Whether it is the clear use of narratives to help explain a certain feeling of a rapper or the simple premise of using one’s voice rather than singing to tell those stories — something about hip hop lends itself extremely well to the art of storytelling. One performer who is perhaps better than most at the art of spinning a yarn is J. Cole.
Often regarded as the finest lyricist of his generation, what Cole does with his songs is weave intricate tapestries for his audience to unpick. Usually, in his songs, Cole adopts the role of the serial weaver as he effortlessly guides threads up and over, down and under as well as straight through the story. One song sees Cole at his best, the heartbreaking ‘3 Wishes’.
The song is a tragic concept track from 2013 and catches the North Carolina rapper delivering not only powerful bars but a heart-wrenching story. The song sees Cole picking out three wishes he would grant some of the most important people in his life. Perhaps the most saddening moment of the song is realising how simple these wishes may be.
The first sees Cole lamenting the struggle of his friend’s mother to provide food for her children as he raps: “Your mama loved me to death, she reminded me of Afeni / Yeah, a real black queen, if I had a genie / I’d wish that she ain’t struggle no more / Y’all wouldn’t have to go to sleep with all the roaches if she wasn’t so poor.”
The following verse is equally as heartbreaking as Cole relives his traumatic past and wishes he could defeat his stepfather and stop him from beating his mother. “Could never get used to that sound, my mama saying ‘Get off me!’,” raps Cole. “My tears is tumbling now, I wish that you never saw me, ’cause I / Felt like a coward, so powerless I was only 12 / I wish I would’ve bust right through that door my fucking self / And grabbed the Glock right off the fucking shelf, if nothing else / Scared a nigga shitless, there goes two of my wishes.”
The third and final wish sees the North Carolina rapper try and free his friend from the penitentiary serving a ten year stretch for murder: “one day much to my surprise / My n***a called me, told me you just caught a body twice your size / I asked if it was self-defence, he said it was defence of pride.”
The song is a confirmation of two things. Firstly, there can be no doubt that hip hop provides the perfect canvas for an artist to tell their story. And, secondly, that J. Cole is one of the best to ever pick up a brush.
