Show 1: J. Cole for $1, and a Dream[er] Deferred

It’s Spring 2007, and J. Cole is living in Jamaica, Queens, about to graduate from St. John’s University with a 3.8 GPA.

That’s the same GPA that catapulted me from a B.A. at The City College of New York to 21 year-old, Ph.D. student at the CUNY Graduate Center.

2007 is the same year I was supposed to finish my dissertation on the effects of child abuse over the life course, meaning this undocumented immigrant since first grade was about to make everyone call him “Doctor Cris.”

Instead, it was the year I left doctoral study for good.

At the Forest Hills Drive 10th Anniversary concert on 12/16/24 at Madison Square Garden, J. Cole included “Mohammed crib classics” in the set list. These are the early songs (think “2Face”, “Grown Simba”, “I Get Up”) he made while he was renting out a tiny room in Jamaica, Queens from his former landlord, Mohammed.

Mohammed’s crib, is near 169th Street- now also known as Little Bangladesh Avenue. That particular part of Jamaica is Brown- Bangladeshi Brown to be exact. But there is no denying that Jamaica, Queens has been largely Black since my family and me moved to the area three decades ago.

And on the corner of 168th and Hillside Avenue in the Spring of 2007, I took the Q43 bus a few express stops to return the tiny attic my family rented since my adolescent years to move the rest of my belongings back from my 3 bedroom, $1500/month apartment in Harlem.

My mom was about to have brain surgery. And she would be disabled for the rest of her life.

And so my dreams had to be deferred.

There’s no way I could focus on a dissertation while helping my mom recover from brain surgery…

While also commuting back to work in Harlem helping dozens of Black and Brown high school students get to college and earn scholarships…

While also THIS…

2007 marked the release of J. Cole’s “The Come Up”. For me, 2007 was the downfall of my family and my aspirations.

On the cold, rainy Monday morning of 12/16/24 at 8:55am, I waited inside the 14th Street and 7th Avenue station in Manhattan, refreshing my X feed every 20 seconds on Ibrahim Hamad’s account. That’s J. Cole’s manager, and he previously gave hints on where the secret location for the $1 and a Dream tickets would be

At 9:10am, the announcement was made. My strategy paid off- I was just 1 subway stop away from Union Square, home of Irving Plaza.

2 hours wetter and $1 poorer, I got access to the concert that settled my internal debate on who was the best rapper of this era.

Pound for pound, it’s J. Cole. The measure of an artist, or any person for that matter, transcends their own words, deeds, or even their own art.

It’s in the affected.

Judge an artist by how they move their fans.

I passionately sang all the words to “Planez” and “Power Trip” during the concert, knowing all the places in the song I’m not going to say the N word.

It’s in the fans more dedicated than me rapping every word of every song, absent of the mosh pits I experienced with Kendrick Lamar crowds or the pop crowd sensibilities that come with a Drake show.

It’s J. Cole closing the show by telling us to show love to the stranger next to us at Madison Square Garden. It’s the fan next to me asking me if smoking some weed would bother me- as if he had to get my permission.

It’s in the affected.

It’s how the newborn stops crying when you’re trying to protect him and his mother from deranged death threats from your own mother.

It’s the Dominican girl, Yakira, who you lock in the college office on a Saturday to ensure she completes her New York University application, finally giving in with full trust, and later being accepted on full scholarship.

It’s being offered a 3 bedroom apartment for just $1500 because the Puerto Rican kid you helped get to college has a thankful grandmother who’s a landlord.

And it’s the Indian freshman college student from Salt Lake City who said you should move up a spot because you got to the $1 and a dream ticket line before her but got squeezed out as dozens of fans tried to skip ahead in line.

It’s you telling everyone to go see J. Cole & friends at the final Dreamville Festival in April 2025.

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As gratitude to our first subscribers, here is access to free concerts by Saweetie (in Los Angeles), Sinead Harnett (in Houston), Jacquees (in Atlanta), and Kane Brown (in Nashville courtesy of Verizon and Complex.

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To celebrate the launch of Stubs by GrantAnswers (and my recent birthday + a new year), join me and my friends for a free concert on Thursday, January 9th at the BAM Cafe in Brooklyn, NY with one of the most heralded vocalists & songwriters over the past 20 years. RSVP here.

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About the author:

Cris Mercado is the award-winning Founder & CEO of GrantAnswers, an NYC-based data, strategy & consulting firm founded in 2013. His journey from undocumented immigrant to award-winning entrepreneur & immigrant rights advocate has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, MTV, and Forbes. He has helped +1000s launch careers in tech & secure acceptances to top colleges & programs. His speaking engagements for the likes of Teach for America and the US Chamber of Commerce encompass immigration, career development, entrepreneurship, and tech diversity & inclusion. He is also an avid concertgoer for +25 years and counting, and likes to tell stories about it.