Jalil 1

Mohammad M. Jalil

Professor Holly Batty

English 102

12 December 2018

There’s Beauty in the Struggle, and Ugliness in the Success

Music is one of the many platforms where poetic expression is commonly found. Many

artists use music and lyrical illustration to convey their thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. Rap is one of

those music genres that lyrical and musical manipulation is seen in. Love Yourz, by J. Cole

(Jermaine Cole), is one of the many rap songs where poetry can be found in. Through musical

and lyrical manipulation, Love Yourz expresses that one should be humbled and grateful with the

opportunities and possessions that they have acquired.

J. Cole begins his song with a calm, mellow beat with piano notes, which has a relaxed

effect and lets you closely pay attention to what he’s saying. He begins his lyrical expression

through the usage of repetition of “No such thing as a life that’s better than yours” (4-6).

Through the usage of repetition, Cole stresses the significance behind this message and adds

empowerment to the lyric to influence the listener. The lyrical line is very literal in its meaning.

Cole is telling you there is nothing better than what you have and therefore, you should be

grateful. Furthermore, the life you’re living is the best life that you could live, because it’s

unique to you and with every event, the uniqueness builds, which makes your life the best one

for you.

J. Cole then touches on success and its accompaniments. He raps " Heart beatin' fast, let a

nigga know that he alive/ Fake niggas, mad snakes/ Snakes in the grass let a nigga know that he

arrived/” (8-10). Here, he uses a metaphor and imagery to compare people to snakes. He says
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that his heart is beating fast and that there are snakes in the grass. Here, he’s describing his heart

rushing, letting him feel the rush of success and fame, and that alongside all this, snakes have

arrived, a metaphor for fake friends who only show up and take credit for your success and are

nonexistent when you’re struggling or going through problems. Here, J. Cole is giving you life

advice in that he’s telling you, life isn’t perfect; you’re going to struggle but you should turn

those obstacles into moments of observation and learning and find out who your truest friends

are. Use these struggles to find out which friends stay alongside you no matter what, and which

friends only show up during the good times. Furthermore, through the usage of imagery, Cole is

also able to stress the importance of finding out who your true friends are and is quite possibly

telling you how to find them. You can conclude that he’s telling you to pay close attention to

your surroundings to find out more about who and what’s around you., something you might do

when you’re in a situation with snakes around you. If you had snakes around you, you’d pay

close attention to them to learn more about them and stay safe, something you should also do

when you’re surrounded by people you’re getting to know better.

J. Cole then transitions into his first verse and raps a line that is the pivotal meaning of

the whole song and is continuously seen throughout. It is arguably the most poetic and

meaningful line in the whole song, “It’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success/” (16).

Many argue against Cole’s message here because they think success brings the beauty out of

someone and their accomplishments, and can allow one to have beautiful possessions, but I think

the original intent of the meaning is the right one. I agree with Cole that struggle can serve as a

learning experience which leads to beauty. You’re able to transform your hardships into lessons

and gain intuition and with that intuition, you can use it to further your success and

achievements. Yes, success is good and is what everyone ultimately has their goals set to but
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persevering through difficult times is what makes success so satisfying and drive-worthy.

Furthermore, struggling helps to build yourself as a person and discover more about yourself

because you find out how you react and behave in certain situations and through this learning

experience, you make your future obstacles easier to overtake and your future success easier to

grasp.

Continuing through the same verse, Cole talks about his gratitude for what was available

to him growing up, although it may have not been much:

I grew up in the city and though some times we had less

Compared to some of my niggas
Down the block, man, we were blessed
And life can’t be no fairytale, no once upon a time
But I be goddamned if a nigga don’t be tryin (18-22).

Once again, he talks about growing up and not having the most but that he was grateful and

humble for what he did have because he knew that there were people who didn’t have as much as

him. He recognized the blessings he had and made the most from it. He also talks about life not

being a fictitious story where everything is perfect but that you should try to make it perfect,

because the journey you take climbing to your success is filled with obstacles and lessons that

build you and make success more gratifying.

Continuing through the song, Cole finishes off with the second verse, which has the most

impact on the listener:

And as a nigga who was once in your shoes

Livin' with nothin' to lose, I hope one day you hear me
Always gon' be a bigger house somewhere, but nigga feel me
Long as the people in that motherfucker love you dearly
Always gon' be a whip that's better than the one you got
Always gon' be some clothes that's fresher than the ones you rock
Always gon' be a bitch that's badder out there on the tours
But you ain't never gon' be happy 'til you love yours (50-57).
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He makes a personal connection with the listener and instills imagery of materialistic

achievements and reminds the listener that no matter what you have in life, there’s always going

to be someone who has it better than you. You should learn to be happy with what you have,

because if you continuously chase those unattainable objects, you are never going to be happy.

You are undoubtedly going to be chasing things that are unattainable and are never going to be

fulfilled and find joy in what you have. This is another reminder that there are always going to be

pros and cons in your life, but you should take advantage of what you have and enjoy it to its

fullest potential.

Through these various lines, J. Cole successfully conveys his messages of humbleness,

gratuity and success. He constantly reminds the listener of the life we live and makes his

listeners reflect and be grateful with what they have through the usage of metaphors, repetition,

and imagery. He also uses his own unique rhyme scheme which makes the song more

pleasurable to listen to and easier to remember. All this strengthens Cole’s literary an poetical

effectiveness of stressing the importance of being grateful for what we have and that its okay to

struggle, because when we struggle, we can find the beauty of our lives.
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Works Cited

J. Cole. “Love Yourz.” 2014 Forest Hills Drive, Dreamville Records, 2014. Spotify,

open.spotify.com/track/4gkl7QbQvBd3TM9PhlWFkI?si=4nqYBx7yQlKq3mBE_j6TnQ
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Appendix A
[Intro]
(1) Love yours
(2) Love yours
(3) No such thing

[Hook]
(4) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(5) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(6) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(7) No such thing, no such thing

[Bridge]
(8) Heart beatin' fast, let a nigga know that he alive
(9) Fake niggas, mad snakes
(10) Snakes in the grass let a nigga know that he arrived
(11) Don't be sleepin' on your level
(12) 'Cause it's beauty in the struggle, nigga
(13) Goes for all y'all
(14) It's beauty in the struggle, nigga
(15) Let me explain, yeah

[Verse 1]
(16) It's beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success
(17) Hear my words or listen to my signal of distress
(18) I grew up in the city and though some times we had less
(19) Compared to some of my niggas
(20) Down the block, man, we were blessed
(21) And life can't be no fairytale, no once upon a time
(22) But I be goddamned if a nigga don't be tryin'
(23) So tell me, Momma please, why you be drinkin' all the time?
(24) Does all the pain he brought you still linger in your mind?
(25) 'Cause pain still lingers on mine
(26) On the road to riches, listen, this is what you'll find
(27) The good news is, nigga, you came a long way
(28) The bad news is, nigga, you went the wrong way
(29) Think being broke was better

[Hook]
(30) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(31) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(32) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(33) No such thing, no such thing
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[Verse 2]
(34) For what's money without happiness?
(35) Or hard times without the people you love?
(36) Though I'm not sure what's 'bout to happen next
(37) I asked for strength from the Lord up above
(38) 'Cause I've been strong so far
(39) But I can feel my grip loosenin'
(40) Quick, do somethin' before you lose it for good
(41) Get it back and use it for good
(42) And touch the people how you did like before
(43) I'm tired of livin' with demons 'cause they always invitin' more
(44) Think being broke was better
(45) Now I don't mean that phrase with no disrespect
(46) To all my niggas out there livin' in debt
(47) Cashin' minimal checks, turn on the TV see a nigga Rolex
(48) And fantasize about a life with no stress
(49) I mean this shit sincerely
(50) And as a nigga who was once in your shoes
(51) Livin' with nothin' to lose, I hope one day you hear me
(52) Always gon' be a bigger house somewhere, but nigga feel me
(53) Long as the people in that motherfucker love you dearly
(54) Always gon' be a whip that's better than the one you got
(55) Always gon' be some clothes that's fresher than the ones you rock
(56) Always gon' be a bitch that's badder out there on the tours
(57) But you ain't never gon' be happy 'til you love yours

[Hook]
(58) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(59) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(60) No such thing as a life that's better than yours
(61) No such thing, no such thing

[Bridge]
(62) Heart beatin' fast, let a nigga know that he alive
(63) Fake niggas, mad snakes
(64) Snakes in the grass let a nigga know that he arrived