing him to flee. On his way back home after cutting the latest stolen product with his crew, Curtis is ambushed in a backyard alleyway by a gunman seconds after looking "white hat" in the eye. The man in the white hat follows Curtis into his territory, asking the locals about him, but the surface threat doesn't faze Curtis and he continues to hustle. While playing at a pool hall, Curtis recognizes a rival drug dealer with his familiar white hat, who likewise takes note of Curtis. When a friend tips him off to another gang selling drugs nearby, he invades their house with the help of his friend and robs them of their supply as well. He recruits his friends and robs the rivals of their drug supply. Recognizing the quality of the camera, he hands it to one of his friends, telling him to continue filming no matter what in order to capture their day-to-day life as it occurs.Ĭurtis soon learns that another group of drug dealers have encroached on his territory, selling drugs not far from his street. Once they arrive, Curtis pulls out a gun, robs them of their purses and camera, and makes a hasty escape. They find a dealer named Curtis Snow, who asks them to drive him to his house in order to fulfill their order. One of the students holds a camera with the hope of filming the encounter.
Clearly naive, they joke about flirting in hopes of getting free drugs, and reassure one another that they have nothing to fear. Right or wrong I can’t say, but I can say it was honest.Three college students drive to the Bluff, a westside Atlanta neighborhood, intending to buy some drugs from a dealer. We are only allowed to be vulnerable and honest up until the point of offenseĪs soon as we offend someone we get killed figuratively and literallyĬole responded to the backlash by saying that he stands by every word in the song. This J Cole backlash is the reason why a lot of black men don’t say what they think for real or be vulnerable…
However, others viewed the backlash as a case study of why some Black men tend to hide vulnerability.
but complaining they wasnt coddled enough for free by black ppl (jbalvin) or black women (jcole). These men have enough money to literally assemble a team of radical knowledgable black ppl solely to educate them. Some on social media took issue with Cole because they viewed the song as a “mansplaining” moment where the rapper displayed a sense of neediness. “She mad at the celebrities/low key I be thinking she talking bout me/Now I ain’t no dummy to think I’m above criticism so when I see something that’s valid I listen/But s-, its something about the queen tone that’s bothering me/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 provided with/A perspective and awareness of the system and unfairness that afflicts em/And the clearest understanding of what we gotta do to get free/And the frustration that fills her words seems to come from the fact that most people don’t see/Just cuz you woke and I’m not, that shit ain’t no reason to talk like you better than me,” Cole raps.
In “Snow on Tha Bluff,” which lifts its title from the Atlanta-based independent movie Snow on Tha Bluff, Cole seeks to find understanding from an unidentified woman who fights for equal rights.