J. Cole Dedicates “Crooked Smile” Video To Aiyana Stanley-Jones
The “War On Drugs” and law officials killing innocent people during raids have nothing to do with J. Cole’s “Crooked Smile” song, but the 28-year-old rapper decided to shed some light on Aiyana Stanley-Jones’ story in the accompanying video.
In 2010, Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley shot and killed 7-year-old Aiyana during a raid targeting a murder suspect.
The music video finds J. Cole playing a drug dealer with a young daughter. A white man portraying a DEA agent provides juxtaposition. He too has a young daughter and is leading the raid against Cole’s character.
As the scenes progress, so does the suspense. Of course the most dramatic moment was the actual gunshot, but the scene that’s likely to bring out the waterworks took place in a classroom. Both Cole’s character and the DEA agent’s daughters were friends. Six degrees of separation is always enthralling.
Hats off to Cole and whoever wrote the treatment. Hopefully an alternative video is released and includes the song’s guest features TLC.