♪ (tranquil ragtime music) ♪ ♪ (ragtime intro) ♪ - ♪ Straight up, now tell me
do you really wanna love me... ♪ - This sounds like an old song. - (sings along) ♪ Love me forever ♪ - (sings along) ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ - Paula Abdul, "Straight Up,"
now tell me. - ♪ Hey, we got a good thing ♪
- It's good. I like it. - ♪ But is that a good thing? ♪
- It's not my kind of music, but he's all right.
He's good. - He looks like
a pretty clean-cut guy. - I love that he's
using appropriate language, and I hope I don't get disappointed. - I have to give it to the young man.
He's doing okay. - ♪ And I brag hardly,
but just to show up at this party ♪ ♪ I made what yo [bleep]... ♪
- I spoke too soon. - Life's unfair. Yeah.
You just figuring that out? - ♪ 'Cause it's overpriced ♪
- (chuckles) - ♪ Just hope it's right ♪
♪ I'm only here for the night ♪ - When are they gonna
come up with something original? - There's kind of a calmness,
and there's a rhythm, and there's a beat. - The guy's got some nice energy.
He's got some pretty catchy lyrics, this kind of sing-song rap. - ♪ I keep my head high ♪ ♪ I got my wings to carry me ♪ - I like the way it's shot. - ♪ I want my dreams to rescue me ♪
- Ooh, I like these lyrics. - ♪ This is my canvas ♪
- Be a painter. Visualize it.
Paint it how you want it. - ♪ Think back to Forest Hills ♪
♪ No perfect home ♪ ♪ But the only thing like home
I've ever known ♪ ♪ Until they snatched it
from my mama ♪ - Oh, god. That's depressing. - ♪ ...so sorry that I left you there to deal with that alone ♪
- Aw, that's so sad. - (scoffs) "Chasing panties,
getting dome." Oh, okay. I think I get that. (chuckles) - ♪ I need to treat you better ♪ ♪ Wish you could live forever ♪ ♪ So we could spend
more time together ♪ - (J. Cole) I love you, Mama.
- Oh, I like this one a lot. A son appreciating his mother.
That's a very wonderful sentiment. - He's better than a lot of--
you know, a lot of the groups you've shown me
have been really offensive. (chuckles) - He's just trying to live
and live large and have a great time and be youthful,
and that's great. But there's a heart in him,
and that's really touching. - ♪ It wasn't nothing
like that first time ♪ - (chuckles)
- ♪ She was in my math class ♪ - Look at these puppy dogs, everybody. - ♪ It started off so innocent ♪ ♪ She had a vibe,
and a [bleep] started diggin' it ♪ - I thought the N-word was out. - I like that it's a dog
instead of a human. - ♪ Got me daydreaming, man, what? ♪ ♪ I'm thinking how she rides on it,
if she sits on it ♪ - Okay, well, he's singing about sex. - Oh my god. (laughs) Ew! - ♪ ...wrote a note that said,
"You ever had sex before?" ♪ ♪ Damn, and I ain't
never did this before, no ♪ ♪ And I ain't never... ♪
- How do you get the dogs to do this? - ♪ "Oh, you a pro, homie?" ♪
♪ Well, I want you to show me ♪ ♪ My mama gone for the weekend ♪
- I'll really be glad when this music plays out. - ♪ Pull out the condoms real smooth ♪
- Oh my god. (laughs) Well, it's very descriptive. - ♪ "I wanna get something
off my mental" ♪ ♪ "I can tell you a pro,
but, baby, be gentle" ♪ - That's almost pornographic to me. The dogs were
the best part of the picture. - It's really TMI, too much.
It's over-sharing. (chuckles) - A lot of times,
with rappers, you just feel that it's so
(soft, aggravated exclamation) that it's just too much,
whereas this, I feel like it's easier to listen to. - ♪ Count it up, count it up,
count it up, count it ♪ - ♪ Count it up, count it up... ♪
- Money. - ♪ Without it, I'm miserable ♪
♪ Don't wanna fall off, so I'm all in my bag ♪ - Okay, I don't get this one. - ♪ It's only an organ ♪
♪ Thank God Mama couldn't afford the abortion ♪ - So, they're talking about money,
and they're talking about abortions. - ♪ She don't need her garments ♪ ♪ She horny from all
of the money we countin' ♪ ♪ Count it up, count it up ♪ - Costing him an arm
and maybe a leg. - Money, money's a big theme. - ♪ I'm only counting big bills...♪ - Count up the big money! - Trippy video. - ♪ Don't give a [bleep] if it kills ♪
- That's not so much my thing. - You gonna crash. - ♪ ...and hope to die ♪ - Cross his heart and hope to die. He will die if he crashes
that convertible. - That was a little bizarre
and a little different. Not my cup of tea. - I like this artist.
The beats are mellow, not too crash, you know,
and hard-hitting. - I felt that there
were some themes. You know, women as objects.
That seems to be pervasive. Money as being important.
That seems to be pervasive. I like that there was
some moments of awareness. - (FBE) So, those were all songs
by rapper J. Cole. - Never heard of him. - J. Cole. I remember
doing a lyric breakdown for J. Cole, and I remember liking his lyrics. - Oh, J. Cole.
Yes, I do remember from doing his lyrics,
but I'm not sure I ever saw him. - (FBE) So, he released
his fifth studio album, "KOD," in April of this year
and debuted atop the US Billboard 200 Charts, which means it's his
fifth consecutive time earning that number one spot.
- Okay, that's great. - (FBE) We've talked about
a lot of rappers here on the show before,
what do you think it is that stands out about him
that has allowed him to maintain that number one spot? - I think he's got
an honesty about him. - I didn't see anything different
from the other ones. It's all noise. - He's so real.
He's too real. (chuckles) He's like...
enough already, yeah. I mean, he shares
every single thought he has. (laughs) - He's likable.
He's actually telling a story. He's got a really good voice. - He's trying to write
about something real and not just putting
a lot of disjointed sentences together full of slang and vulgarity. - (FBE) So, J. Cole fans
constantly push the phrase, "platinum with no features,"
because Cole's third and fourth studio albums
received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association
of America without any help
from featuring other artists. - Well, that must make him...
(whispers) special. - (FBE) In rap music,
having other notable musicians featured in songs
alongside the main star has become a staple in the genre. Growing up, is this something
that your peers would've praised an artist for? - I would've never thought of it. I mean, I kind of
looked forward to hearing, like, Willie Nelson
sing with Bob Dylan. - There was some
collaboration going on. It wasn't a thing, though.
It was more incidental. - Yeah, I think they would have,
because you're standing on your own. You're not on somebody's coattails. - Remember what Frank Sinatra said.
He said he did it his way. I think that takes guts.
I think that's brave. - What has happened?
Why artists need help from another artist?
Maybe something is missing there, and J. Cole, he has whatever
the ingredients are that can make his go platinum
without having any help. - (FBE) So, finally, J. Cole's fans
have praised his lyricism for being a little bit
more introspective. He often talks
about his personal life, insecurities,
reflections on growing up, usually a lot more
than other rappers do. - Yeah, he's raw.
That's for sure. - Yeah, he said something
about his mom. Lovely. All of the rest of it is [bleep]. (flames rage)
- (voice-over) Burn! - (FBE) Oftentimes, older people
have been known to complain that modern artists,
especially rappers, lack some of these qualities. Do you think if the genre
is more similar and introspective like J. Cole,
you and people in your generation would be listening
to more rap music? - Not necessarily so,
but we wouldn't have at least, I would say,
as negative thoughts on it. - Me not loving rap,
this guy's okay. This guy, I could listen to. - I don't think so.
I think what ends up happening is you get very locked
into what you like, and you get very locked
into listening to things from the past that bring up
really positive memories. - So many people my age
that I know will go, "Oh, I like all music
except rap," you know. And a part of me is like,
"Ah, I wish they knew what I know." Had I not listened to rap music here,
so much rap music, I wouldn't be listening to it,
because I didn't realize how much it had grown
and the depth of it, and actually,
the poetry of so much of it. - Thanks for watching Elders React
and a shoutout to Skylar White. - Make sure to subscribe,
so you never miss an episode. Shoutout to Nathan Strong.
- Thanks for watching. Bye. - Hey, guys. Vartuhi here,
producer at FBE. Thanks so much for watching
this episode of Elders React. Check us out on Instagram, @fbe,
to see fun behind-the-scenes on how these episodes
are put together. Bye, guys.
