J. Cole’s “She Knows” Lyrics Meaning

J. Cole is a rapper who treads that thin line between being both intellectual and gangsta, if you will. Or as the album “She Knows” is derived from puts it, he is a “born sinner”. Within this context, that’s basically another way of saying that he knows right from wrong but often decides to go with the latter. And such is the case with “She Knows”, a song that centers around the concepts of infidelity and promiscuity.

Meaning of “She Knows”

Concerning the title, it can be taken one of two ways. Either it would be alluding to the vocalist’s actual girlfriend, i.e. the one he’s cheating on with the woman he’s dealing with in the song. Or, he could be talking about said woman herself. That is to say that the two of them got involved even though they’re both committed to others. 

So maybe what he is saying is that “she knows” ultimately their relationship ain’t really going anywhere. But all things considered, the first postulation would make more sense.

Well, maybe. This piece, especially as far as how the title is utilized, can be a bit tricky to decipher. But what it ultimately boils down to is the vocalist noting how certain romantic interests in his life want to settle down with him. 

However, he is not privy to complying for a couple of reasons. One is that when he hooks up with this type of lady, as stated earlier she is already in a committed relationship. So he sees their own romance as being more along the lines of a fling. 

But secondly and more to the point as far as Cole’s own explanation of this song would be the fact that there’s always shorties up in his face. Or put more plainly, he’s constantly being tempted. And as noted earlier, sometimes he’s inclined to give in to that temptation.

The Moral

So the moral of the story is that “she knows”. The rapper may be out playing his little romance games, screwing around with other chicks behind his real girlfriend’s back. But “she knows” nonetheless. So the penalty is that he too has to go about wondering if his true boo is messing with some other dude(s) also.

Deceased Legends

There is also some other stuff going on in the lyrics. For instance, the vocalist utilizes half of the bridge to give a shoutout to ‘stars’ that passed away such as the following:

• Aaliyah
• Michael Jackson
• Left Eye of TLC fame

But doing so may be related to the main narrative. And what Jermaine would be saying in that regard, most simply put, is that being a celebrity is dangerous. And part of the peril, within the context of the entire piece, would be having to deal with a heightened degree of sexual temptation. And that would also theoretically be the general notion upon which the second bridge is based.

In Conclusion

So conclusively, perhaps we can say this is a true musical work of art. In other words, the vocalist could have used simpler language to get these relatively easy-to-understand points across. But instead, J. Cole challenges the listener to also put some things together themselves. 

Either way, at least at that point in his career, he apparently wasn’t one of those types of rappers who revels in the fact that their success gives them access to various hot women. Instead, the way he sees it is that reality is more of a detriment as far as establishing a lasting romance goes.

“And she knows, she knows
And I know she knows, and I know she knows”

Facts about “She Knows”

This song is from early in J. Cole’s career, i.e. his second studio album, “Born Sinner”. In fact “She Knows” was the fourth single from that project and released as such on 29 October 2013. The following labels supported its release:

• Columbia Records
• Dreamville
• Roc Nation

J. Cole served as both a writer and producer of this track. The late DMX (1970-2021) is also acknowledged as a co-writer. This is because a song he dropped back in 2000 entitled “What These B–ches Want” is interpolated into “She Knows”. And the other writers are:

• Ryan Mattos
• Medline McKenna

J. Cole had assistance in producing this song in the form of Ken Lewis. And they sampled a track entitled “Bad Things” (2011) by a band known as Cults. Said sample would be why Cults is recognized as an official feature on “Bad Things”. And the other featured singer is a vocalist from L.A. named Amber Coffman. Amber also participated with J. Cole on a couple of other tracks.

More Interesting Facts

The director of this track’s music video, Sam Pilling, praised J. Cole for firmly supporting his “vision” for the clip. And the said support included the rapper pushing to get professional actors to participate, with the video featuring the likes of Harold Perrineau of Lost fame.

In mid-2021 this song experienced a resurgence in popularity due to the most proven method of doing so these days, i.e. going viral on TikTok.

“She Knows” appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 but performed most impressively on their US Rhythmic chart, where it peaked at number 10. And the song has also been certified silver across the pond.

Just to note, J. Cole also namedrops the late civil rights’ icon Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) in the first verse. MLK is often presented as being an example of moral excellence. But he too is known as having had his issues when it comes to sexual temptation.

Other celebrities who receive recognition in the lyrics include the aforementioned DMX, fellow rappers Blackstar (Mos Def and Talib Kweli) and MLK’s wife, Coretta Scott King (1927-2006).

Comments

EMILY says:

“I truly regret not having discovered ‘She Knows’ earlier. I can’t believe it was released way back in October of 2013. The song fills me with an inexplicable excitement whenever it plays. Perhaps it’s because it reminds me of the strong bond I share with my sister, who happens to be the closest person to me in the entire world. I find the most captivating part of the song to be when the song pays homage to some of my all-time favorite artists, Aaliyah, Left Eye, and Michael Jackson in the lines, ‘Rest in peace to Left Eye (Left Eye)’, ‘Michael Jackson, I’ll see ya’, ‘Just as soon as I die (I die)’ and ‘I’ll see ya, just as soon as I die (I die)’. This particular section of the song is incredibly profound.”

CHESTER says:

“I have a sense that this song might be inspired by a true story because it sounds very real and scary. The song also coincidentally aligns with a personal event in my life. My elder brother passed away on September 29th, 2013, which happened to be exactly a month to the song’s official release. I mention this because the part where the young children sing feels incredibly genuine. When I shared this observation with my younger sister, it genuinely frightened her. As for the beginning of the song, the less said about it, the better, as it evokes a sense of unease and fear.”