"Crooked Smile" is a song by American hip hop recording artist and record producer

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his d ...

, released June 4, 2013, as the second official single from his second studio album, ''

Born Sinner ''Born Sinner'' is the second studio album by American rapper and record producer J. Cole. It was released on June 18, 2013, by ByStorm Entertainment, Columbia Records, Dreamville Records and Roc Nation. The album serves as the follow-up to his de ...

'' (2013). The song was produced by Cole himself, and

Elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

. The song samples

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and talk show host. Throughout her career, she has received various accolades for her works in recorded music, film, televisio ...

’s "

No One Gonna Love You "No One Gonna Love You" is a song recorded by American singer Jennifer Hudson. It was written by Rich Harrison who also produced the song. It is the second US single from her second album ''I Remember Me''. It impacted radio in the United States ...

" and features guest vocals from R&B group

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

. The song peaked at number 27 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Background

The single features the R&B group

who had not released a new single in over seven years since the release of their single " I Bet (feat. O'so Krispie)", which was released in 2005 as part of the digital version of their compilation '' Now and Forever: The Hits'', and as a promotional cut from their reality series ''

R U the Girl ''R U the Girl'' (also known as ''R U the Girl with T-Boz and Chilli'') is an American reality television music competition series that aired on UPN in 2005. The series featured Tionne Watkins, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda Thomas, Rozonda "Ch ...

''. An editor from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' commented on the song saying: "The ''Born Sinner ''track is an uplifting ode to all those who continue to hold their heads up, especially women, and the importance of inner beauty." The original version of Crooked Smile was released January 28, 2014 on Dreamville's compilation mixtape titled ''Revenge of the Dreamers'', the song samples "Str8 Ballin'" by

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

Music video

After Cole and TLC had teased the music video for over a month, on September 18, 2013 the video was released. TLC does not appear in the video with J. Cole but their verses are featured. It is dedicated to Aiyana Stanley-Jones.

Live performances

J. Cole performed the song, along with his other single " Power Trip" from his second album, at the 2013 BET Awards on June 30, 2013. On August 13, 2013, he performed the song on '' Conan''.

Accolades

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked the song at number 37 on their list of the 100 Best Songs of 2013. The song was nominated for ''The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter’s Award'' at the 2013

Soul Train Music Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

. The music video was nominated for a 2014

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

for ''Best Video With A Social Message''.

Awards and nominations

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Radio and release history

References

{{Authority control 2013 singles J. Cole songs TLC (group) songs Roc Nation singles Songs written by J. Cole Song recordings produced by J. Cole Songs written by Meleni Smith Columbia Records singles