The rapper showed through his documentary the many hardships faced by African-Americans
J. Cole, the well-known rapper, during his interview with a podcast channel, admitted his dalliance with atheism[/tweetit] before he turned to the welcoming comforts of the church. The artist claimed that he began to read the Bible as he was afraid of many things in his life. The rapper caved into God at one point in his life and permitted the answer to arrive at its own pace.
What is J. Cole’s Religion?[/tweetthis]
Cole has recently released 4 Your Eyez Only. It is a documentary named after one of his albums which became a superhit. The album went platinum and clocked third ranking in weekly album sales since 2016. The documentary shows several cities like Ferguson in Missouri and Baton Rouge in Louisiana, and also the rapper's hometown of Fayetteville in North Carolina. It has the rapper questioning the residents of those cities and listening intently to those responses. In fact, Jermaine Cole, the real name of the rapper, only listens in the film.
Other than the social commentary, the rapper also ponders on matters of religion. This was highlighted at the beginning of the film. Cole is found to sit at the back of a church, observing as others engage in worship. It was clear that to the black community, Christianity is a vital component of their lives. This notion is made clear in the edited documentary where almost all the people with whom the rapper interacted with said phrases which instruct them to trust in the Almighty. The church shown in the documentary was clearly an African-American place of worship.
It is to be said that for Cole, mentioning religion during the course of his musical career is not new. He has rapped about Christian faith before, and he has exhibited both positive and negative views concerning Christianity. He has even rapped saying that religion means nothing, with ego getting in one's way.
The end part of the 40-minute long documentary film shows the theme going back to social justice ideas. The end part contains a few impactful scenes of this documentary. It also links together almost all African-Americans face in their lives.
??you can't be a Christian and not do the Lord's prayer.. you can't be a fan of hip hop and not listen to j cole
— CurateZIM || Godfrey (@CurateZim) December 29, 2017
The documentary shows in detail not only the intense hardships faced by the African-American community, but also shows how they are compelled to work for success by themselves with minimal help from any other pople. The rapper wanted to show viewers the perspective of the world viewed through the community lens. This was done by the interviews conducted with African-American residents that are the main characteristics of this film.