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J. Cole looked emo, and by most accounts cried, while performing “Love Yourz,” the hit song we all know and love.
And OVO Mal suspected this was nothing, but some reputation repair. We immediately questioned the notion since Cole is a bit more genuine than that. The real story goes deeper. There is a heartbreaking, previously unknown story about a young cancer patient named Collin Griffin that seems to rebuke the pod-master’s. opinion.
When co-host Demaris Giscombe challenged Mal over his criticism of Cole, Mal clarified that he was talking about Cole apologizing to Kendrick Lamar, not his performance of “Love Yourz.” Ohhhhhhh ok. Got it.
Still, Mal wondered whether Cole’s recent teary moments were helping him regain public favor.
“He’s been teary eyed every night doing this record,” Mal said. “You could go back to when he was doing the shows here, he was teary eyed doing those records.”
“These are the things that go viral,” he said. “You gain the hearts of the people back because you know–he sees the things online that some of his own fans were saying. Like, they was kind of off him from what he did during that battle. They were. A lot of his hardcore fans were like, ‘I don’t like that, bro. Like, that was wack. You shouldn’t have backed out like that.’”
Well, it turns out there was apparently something much deeper happening.
According to Gotham Hip Hop, Cole’s emotions surrounded Collin Griffin, a young cancer patient he met through Make A Wish in 2017. Griffin, who was battling Stage 4 cancer, reportedly wanted to meet Cole and got his wish backstage at a Washington, D.C. concert. Collin passed away the following year.
“Collin told Cole that his music has been inspirational for him and helped him get through this difficult time, to which Cole responded ‘No, you inspire me,’” the account explained.
The story gets heavier.
According to the post, Collin’s family attended Cole’s recent Cleveland concert and held up photographs of him. Cole reportedly noticed the family before performing “Love Yourz.”
That context certainly changes the temperature of Mal’s theory.
Cole has taken considerable criticism since apologizing to Kendrick Lamar and removing “7 Minute Drill” from streaming services. But every emotional moment does not necessarily belong to that controversy.
Sometimes Hip-Hop artists carry relationships and memories onto that stage that the audience knows absolutely nothing about.
In this case, those tears appear to have a name.
Collin Griffin.
RIP, Buddy.
