Crooked Smile Analysis

In some music videos, the theme of the song and the theme of the video can have totally different meanings. The video for J Cole’s “Crooked Smile” starts with a man in a police car at night looking unhappy. Then it switches to a comparison of the routine of a drug dealer, played by J Cole, and a DEA cop. The drug dealer is cleaning the house for his daughter’s birthday party and the cop is getting ready for his day, eating breakfast with his daughter at one point. After the birthday party, the cops, including the DEA cop, began to invade the dealer’s house to arrest him. In the midst of the arrest, the dealer’s daughter comes out of her room and is shot and killed by an officer. Although the video deals with the war on drugs, the lyrics of
On the surface, the line from the first verse, “They told me I should fix my grill cause I got money now” (Cole), means that because J Cole is not broke anymore, he should repair his crooked teeth. Many times people expect celebrities to have a certain image that mirrors perfection. As a result of this, a lot of celebrities are pressured to undergo plastic surgery, go on abnormal diets, dress differently, starve themselves, and even change their hair. These things can often discourage fans who aspire to look perfect like their favorite celebrity. The song continues, “I keep my twisted grill just to show the kids it’s real” (Cole). Cole is saying that all celebrities are not flawless, and he chooses not to fix his teeth because he does not want his fans having this picture-perfect image of him. He lets his fans know that they do not have to be perfect or look the best to be successful by saying, “A perfect smile is more appealing but it’s funny my s*** is crooked look at how far I done got without it” (Cole). This is advice that Cole is giving to encourage others who are not celebrities to strive for their goals and to not let appearance discourage