J. Cole strikes a cord as he sends a strong message with the music video for his hit single “Crooked Smile” featuring TLC.
A family gathering turns tragic in the cinematic clip, which was inspired by Aiyana Stanley-Jones, the 7-year-old girl who was killed in a Detroit drug raid in 2010.
Cole plays the young girl’s big brother. His parents and sister come over to celebrate her birthday, but cops end up raiding the house at night, arresting Cole for drugs and shooting the innocent girl.
Meanwhile, one of the police officers is shown in similar scenes with his daughter, who happens to be Cole’s sister’s classmate. Despite their different backgrounds, they’re more similar than they thought.
He dedicates the somber clip to Stanley-Jones with a message: “And please reconsider your war on drugs.”
See the stirring visuals below:
