In the works of Ovid, one can see a clear attempt to almost gamify the art of courtship and by extension love. Especially in the third book, we can see these attempts geared towards women in their attempts to find a husband or spouse. Such quotes offer advice like “Put on the finishing touches privately, out of our sight./Why do I have to know the cause of your lovely complexion?/Shut the studio door, don’t give the artist away!”(pg. 160, Ovid Book 3) and “So, take pains to improve the endowments nature has given;/With sufficient neglect, Venus would look like a hag”(pg. 156). On the other hand, in the song “Crooked Smile” J Cole instead emphasizes that women should not focus on her physical appearance in order to find a spouse and that they should instead not focus on finding a husband but on their own inner beauty. J Cole sings lines that state “You wake up, put makeup on/Stare in the mirror but its clear that you can’t face what’s wrong/No need to fix what God already put his paint brush on” and also “With all the pressure to look impressive and go out in heels/I feel for you/Killing yourself to find a man that will kill for you”. J Cole also sympathizes with females as they are victim to a society that places a heavy emphasis on their physical appearance and their other flaws, stating “And when I tell you that you’re beautiful you can’t be sure/‘Cause he don’t seem to want you back/And it got you asking/So all you see is what you lacking/Not what you packing”. Ovid decides to instead utilize these societal pressures to manipulate women into behaving how he sees fit, and in doing so reinforces these stereotypes about men and women that pertain to their attraction and physical appearance respectively.
However, there are some similarities between these two works. The second book of Ovid mentions how one should “Let you mistress hear nothing but what they desire/…/Words that are sweet to the ear; make her be glad that you are there”(pg. 135, Book 2). And as such, this is possibly the purpose of this song. J Cole himself does mention how “I keep my twisted grill…/…/I got smart, I got rich, and I got b*tches still”, which first implies that his own deficient physical appearance might make him applicable to follow Ovid’s advice, and second also indicates that he maintains relations with multiple women; at least at the present moment. This does raise into question the purpose of this song, as it potentially is a manner for him to attract other women to his clade. After all, how many women who view themselves as less than desirable would appreciate a man who tells that he doesn’t care for physical appearance?
“Put on the finishing touches privately, out of our sight./Why do I have to know the cause of your lovely complexion?/Shut the studio door, don’t give the artist away!”(pg. 160, Ovid Book 3)
“So, take pains to improve the endowments nature has given;/With sufficient neglect, Venus would look like a hag”(pg. 156)
“Let you mistress hear nothing but what they desire/…/Words that are sweet to the ear; make her be glad that you are there”(pg. 135, Book 2)