J. Cole is a rapper who treads that thin line between being both intellectual and gangsta, if you will. Or as the album “She Knows” is derived from puts it, he is a “born sinner”. And within this context, that’s basically another way of saying that he knows right from wrong but often decides to go with the latter. And such is the case with “She Knows”, a song that centers around the concepts of infidelity and promiscuity. Show Meaning of “She Knows”Concerning the title, it can be taken one of two ways. Either it would be alluding to the vocalist’s actual girlfriend, i.e. the one he’s cheating on with the woman he’s dealing with in the song. Or, he could be talking about said woman herself. That is to say that the two of them got involved even though they’re both committed to others. So maybe what he is saying is that “she knows” ultimately their relationship ain’t really going anywhere. But all things considered, the first postulation would make more sense. Well, maybe. This piece, especially as far as how the title is utilized, can be a bit tricky to decipher. But what it ultimately boils down to is the vocalist noting how certain romantic interests in his life want to settle down with him. However, he is not privy to complying for a couple of reasons. One is that when he hooks up with this type of lady, as stated earlier she is already in a committed relationship. So he sees their own romance as being more along the lines of a fling. But secondly and more to the point as far as Cole’s own explanation of this song would be the fact that there’s always shorties up in his face. Or put more plainly, he’s constantly being tempted. And as noted earlier, sometimes he’s inclined to give in to that temptation. The MoralSo the moral of the story is that “she knows”. The rapper may be out playing his little romance games, screwing around with other chicks behind his real girlfriend’s back. But “she knows” nonetheless. So the penalty is that he too has to go about wondering if his true boo is messing with some other dude(s) also. Deceased LegendsThere is also some other stuff going on in the lyrics. For instance, the vocalist utilizes half of the bridge to give a shoutout to ‘stars’ that passed away such as the following:
But doing so may be related to the main narrative. And what Jermaine would be saying in that regard, most simply put, is that being a celebrity is dangerous. And part of the peril, within the context of the entire piece, would be having to deal with a heightened degree of sexual temptation. And that would also theoretically be the general notion upon which the second bridge is based. In ConclusionSo conclusively, perhaps we can say this is a true musical work of art. In other words, the vocalist could have used simpler language to get these relatively easy-to-understand points across. But instead, J. Cole challenges the listener to also put some things together themselves. Either way, at least at that point in his career, he apparently wasn’t one of those types of rappers who revels in the fact that their success gives them access to various hot women. Instead, the way he sees it is that reality is more of a detriment as far as establishing a lasting romance goes.  Facts about “She Knows”This song is from early in J. Cole’s career, i.e. his second studio album, “Born Sinner”. In fact “She Knows” was the fourth single from that project and released as such on 29 October 2013. The following labels supported its release:
J. Cole served as both a writer and producer of this track. The late DMX (1970-2021) is also acknowledged as a co-writer. This is because a song he dropped back in 2000 entitled “What These B–ches Want” is interpolated into “She Knows”. And the other writers are:
J. Cole had assistance in producing this song in the form of Ken Lewis. And they sampled a track entitled “Bad Things” (2011) by a band known as Cults. Said sample would be why Cults is recognized as an official feature on “Bad Things”. And the other featured singer is a vocalist from L.A. named Amber Coffman. Amber also participated with J. Cole on a couple of other tracks. More Interesting FactsThe director of this track’s music video, Sam Pilling, praised J. Cole for firmly supporting his “vision” for the clip. And the said support included the rapper pushing to get professional actors to participate, with the video featuring the likes of Harold Perrineau of Lost fame. In mid-2021 this song experienced a resurgence in popularity due to the most proven method of doing so these days, i.e. going viral on TikTok. “She Knows” appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 but performed most impressively on their US Rhythmic chart, where it peaked at number 10. And the song has also been certified silver across the pond. Just to note, J. Cole also namedrops the late civil rights’ icon Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) in the first verse. MLK is often presented as being an example of moral excellence. But he too is known as having had his issues when it comes to sexual temptation. Other celebrities who receive recognition in the lyrics include the aforementioned DMX, fellow rappers Blackstar (Mos Def and Talib Kweli) and MLK’s wife, Coretta Scott King (1927-2006). Image via Getty/Roy Rochlin It’s been repeatedly proven that TikTok creators have the unique ability of taking songs from bygone eras, i.e. the 1977 Fleetwood Mac single “Dreams,” and recontextualizing them for the modern age. Now, that energy has been extended to a near-vintage J. Cole favorite. “She Knows,” a track featuring Amber Coffman and Cults from the 2013 album Born Sinner, has—per stats shared by TikTok—inspired more than 230,000 creations on the platform. A dramatic uptick in activity surrounding the song, per TikTok, has been seen in recent weeks. For the chart dated Aug. 24, “She Knows” was at No. 120 on Spotify’s top 200 U.S. tracks after first popping up on the chart at the beginning of this month.
Other Cole cuts currently appearing on the most recent Spotify top 200 chart include “No Role Modelz,” “Work Out,” “Middle Child,” and several Off-Season songs. The “She Knows” trend, complete with around 1.6 billion total video views from July/August bimonthly, is largely built on the premise of pointing out situations wherein someone of personal importance is wholly aware of something the creator is hiding. Thus, “she knows.” There have been variations on the formula, as well.
Earlier this month, Cole’s manager Ibrahim Hamad addressed the TikTok-spurred resurgence of the song, saying he couldn’t believe it. “I can’t believe ‘She Knows’ is out here streaming so crazy almost 10 years later,” he said, adding that TikTok “really be resurrecting songs.” As of their latest update, the trend-analyzers over at Tokboard had “She Knows” at No. 94 on its current ranking of viral TikTok songs. For more “She Knows”-inspired creations, head to TikTok, where the trend is still going strong. These stats fit nicely into Cole’s larger 2021 picture. Earlier this month, The Off-Season was mentioned in a year-to-date report from Hits Daily Double as one of the best-performing rap albums of the year. David Knight - 18th Feb 2014 A marvellous video for J Cole's She Knows by Sam Pilling about a teenager in Los Angeles who blows off school to have some fun with his buddy, but gets much more than he's bargained for. Sam put non-professional actor Armani Cooper, playing Kyle, with actors Harold Perrineau and Rochelle Aytes as his parents, to create something very believable. And J Cole makes a telling cameo too... Sam Pilling: "I wanted to explore the everyday lies and secrets that can exist in families, particularly between parents and their children. However, I liked the idea of playing with people's expectations by turning the initial deceit on it's head and revealing a far greater secret from an unlikely character. "I really wanted the video to feel authentic so we reached out to a friend of mine (shout out to Copelan Hackwith) who put us in touch with some of his skater mates. Both Armani & Taqwa blew us away from the start. "Cole and his management got behind the idea and wanted to make the video as filmic as possible, suggesting we cast real actors. I was excited at the possibility of working with Harold. He was really into the story and needless to say it was an absolute pleasure and an honour to work with him. After casting our lead boy it was important for me that we didn't just get 'named actors' in the video but that Kyle's parents actually looked like they could be his parents. The combination of Harold & Rochelle seemed like the perfect match. "We shot the video over a few long days in and around South Central. The whole crew worked really hard to make it happen - massive thanks to Sarah Park who produced the hell out of it ("standaaaaaaard" ) and for Pat Scola and his camera crew who nailed the photography '100 peh-cent'. "It was invaluable to have a few days working intimately with just Armani, Taqwa, and a small camera crew. It gave the two boys a chance to really bond and for them to feel comfortable with us too. "Having spent the best part of two months in LA it was time to go home so we did the post back in the UK. Because of the nature of the shoot, we had A LOT of footage but as ever Ellie at Speade did a great job of moulding it all together beautifully. "James Tillett did a really lovely job on the grade and brought the whole project to life. Sound design was always going to be an important part of the video as I wanted to get the balance between song, sound & dialogue just right. Shout out to Zak Razvi who put us in contact with Luis & Henning at Soundtree - as with the whole process, it was an honour to be working with such talented people." David Knight - 18th Feb 2014 |
Who is the kid in J Coles she knows?
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