J. Cole's Love Yourz Analysis Essay Example

“Love Yourz” by J. Cole is a beautiful song that shows the different perspectives of having wealth. It talks about the change that J.Cole went through after having success in the music industry. The belief in self-love parallels the ideas of transcendentalism. J.Cole inspires society to love their life more instead of obsessively idolizing the wealthy because that is the key to being happy. 

J. Cole is known for being a wordsmith because of the messages he portrays in his songs. He writes his lyrics and has his hand in making beats. One of J's most famous albums is 2014 Forest Hills Drive. The album won Album of the Year at the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards and Top Rap Album at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards. According to J.Cole, "Love Yourz" sums up the entire album. 

The song Love Yourz begins with J.Cole as an adolescent. He talks about his city life in North Carolina. J.Cole states, "Compared to some my ****** down the block man we were blessed." This quote foreshadows the feelings J.Cole will feel when he becomes wealthy. Instead of being grateful for what he has, he still believes that he is living in the struggle. As an adult, he reflects as being blessed, but he still obsesses over wealth as a child. The song then breaks to the chorus, where he repeats the song's central theme. "No such thing as a life that's better than yours." J did not learn this message yet because he idolized being rich. After the chorus, he delivers one of the most famous lines in "Love Yourz". "For what's money without happiness." We live in a world where we judge the degrees of success based on wealth. However, the most important thing is happiness. Being happy is the true key to being successful. He then goes on to deliver the most important message of the song. "Always gon' be some clothes that's fresher than the ones's you rock"... "But you ain't never gon' be happy till you love yours." J.Cole's lyrics serve to inspire society not to chase fame and wealth. We need to understand that there will always be someone who has more than us. Furthermore, that wealth is not the grade of being successful. Being successful is when an individual surrounds themself with people who make them happy.

J. Cole is a modern transcendentalist because of the message he portrays in his songs. In "Love Yourz", his goal is to show the importance of self-love. Loving life and being happy is the true key to being successful. One of the central beliefs of transcendentalism is the importance of self-love. Ralph Waldo Emerson states, "It is easy to live for others; everybody does. I call on you to live for yourself." If individuals constantly try to live the lives of others, they will not succeed. Being envious is flawed because it does not show the love of the individual's own life. As J.Cole showed throughout the song, loving yourself is the most important thing.