Rapper J. Cole is arguably one of the best rappers to ever bless the mic. The North Carolina native is known for socially conscious songs such as “Tales from Two Cities,” “No Role Modelz” and also for his backyard kickback type of songs such “In the Morning,” “Can’t Get Enough” and many more bangers.
Since the release of Revenge of the Dreamers III, J. Cole been behind the scenes, appearing on songs with label-mates and also focused on producing.
Recently, J. Cole released the song, “Snow on Tha Bluff,” where he addresses the current protests and riots spurring the country, following the death of George Floyd by the hands of law enforcement (police brutality). Although most who heard the song, including myself, would’ve thought Cole would continue to address the issues within the black community, Cole actually addresses an unnamed woman who he believes that may be more educated than he is and should be the leader in the front lines, alluding to the fact he is not fully equipped to properly address the issues, especially with black women being killed by the hands of police.
The unnamed woman that many presumed Cole was talking about in the song was singer Noname, who had previously made tweets on Twitter, regarding ‘top-selling rappers’ for their silence in the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.
Many fans and other celebrities criticized J Cole’s gentle yet subliminal “diss” towards Noname, initiating the argument that he was being highly insensitive, making excuses for himself, and that “BW should not need to educate us on things we already supposed to know.”
Of those, many celebrities that criticize Cole’s track were fellow rappers Chance the Rapper & Earl Sweatshirt, who believed that the song was ‘trash’ and should’ve kept the song in his archives.
Yet another L for men masking patriarchy and gaslighting as contructive criticism.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 17, 2020
As a longtime fan of Cole, I haven’t been feeling his music lately, notably because I am a fan of his much older songs I still favor till this day, especially from Friday Night Lights & The Warm Up mixtapes. Like his last album, K.O.D, was not all that in my personal, however, I know that Cole would always jump back and come out a song for the streets and for the brothers struggling to make it out.
What are your thoughts? Do you believe that J. Cole was being a little bit insensitive and making excuses for himself or do you believe that he was in deep admiration for Noname and believe that she should try to educate him on topics that he is not well knowledgeable of?
