Hate To Get The Seats In The Benz Wet

"I'm from the 'Ville where they bang for the money, carry four 5's like its change for a twenty."
With 7 homicides in Fayetteville in the past 2 weeks, this lyric rings true.

Fayetteville, NC product Jermaine Cole has made it to the big leagues of hip hop and recently released a debut album on Jay-Z's newest label, Roc Nation.  I don't really want to open Pandora's box on the merits and sanctity of American Hip-Hop culture, but let me tell you this:

I don't really KNOW Jermaine Cole.  The last two times I saw him he didn't have time to chat and catch up on the old days kickin' it in the halls of Terry Sanford, where we both graduated high school.  On the other hand, he was busy performing at UNC-P last time I saw him, and the time before that he was shopping at WalMart on Skibo.  We are friends on Facebook, though.

When the average sophisticated American thinks about hip-hop they probably think bling-bling, degrading, vulgar, idiotic and offensive.  Cole's resume breaks the mold of you're average rapper.  He attended St. Johns on an academic scholarship after a strong academic career and a laundry list of athletic and extracurricular activities in high school.  He graduated with honors from the NYC on schedule while continuing to pursue his dream of making music for a living.  After a few crucial mix tapes, he got a once in a lifetime break of catching Jay-Z's attention.  Now he is rumored to have had repeated intimate relations with Rihanna, he enjoys eating cheese, eggs and potatoes on the beaches of Barbados and he even parties with Hova & Steve Stoute.

Cole does not shy away from hip hops tendency to use some racy lyrics and his songs include a vernacular that seemingly degrades women in various ways.  The first time I listened to "Cole World:  The Sideline Story" I was slightly bothered by the usage of the N word.  I don't include the word in my vocabulary- so I was kinda ticked off by the prevalence of the off limits word.  How can I drop every song of the album verbatim on unsuspecting friends and strangers if I have to omit a half dozen words from each song??  As the most famous person who originated from Fayetteville in the world today, Jermaine Cole REPS THE VILLE as hard as you could possibly imagine.  He is proud of where he came from, and it's nice to see an eloquent and insightful player climbing the entertainment ladder.  I will be nodding my head to the tunes of Mr. Cole for the foreseeable future.  You should check out his vibes.

"I let you feel like you the shit, but boy you can't outfart me"  -J Cole