In his video for "Crooked Smile (feat. TLC)" J. Cole dedicates the video to Aiyana Stanley-Jones, a 7-year-old girl who was shot during a police raid in her Detroit home back in 2010.
The short film, directed by Sheldon Candis, shows back-and-forth images of Cole and a DEA agent going through their separate morning routines. The agent eats breakfast with his daughter. Cole stuffs marijuana into pairs of shoes — at which point we figure he is a drug dealer.
Cole's little sister, who looks about the same age as the DEA agent's daughter, comes over to his home celebrates her birthday with Cole's character and his family.
Meanwhile, the DEA are on stake out in a van near Cole's house. Later in the night, they raid the home. While his little sister in the room sleeping, the police knock in the doors and arrest Cole. The little girl looks to see what's going on through a crack in the door, and an officer shoots her dead. The video shows images of past memories. We discover that Cole's sister and the DEA agent's daughter were in the same class.
As Cole sits in the back of the police car, the officer carries his sister's lifeless body out of the house, and the words "For Aiyana Stanley-Jones" flash across the screen, followed by, "And please reconsider your war on drugs."
According to MTV News, the Chairman of Justice for the Aiyana Stanley-Jones Committee, Roland Lawrence, issued a statement along with the release of the video. "There can be no forgetting what happened to an innocent 7 year old as she slept in her grandmother's arms," he said. "This effort and recognition by J. Cole hopefully will call us all on the table as it pertains to injustice in America, and, in fact, injustice everywhere."
The song for the video comes off his latest album, "Born Sinner," which was released back in June. Cole is currently on tour in support of the album. He will play the iHeartRadio Music Festival tomorrow.
What did you think of the video? Let us know in the comments section below.
