0:10 The video begins with a zoom in of a lower middle class neighborhood where Kyle lives
0:25 Kyle can be seen stealing money from his mother’s sock drawer while his father calls for him
1:00 Kyle and his mother drive silently on the ride to school
1:10 Kyle’s mother looks in the rearview mirror after dropping him off at school, making eye contact with him while he stands at the gate
1:15 Kyle’s somber expression changes as soon as he sees his friend
1:35 Kyle and his friend skip school and skate to a deli
2:15 Kyle and his friend share a joint, drink a 40 malt, skate, and have a relaxing time together
2:45 A cop catches them chilling at a skate park and chases them on foot
3:00 Kyle’s bag gets caught on the fence but he leaves it behind
3:25 Kyle and his friend walk back home
3:40 Kyle walks in on his mother and J. Cole in bed together
3:50 Kyle runs from home and his friend follows alongside him, with no explanation
4:07 Although Kyle angrily pushes his friend off, he stays by his side and they walk together back to school
4:40 They part their ways with a special handshake
4:45 Kyle gets into the backseat of his father’s car and they drive home together
5:10 As Kyle’s father is reciting grace at the dinner table, he angrily glares at his mother. Kyle’s father can sense the tension but says nothing.
5:35 The video ends with a zoom out of the neighborhood
The genre of this music video is modern American rap. The video was created based on J. Cole’s personal experience; he experienced the same thing that Kyle did. Through the video, we can see Kyle skipping school, running from the cops, and catching his mom with another man at home. This video always stuck with me through the years because of the message, “she knows, but he knows too”. Kyle’s mother knows that he hadn’t gone to school that day, yet she didn’t snitch on him. Kyle caught his mother cheating on his dad, yet he didn’t snitch on her. In both cases, the father should have been told what had happened. It can be seen that he works hard for his family, and it’s disrespectful that neither Kyle or his mom is telling the truth. During the dinner table scene, it seems as if the father does know that the mother is cheating on him and that he knows that Kyle knows as well.
What a surprise. Wasn’t expecting to see this song show up in the blogs. This music video was very well directed and produced, displaying all sorts of emotions and perspectives. What I mean about perspectives is we don’t really don’t know who J Cole is singing about, it may be Kyle or J Cole himself in the video or it may be alternating between the two of them.
I was going to say the same as Daniel as many don’t know this song from J. Cole as it is pretty old. I agree with how you point out that she knows about him as well as knowing what the mother was doing. I like how point out minute details as his scowls towards his mom which indicated that he knew and thus his father knew that he knew what happened. The message really hits deep as it depicts the issues going on that may occur within a certain household, but the untold secrets of those who have done wrong.