In a video feature with Fader, J. Cole takes time while prepping for one of many “Dollar and a Dream” shows, by explaining his perspective on stereotypes and how negative they can be. “You can’t judge another person,” he says. “It’s easier said than done. I read this book called How The Mind Works. I couldn’t make it all the way through. I probably made it halfway through because I felt I was in over my head in terms of how smart it was…But it was all about how the mind works and the mind works in patterns…If the mind does work like that, in patterns, then then stereotypes would be natural, I would think.”
Cole goes on to explain how stereotypes can have a negative impact. “I can meet somebody that’s Puerto Rican, 19, and have genuine interactions with this type of person to the point where I know them,” he explains. “My patterns and my stereotypes about this type of person are a little more informed. They’re still not all the way accurate, but they are a little more well informed than a bunch of people in this world who’ve never had real interactions with 19 year old Puerto Ricans, or young black males or black people, period, or minorities, period, or gays…
The problem is most people’s opinions of these people who they’ve never met is all given. The information is given by television and stereotypes that already exist in the media which are never accurate…which develop untrue patterns in people’s minds…So, it’s natural for your brain to work like that, but it’s still fucked up because stereotypes are not true. They’re real one-sided, biased representations of people.
Cole is prepping for the upcoming release of his 2014 Forest Hills Drive album, which is set to be out December 9.
