J COLE NEIGHBORS SWAT FULL

It was hard pushing through, but I had to come to terms with myself and realize I have to be open and vulnerable about what IвЂ™m going through. So it was hard for me to tap in and go to the studio every day when I just wanted to go home and lay down and do nothing. If you ask any of my friends, theyвЂ™ll tell you that at one point, I thought this would be my last album. I didnвЂ™t know how I was going to finish this album. I created вЂњGold MoufвЂќ while I was dealing with all types of mental health issues. On working through anxiety and depression: We all have these masks and affirmations that we use for our mental health and our confidence. I did six songs one night, and a manager gave me the nickname Gold Mouf because I knocked down my social barrier and introverted nature. Gold Mouf started in Atlanta for the Dreamville sessions. But Gold Mouf is the opposite, when IвЂ™m at my highest confidence. I have this running joke on Instagram where I post pictures of myself and title it вЂњBig Ugly,вЂќ which is my low self-esteem. So, me dealing with my anxiety, Gold Mouf is my confidence. Have you ever seen вЂњThe Nutty Professor?вЂќ Gold Mouf is to me what Buddy Love is to Professor Klump. On the meaning behind his 2021 studio debut release вЂњGold Mouf ' : I went downtown, I looked at the Charlotte skyline and I was saying to myself, вЂњMan, my song is on here! My name is on the back of a CD!вЂќ That was a turning point for me. Gave one to my mom, I kept one in the plastic for myself and opened up the other one and listened to the other one all day as I rolled around the city. I went to Best Buy to buy three copies of the album. ColeвЂ™s вЂњRevenge of the Dreamers IIвЂќ compilation album, and he put my song вЂњStill SlumminвЂ™вЂќ on the record.

And it blew my mind at the time.ДЇast-forward years later with J. Cole on Twitter, and he followed me right back and told me he was at The Fillmore in Charlotte for the CIAA tournament, and he invited me out.

I thought my friend was joking, because IвЂ™m at work, and I almost got fired the day before. Cole contacted a friend of ours, and that friend contacted me. To this day, I still donвЂ™t know how it happened. Sometimes I go back to songs to see where I was in that place and in that space. Songwriting is like a journal for me, and my verses are journal entries. I can freestyle here and there, and I like to do it for Instagram now and again, but writing is therapeutic for me. I know a lot of people go into the booth and freestyle and let it go, but IвЂ™m not that kind of guy. I donвЂ™t have the most orthodox way of writing music. The reason why I chose a rendition of the NAS album cover for my mixtape cover was to show everybody that this was my 'hoodвЂ™s вЂњIllmaticвЂќ fueled by 1996-style music. It was basically me trying to show the world what living on the West Side of Charlotte was like. The more music that I heard, the more tapped in I became and wanting to make my own music. Music played a really important role in my life.

And my other brother put me on to playing a piano. My other brother was more into hip-hop, and he put me onto Goodie Mob, OutKast and A Tribe Called Quest. He really showed me a lot of different music. He has no barriers, so he listens to everything, including country. I have one brother where genres arenвЂ™t a thing. IвЂ™ll never forget that.ДЄround that time in the '90s and early 2000s, my brothers were putting me on to all types of music. He pushed it to the window, and everybody was standing outside on his porch to watch the news. One of my neighbors had a big-screen, floor-model television. I remember when Jay Z came to the neighborhood record store called WillieвЂ™s, and everyone was hopping in their car and running to WillieвЂ™s to see him.

J COLE NEIGHBORS SWAT FULL

The West Side of Charlotte was full of culture when I was growing up. вЂ“ Lute, Grammy-nominated Charlotte rapper signed to Dreamville Records

J cole neighbors swat