I’m pretty sure you have heard about all of the controversy surrounding this song and J. Cole himself. Well, allow me to address that very quickly: You are looking for drama and smoke in the wrong places. With that out of the way, I’m here to review the song that is part of the controversy, “Snow on Tha Bluff”.
I will do my best to stay away from the controversy for the most part. This is not an article discussing the exchanges between Cole and Noname, or the Twitter storm wanting to “cancel” Cole. This is simply a song review, but that controversy will give it some context.
- Cole has been touted as one of the GOATs of this generation, people typically citing his relatability being his greatest attribute. Cole definitely has this attribute down pat. Plenty of Cole’s top songs usually have to do with the relatable stories everyone has gone through in their lives. Breakups, losing virginity, learning to love what you have instead of wishing for something else, Cole’s got stories for days! His relatability also has him discuss his perceived flaws. Enter, “Snow on Tha Bluff”.
The song starts out with him discussing how people think he’s mad intelligent because of his college degree, but it ain’t really like that. He’s got much more learning to do, as he talks about a young lady who is smarter than he is. This young lady is tweeting about how she is pissed off at the white people, lawmakers, and police, but also how she is mad at ignorance from rappers and celebrities; Cole thinks she’s talking about him.
Now, Cole will listen to criticism, but it was something about how she said it that was bothering him. He was saying that she seems like she grew up in a conscious environment and with a very clear perspective of the system. Cole has an issue because he feels that she is coming at him in a condescending way because she is more “woke” than he is. He discusses how it will be difficult to lead when she’s attacking the same people that need the help and education. Cole is saying, “Instead of feeling ‘holier than thou’, help me understand what I can do to be better.”
He discusses how he looks at freedom like trees, and how forests aren’t grown overnight, seeds need to be planted. He discusses how he’s not about the retweets now and suggests that the woman treats the people like children, and give them understanding, time, love, and patience so they can grow.
The most crucial part of the song, though? Comes at the end, when he runs into a fan outside the store. The fan talks about how he appreciates what Cole is doing, but Cole feels like deep down, he hasn’t been doing enough. Yes, he’s been out there protesting, but he feels like he should be educated and do more with the money and platform that he has. As he says in the song, “Why I feel faker than snow on the bluff?”
This is a really good song. It lays out his feelings perfectly, and doesn’t put any blame on anybody except himself. He talks about how he felt after seeing those tweets, because he’s a human who actually feels things that might be subtweeting him, just like you feel those same feelings (yes, you, the person reading this), but still understands that he might be projecting. With that being said, this song isn’t perfect.
I think that the outro is a bit drawn out. The outro is about 2 minutes long and I think that had it been 30 seconds or even a minute, then it would have been more powerful. The outro at that point could give you time to really marinate on the words. However, with it being 2 minutes, it feels like you are just waiting for the song to finish after the minute mark. The message was still conveyed, but I think that it would have been thought about more if he finished with the last line about him not doing enough.
This song is a 4/5. Cole’s relatability through his flaws really shines through on here, and the way the production is stripped down so you hear the lyrics is a beautiful touch. The outro could have been shorter, and he honestly could have discussed why he wasn’t doing enough, but neither of those are enough to keep the song from getting its point across. Don’t get #Cancelled, y’all! MT Out!
Photo: Snow On Tha Bluff Cover
