Crooked Smile: Two Perspectives
With the many different characteristics that make up a body of people, music has always been a great unifying force. Artists are able to use their gifts and talents to communicate through songs better than language can on its own. In the same manner, artists tend to utilize music videos as a means to illustrate lyrics and convey their message to their audience more precisely. The videos can be simple, or more on the complex side, but it is always interesting to understand the overall meaning behind them. Jermaine Cole, or better known as his stage name, J. Cole, released a music video for his famous song entitled “Crooked Smile” just a couple months after the song’s initial debut on the album Born Sinner. Serving a greater purpose than a simple visual to lyrics, the video came at a time when media lacked coverage on the government’s war on drugs. It undoubtedly sparked a conversation on the continued war on drugs and gun violence in America, especially as it pertains to the justice system. The “Crooked Smile” visual showcases the extreme extent to which law enforcement goes as soldiers in the war on drugs. Their efforts, all a product of a system put in place for years, play an adverse effect on both sides shown in the video, reflecting just how crooked the justice system can be today.
The war on drugs was an initiative started under the Nixon administration in June of 1971, and it is still evolving today. Its initial task was to combat illegal drug abuse and stop the distribution and trade of illicit drugs by increasing and enforcing penalties placed on offenders.
This policy had proven to be geared towards minorities because President Nixon “knew [he] couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black. [Instead], by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, [he] could disrupt those communities [by] arresting their leaders, raiding their homes, breaking up their meetings, and vilifying them night after night on the evening news” (“A Brief History Of”).
Using this notion as the foundation for the video’s theme, director Sheldon Candis portrayed J. Cole’s character as a small-scale drug dealer. Just as seen in many impoverished, minority communities, Candis wanted his audience to understand the background from which the overall storyline gained its inspiration. At the same time of the program’s implementation, Nixon “dramatically increased the size and presence of federal drug control agencies, and pushed through measures such as mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants” as a means to amend the negative effects drugs had had on society (“A Brief History Of”). Subsequently, law enforcement gained its practices from this policy, and it continues to prove to be detrimental to anyone involved.
At the start of the video, there is a small frame that focuses on a man, J. Cole, in the back of what can be interpreted as a police car because of the rapid, red and blue sirens flashing in the background. Soft tears fall down his cheeks as he looks out of the car window in pain and angst. For the brief moment that the camera focuses on him, one can feel a sense of regret from whatever events took place before the current scene. Moving past this scene, Candis takes his viewers through the simultaneous morning routines practiced by the two main characters that the video follows. The two perspectives utilized in the video aim to reflect two sides in the justice system today. The first is of Cole’s character, a young, black man who is a small-scale drug dealer, while the second is of a young, white DEA agent. From an audience standpoint, the two men do not seem to have anything in common; however, Candis is showing the flaw in this misconception.
For about 30 seconds, the scene switches back and forth between the two men brushing their teeth; a seemingly ordinary task, but in this video, it serves to emphasize just how similar we are as people despite our several differences. Cole’s character is celebrating the birthday of his younger sister who is around the same age as the DEA agent’s daughter. Not only do the two girls attend the same school, but they also sit next to each other in the same class. This detail is no coincidence by the director, but rather a reminder that we are all more connected and alike despite what we think. What may not seem to affect us, could still be affecting our neighbors; therefore, law enforcement should work towards being more mindful of civilian lives when tasked with the war on drugs.
Throughout the video, there are strands of “America” carefully placed by Candis. From the sweatshirt Cole wears with “All-American” etched on his back with an upside down American flag on the front, to the national anthem playing softly in the background at the end of the video, these motifs represent an image of America’s current society.
The short film boldly brings to light the severity of events taking place around the nation, and the lyrics “look at the nation, that’s a crooked smile braces couldn’t even straighten,” are a play on words that signify what America has become as a consequence of the war on drugs (“Crooked Smile”).
As Cole continues his day with small chores, the words “Anywhere in America” are placed for a brief moment in the lower left screen until they are quickly covered by the motion of a lawnmower. This phrase suggests just how ordinary his day may have started, but the events that would take place that night would affect him forever.
Later on that evening, the DEA agent was a part of a task force used to bust Cole’s character for his marijuana distribution. Although Cole only seemed to have a small number of drugs compared to what we see from big drug lords, there was an entire team camped outside of his home to execute this operation. This operation reflects law enforcement’s extreme extent to combat drug abuse and distribution, but also how they tend to be more harmful than good in the end. Just as the raid is taking place, Cole’s sister peeks outside of her room like any child would if they heard an unfamiliar commotion. Without thinking, one of the DEA officers spots and shoots the young girl out of instinct, killing her instantly. This particular scene is reminiscent of the true story of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, who was slain by a Detroit police officer in an invasion as well.
Similarly to the video, the officers in Aiyana’s case “were conducting a police raid in search of a murder suspect who lived at that address when [an officer] accidentally fired his gun” (Abbey-Lambertz).
The similarities in the two situations mirror the carelessness in the actions of the war on drugs, and just how the innocence in children bring people back to reflect on their actions. The reactions immediately following the accidental shooting demonstrate how people die due to thoughtless acts of gun violence both by regular civilians and officers alike. Unfortunately, it is all a part of a crooked system, and innocent lives are lost in the battle.
Although released back in 2013, the video continues to speak to issues going on in America today, and it is a testament to how music videos play a huge role in getting messages across to large audiences. The elements that comprise this music video help to execute the overall meaning that J. Cole and Sheldon Candis want to convey to their viewers. The director’s use of a flashback-memory style and scenes cut from both characters during an ordinary day throughout this visual serve as a tool to illustrate the main message behind it: the war on drugs must be amended, and law enforcement must protect innocent lives more carefully.
Works Cited
Vyse, Graham. “Jeff Sessions Is Bringing Back the War on Drugs.” The New Republic, 12 May 2017, newrepublic.com/minutes/142678/jeff-sessions-bringing-back-war-drugs.
Abbey-Lambertz, Kate. “How A Police Officer Shot A Sleeping 7-Year-Old To Death.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/17/aiyana-stanley-jones-joseph-weekley-trial_n_5824684.html.
“A Brief History of the Drug War.” Drug Policy Alliance,
ww.drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war.
J. Cole. “J. Cole- Crooked Smile (Video) ft. TLC.” Online Video Clip. YouTube, 18 September 2013. Web. 29 November 2018.
Cole, J. “Crooked Smile.” Born Sinner.
