Kevin’s Heart – J Cole.
So, Kevin’s Heart is a song off the critically acclaimed album: KOD (Kids On Drugs).
The album KOD has no featuring artists on it. It has 12 songs on it, and all of it is J Cole. What’s more? KOD went platinum (that probably means it sold a certain number of copies), and it did it so with no features. It’s an achievement that only a few artists can even dream of, especially when most artists these days depend on famous features just to stay relevant. This album is a testament of his artistic abilities and it cemented his place as one of the finest rappers of our time.
“How come you won’t get a few features?
I think you should? How ’bout I don’t?
How ’bout you just get the fuck off my dick?” – J Cole on the song KOD.
A statement to the record labels who care more about money then the artist’s art itself.
Kevin’s Heart
The song Kevin’s Heart is about cheating on your significant other. It depicts all the emotions that a man goes through as he is cheating on his wife.
This song also follows the theme of album: addiction. Here, Cole is referring to the addiction of cheating on your spouse (the temptation of extra marital affairs).
Why do you think the song is called “Kevin’s Heart”?
The music video is an important part of this song. The video stars the famous comedian/actor, Kevin Hart. Kevin Hart had publicly admitted to cheating on this wife after the birth of his son, back in 2017. His wife had found out about his extra marital affairs and the whole thing had been very public. It had a bad look on his career and he almost lost his marriage because of it.
Since then, Hart had apologized publicly and accepted that he had made a big mistake.
Hence, on this song, Cole puts himself in his friend’s (Kevin and Cole are friends) shoes and depicts the guilt, shame and the pain that Hart was feeling as he was being unfaithful to his loving wife.
Kudos to Kevin Hart for being a part of the music video. It takes courage to accept your mistakes.
It’s more like a poem than a song itself.
Lyrics Dissect:
She my number one, I don’t need nothing on the side
Said that I was done for good and don’t want no more lies
But my phone be blowing up, temptations on my line
I stare at the screen a while before I press decline
But she plants a seed and it still lingers in my mind
Told myself I’m strong enough to shake it and I’m trying
But I’m only human, I know loving you’s a crime
If I take this cookie now one day I’ll do the time
Here Cole depicts the struggles of a man to remain faithful in a loving marriage. He mentions that the man in fact, does not want to cheat on his wife. He doesn’t want to risk his marriage for some woman. But in this world full of temptations (to be with another woman), he finds it especially hard to keep his composure. And he acknowledges that if he does sleep with this woman (who is not his wife) then one day, he will be caught and he will have to face the consequences, “If I take this cookie now, one day I’ll do the time.” But he just can’t help it.
Slip me a xanny at once (somebody)
I got the earth in a blunt (smoke)
I get the skirt when I want (skrrt!)
I get the skirt when I want (skrrt!)
Due to the money aroma (somebody)
My girl she got a diploma (smoke)
She got wife written all over
She got wife written all over
Cole is referencing the man’s hedonistic lifestyle full of drugs (“xanny” is a term for drug Xanax, blunt is weed), women and money. ‘I get the skirt when I want’ means that he gets sex whenever he likes, as in he has multiple sexual partners in his life (presumably because he has so much money). And while he does all this, when he comes home and looks at his wife, he is filled with guilt (she reminds him of his wrong deeds), “She got wife written all over”.
All a nigga know is how to fuck a good thing up
Run from the pain, sip lean, smoke tree up
When I’m in your town press pound hit me up
When I’m in your town press pound hit me up
Only if you down and you slurp good D up
If the work good I’ll be back for the re-up
Hate when I creep and the phone wake me up
Fake like I’m sleep knowing damn well I be up
Monkey on my back and I walk a hundred miles
Guilt make a nigga feel fake when he smile
Love get confused in the mind of a child
‘Cause love wouldn’t lie like I lie and it’s wild
Wanna have my cake and another cake too
Even if the baker don’t bake like you
Even when the flavor don’t taste like you
So I’m back mobbing with the late night crew
All in your mind with fears that would come true
The back of my mind, the back of my mind was you
Wishing that I could blind myself from view
And only have eyes, and only have eyes for you
Here he dives deeper into what a man actually feels like, what are his thought when he is cheating. ‘All a nigga know is how to fuck a good thing up’. He says that, a man does not know how to become a good spouse (presumably because he is black) because it was common for black men to get arrested or leave their family to chase other women in the past, leaving a generation of black men to be raised by single mothers. Hence, the children who grew up without a father figure in life, do not know how to act like a man. Hence, they are prone to follow their absence father’s footsteps and mess up their family life too by cheating (they don’t know any better). And most black men, find refuge from their traumatizing life experiences and their messed-up relationships in drugs (sip lean and smoke ‘trees’ aka weed) and alcohol (which further degrades the problem).
Furthermore, he adds all the confusion and pain because of his unfaithfulness. ‘Love gets confused in the mind of the child”. He says that the man gets confused, because he loves his wife, but he is also lying to her about all of his unfaithful actions. And If he were to explain his behavior to an innocent child (who isn’t yet corrupt by the world), he would fail, because love doesn’t lie. Hence, he is torn apart within by his actions; he loves his wife, but he is doing the very things that would hurt her. He acknowledges that there is no one who can replace his wife (she is the one) but he still wanders around with other women (even if they are not as good as his own wife), ‘Even when the flavor don’t taste like you’. Just because he can’t help it.
(Repeat)
Slip me a xanny at once (somebody)
I got the earth in a blunt (smoke)
I get the skirt when I want (skrrt!)
I get the skirt when I want (skrrt!)
Due to the money aroma (somebody)
My girl she got a diploma (smoke)
She got wife written all over
She got wife written all over
I’m a fake nigga and it’s never been clearer
Can’t see myself when I look in the mirror
Can’t see myself when I look in the mirror
Can’t see myself when I look in the mirror
I’m a fake nigga and it’s never been clearer
Can’t see myself when I look in the mirror
Can’t see myself when I look in the mirror
Can’t see myself when I look in the mirror
Here again, the man is having issues with is self-respect. He is experiencing guilt. He feels fake to himself (because of all of his lies) and he can’t look at himself in the mirror because he is ashamed of himself.
(Repeat)
She my number one I don’t need nothing on the side
Said that I was done for good and don’t want no more lies
But my phone be blowing up, temptations on my line
I stare at the screen a while before I press decline
But she plants a seed and it still lingers in my mind
Told myself I’m strong enough to shake it and I’m trying
But I’m only human, I know loving you’s a crime
If I take this cookie now one day I’ll do the time
I love her, I don’t want to lose her
I’m selfish, I know that I use her
My ego get stroked and I bruise her
My ego get stroked and I bruise her
My actions I know they confusin’
At home I look happy as usual
On the road I’m a mack, I’m a chooser
I’m a addict, I’m maskin’ that
Kevin’s Heart
Here too, he reminds us that he is torn apart by his unfaithful actions. He knows that he loves his wife, but he is too selfish to be faithful to her. And in the last few lines of the verse, he draws the parallel between his cheating habit and addiction. Just as a drug addict at home would hide his addiction from his family, he too is hiding his affairs from his wife. And he feels sick about it,
They tell me “What’s done in the dark
Will find a way to shine”
I done did so much that when you see you might go blind
What’s done in the dark will always find a way to shine
I done did so much that when you see you might go blind
For me these are the best/most poetic lines of the song. They are so well written! Cole says, the man is ashamed of his actions and he most definitely regrets them, but what he fears the most is the pain that his wife would feel when she finds out what he had done. “I done did so much that when you see you might go blind”.
His biggest regret is the pain that he would cause to his loving wife.
It’s so sad and true, that you feel actually bad for the guy. J Cole can really make you feel bad for someone who lied and cheated on their significant other lol, talk about artistic ability!
This is one of the most honest and well written songs I have ever heard. Kudos to Cole and Hart for being brave enough to bring such subject to light. It takes courage to be so vulnerable in front of everyone.
Cheers!
= )
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