Analysis Of Can T Cry

A North Carolina rapper named Jermaine Lamar Cole released his first mixtape called The Come up in May of 2007. The mixtape included a song that had a deep and thoughtful meaning, that song was called "Can 't Cry". In the song J Cole tells us about his life and how he goes through some tough times. He describes what is important to him now he is a grown man and what his goals are which he plans to achieve but gets sidetracked by the world we live in. In this essay I will first explain my definition of what the audiences are and then another sources and finally J Coles own definition from the song. J Cole effectively engages his audiences-men, black men and people who struggle with issues in life by revealing the stereotype that society has

Although, not everyone’s idea of the definitions may be the same as mine but my definitions offer an analysis of his song “Can’t Cry”. According, to urban dictionary the definition of a real man is someone “who has manners, is polite, and considerate. He is honest, open and true to himself, he respects women and shows appreciation for all his blessings.” However, in J Cole’s song he defines a man as someone who shows not only weakness but also strength. He starts the song off in his first verse by talking about the young him when he was fragile and skinny “Birds chest, legs skinny.” He uses this lyric to similarly compare himself to a bird’s structure which is also fragile. Then, later on as the song progresses he goes more into “It’s enough to make a nigga cry, but I can’t though” This is where he transitions into someone he wants to be by saying, “but i can’t though,” because if he cries it will be as if hope is lost, which he won’t let anyone believe is true. This is something that society has stereotyped about a man by saying he must be strong since a man is supposed to be the head of the household who can’t show any weakness and if he does, it would be as if he was letting down his family and those who believed and looked up to him. Another stereotype about men is that, since they are male their gender is what’s apart of them and describes them as well so they must act strong to show that

He talks about them in the song, defining what they are and how they are viewed in society, which was important to know because of what society is today. He talks about how hard it is for those audiences to fit into society, with racial difference and some having more of an advantage over others. The song is all about struggles and how J Cole pushes through them to not show failure but rather strength by not crying. He sings this to let everyone know they aren’t the only ones feeling like this, like the world is falling apart. Thus, letting his audience have hope by ending his song with the quote “hold your head up