What brought you here?

"It's beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success" - Jermaine Cole (J. Cole)

Hip-hop artists such as J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino have a large following on many social media platforms because of the quality of the content they upload and share with their fans and the world. Most artist don’t show the production process of their work however after viewing a video of a studio session with J. Cole showing the creative process of his single featuring Miguel, “Power Trip”, put studio production into perspective and how what seemed like an impossible process, is in actuality possible to create. J. Cole directly reaches fans and those that have a passion for music and creating music, by uploading videos such as this one, on how his team and his own musical background influenced him to create this specific beat and tell a story through his lyrics using word play and other writing techniques.

This type of in-depth footage showing the breakdown of music production and showing how the artist’s ideas come to life through music is what builds respect for the artist's work. These videos entertain, influence and can inspire viewers such as myself to follow their passion and chase their dreams because it is possible and to always be humble.

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"The hard times (or struggle) will forceably humble you and make you learn how to be grateful and appreciate every single thing in this life. With that humble approach to life you will be able to appreciate and recognize the beauty in life." - Zk123 (genius.com, annotator and moderator)

References:

Youtubecom. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 4 March, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjxdny59Coc

Page 31. (2013). Q&A Interview Spread: Elite. Retrieved 4 March, 2016, from http://page-31.com/spread_detail.php?QA-Interview-Spread-Elite/1546&page=1

Geniuscom. (2016). Genius. Retrieved 4 March, 2016, from http://genius.com/4478958