Mal questioned whether J. Cole’s emotional performances were helping repair his image, but the story of Collin Griffin gives heartbreaking context. 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. Delivering news to inboxes since 1999. We break it. They take it. Get it first, straight from AllHipHop.
“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. Today I learned that the reason J. Cole got emotional the other night performing ‘Love Yourz’ in the now viral clip was because of a kid named Collin Griffin, who he met in 2017 when Collin was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. Collin’s Make-A-Wish was to meet Cole, and when he… pic.twitter.com/IJEIPfRrHT
Houston Williams is a journalist and editor at AllHipHop whose work spans breaking news, cultural commentary, exclusive interviews, and hip-hop analysis. As a Managing Editor, he covers the intersection of music, sports, politics, and popular culture, bringing a sharp editorial voice and a deep appreciation for hip-hop’s influence on society. Williams has contributed hundreds of stories to AllHipHop, covering everyone from rap icons and emerging artists to major cultural and current events, helping keep readers informed and engaged with the ever-evolving world of Hip-Hop.”
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