Music Review: J Cole & TLC "Crooked Smile"

J Cole & TLC

Crooked Smile

Album: Born Sinner

Year: 2013

J Cole believes society places too much emphasis on looks in the conscious “Crooked Smile.”

     An anxious synth open the single, setting a distressed tone. TLC look at the twentysomething model in the magazine wearing the latest trends. She has zero cellulite, her face is without any acne scars and long, thick hair falls around her shoulders in the right places. They fling the magazine across the table. Dry skin has cut their fingers, front teeth jut out with a tiny gap while the hair thins, plastered down with mousse and hairspray. Beauty seems to be nonexistent. (“I'm on my way, on my way, on my way down/I'm on my way, on my way, on my way down/You're the one that was tryna keep me way down/Like a sun all you know if I'm on my way down.”)

        Last week on the phone, his aunt wondered if he wanted the number of a good orthodontist. After he said, he can pay for braces now. He could even get the expensive invisible kind. He told her no. When he was a teenager, he hated it. He begged his mom to call an orthodontist. However, she said she would like to but it was something they couldn’t afford right now. As he got older, he realized that gap is what he made him unique. He doesn’t even notice it anymore. Now that he is in the public eye, he has no intention of getting work done. He would like to be a positive example to young people. He notes that with his flaws, he has success and girlfriends. Nonetheless, each of them has expressed flaws they would like to change. He would love for the women to appreciate themselves first. However, he sees what women are put through everyday. Society tells them they are not good-looking. Only cosmetics can bring it out. Nonetheless, it’s still not enough. Everywhere are men who buy into the same impossible standard of beauty and expect other women to live up to it. (“Look, They tell me I should fix my grill cause I got money now/I ain't gon' sit around and front like I ain't thought about it/A perfect smile is more appealing but it's funny how/My shit is crooked look at how far I done got without it/I keep my twisted grill, just to show them kids it's real/We ain't picture perfect but we worth the picture still/I got smart, I got rich, and I got bitches still/And they all look my eyebrows: thick as hell/Love yourself, girl, or nobody will/Oh, you a woman? I don't know how you deal/With all the pressure to look impressive and go out in heels/I feel for you/Killing yourself to find a man that'll kill for you/You wake up, put makeup on/Stare in the mirror but it's clear that you can’t face what’s wrong/No need to fix what God already put his paint brush on/Your roommate yelling, "Why you gotta take so long?"/What it's like to have a crooked smile/This crooked smile.”)

                   TLC sing the chorus again.

                There is someone younger and prettier around to capture the eye. Some men will always see it as the epitome of beauty, shutting out the other women with a dismissive glare. He tells his girlfriend she’s beautiful. She’s wearing fake eyelashes, has manicured nails and extensions added into her hair. She’d rather have false beauty than be who she is. He tells her that she’s smart and kind. There is no else he’d rather jokes around than with her. He moves his mouth to the side and crosses his eyes and she claps her hands, grinning. He had missed seeing her smile. (“To all the women with the flaws, know it's hard my darling/You wonder why you're lonely and your man's not calling/You keep falling victim cause you're insecure/And when I tell you that you're beautiful you can't be sure/Cause he don't seem to want you back and it got you asking/So all you see is what you lacking, not what you packing/Take it from a man that loves what you got/And baby you're a star, don't let 'em tell you you're not/Now is it real? Eyebrows, fingernails, hair/Is it real? if it's not, girl you don't care/Cause what's real is something that the eyes can't see/That the hands can’t touch, that them broads can’t be, and that’s you/Never let 'em see you frown/And if you need a friend to pick you up, I’ll be around/And we can ride with the windows down, the music loud/I can tell you ain’t laughed in a while/But I wanna see that crooked smile.”)

                  TLC sing the chorus again.

                   In the bridge, he says he would like to the gap in the teeth to become fashionable and accepted. TLC repeat part of the chorus. (“Crooked smile, we could style on 'em (back 'round)/Crooked smile, we could style on 'em (back 'round)/You’re the one that was trying to keep me way down/Like the sun, I know you know I found my way back round.”)

           His final argument says Hollywood is part of the problem. Movie stars promote unhealthy diets and extreme weight loss, getting covers based on how quickly they lost the baby weight after pregancy. However, society is broken itself. Despite having an Afrian-American president, racism still remains an underlying subtext.  Many African-Americans are incancerated. Some of have problems dealing with stereotypes placed on them, choosing ot use drugs to escape it. Color determines airplay on the radio, noting that his white peers gain more exposure on Top 40 stations. He notes that it is up to African-American rappers to stop pointing guns at each other in their songs and concentrate on the music. While bailing a friend out of jail, he stand up for his friend, stating to the police officer that if he hadn’t been somewhere else in the neighborhood, he would’ve seen what exactly happened. His friend did not start the right but only was defending himself. (“We only fronting like the people on the screen/You know them movie stars, picture perfect beauty queens/But we got dreams and we got the right to chase ‘em/Look at the nation, that’s a crooked smile braces couldn’t even straighten/Seem like half the race is either on probation, or in jail/Wonder why we inhale, cause we in hell already/I asked if my skin pale, would I then sell like Eminem or Adele?/Yo one more time for the 'Ville/And fuck all of that beef shit, ***** let’s make a mil/Hey officer man, we don’t want nobody getting killed/Just open up that cell, let my brother out of jail/I got money for the bail now, well now./If you asking will I tell now?/Hell naw/I ain’t snitching cause/Man, they get them ****** stitches now/If you was around, then you wouldn’t need a witness now/How you like this crooked smile.”)

        J Cole’s empathetic vocals are respectful towards women. At most, he is expected to be macho. For women, however, they have to be beautiful all the time. Their personalities are an afterthought. It’s frustrating that with each passing decade, the expectations are raised.  

           He touches upon racism, bringing up valid points. He is right regarding airplay. Perhaps this is local, but where I live it’s as though Enimen and Macklemore are the only two rappers that exist. I have yet to hear J Cole. Adele, though, is not the best example (she’s an anomaly in pop music herself, dealing with the same issues he’s talking about). Miley Cyrus would’ve been a better example. Given when the single was written, she hadn’t exploded yet. It’s understandable what he means.

      TLC’s downhearted vocals stare at the ground, unworthy of a glance. However, they have a quiet defiance against the mixed messages they receive. It’s fitting that TLC are on the single, given that one of their biggest hits is “Unpretty.” 

       The progressive “Crooked Smile” is boldly atypical not only in the genre but in pop music itself which reinforces the misogyny and sometimes blatant racism (i.e. Cody Simpson’s “Pretty Brown Eyes," and Flo Rida’s “Can’t Believe It.”).