J. Cole dedicates “Love Yourz” to his fallen comrade.
During his well-received set at Dreamville Festival, J. Cole took a moment to reflect on the life and legacy Nipsey Hussle. “I gotta take time on stage and acknowledge someone who had a huge impact on the community, on the f-ckin world,” he told the crowd before dedicating his performance “Love Yourz” to Nipsey’s everlasting image consistency (in character).
Fittingly, “Love Yourz” f 2014 Forest Hills Drive, is a song about eternal reflections. The intimacy the song gets lost when performed in front thousands concertgoers. Then again, it’s the gesture that counts.
Mind you, a thoughtful J. Cole chose “Love Yourz” for a reason: because the didactic powers that are insinuated in the final measures the song. “Heart beatin’ fast, let a n—a know that he alive/fake n—-s, mad snakes. Snakes in the grass let a n—a know that he arrived,” he raps to close “Love Yourz” in a ster more reflective voice.
Before delving into “Love Yourz,” J. Cole asked the 40,000 in attendance to light up their cell phones, as if to simulate candlelight at a vigil. Cole was among the first Nipsey’s rapper peers to eulogy his passing on the 31st. “I respect and admire your career path and what you did for the neighborhood. My heart broke today when I saw the news,” he posted on Twitter. RIP Nipsey.