Hollywood Popular Artists

Jul 22nd 2013, 16:41, by MTV Act

By Rachel Taylor

A Born Sinner at the top of the Billboard charts is putting awareness before album sales. Sunday evening J. Cole Tweeted "I said something in a rap that was offensive to those with Autism. Feel terrible. A tweeted apology wouldn't do."

The Tweet linked to a post on his website entitled "Autism Speaks." In the heartfelt note J. Cole apologized for his hurtful words and offered his respect to all those diagnosed with autism.

In his verse on Drake's song "Jodeci Freestyle," J. Cole rapped, "I'm artistic, you n***** autistic, retarded." The rapper admitted in his blog post that he sometimes resents when artists are asked to apologize for their music. This was not such a scenario. Cole introduced the note with, "This letter is sincere. This apology IS necessary." He wrote,"To the entire Autism community who expressed outrage, I'm moved and inspired by your passion, and I'm amazed at how strong you are as a unit. I have now read stories online from parents about their struggles and triumphs with raising an Autistic child and I admire how incredibly strong you have to be to do so. It's touching."

The rapper followed with a pledge of his support, writing,"I want to educate myself more on Autism, and I'll gladly own my mistake and serve as an example to today's generation that there's nothing cool about mean-spirited comments about someone with Autism. People with this disorder and their loved ones have to go through so much already, the last thing they need is to hear something as ignorant as what I said. I understand."

J. Cole embodies the rapper with street cred and smarts -- he graduated Magna Cum Laude from St. John's University and even wants to go back to school. But this takes conscious rappers to another level. In his note, he also wrote, "I'm bound to make mistakes in my life, but in my heart I just want to spread Love." I think that's something we can all agree on, yeah? To join forces with J. Cole learn more about autism with our action widgets below.

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