Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz
J. Cole found himself in hot water early Wednesday morning. The 4 Your Eyez Only rapper’s latest song, “Snow On Tha Bluff” was a welcomed return for rapper but also dire plenty of ire because of a few choice lyrics.
In the track, Cole raps, “Just ’cause you woke and I’m not, that sh*t ain’t no reason to talk like you better than me / How you gon’ lead, when you attacking the very same n*ggas that really do need the sh*t that you saying? / Instead of conveying you holier, come help get us up to speed / Sh*t, it’s a reason it took like two hundred years for our ancestors just to get freed.”
The issue dates back to May 29 when Chicago rapper and activist Noname wrote on Twitter about the lack of entertainers joining men and women on the front lines in regards to protests and demands for justice, yet have made their money off of Black plight. “Poor black folks all over the country are putting their bodies on the line in protest for our collective safety and y’all favorite top selling rappers not even willing to put a tweet up[…] n*ggas whole discographies be about black plight and they no where to be found.”
A day later on May 30, Cole was out in his hometown of Fayetteville, protesting in the name of the late George Floyd. Still, it was very specific who “Snow On Tha Bluff” was intended for, even if he didn’t say any names.
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On Wednesday (June 17), Cole took to Twitter for a rare moment of tweeting to defend not only the song but address his stance. ” I stand behind every word of the song that dropped last night,” the 35-year-old Cole wrote. “Right or wrong I can’t say, but I can say it was honest.”
He added, “Some assume to know who the song is about. That’s fine with me, it’s not my job to tell anybody what to think or feel about the work. I accept all conversation and criticisms. But Let me use this moment to say this Follow @noname. I love and honor her as a leader in these times. She has done and is doing the reading and the listening and the learning on the path that she truly believes is the correct one for our people. Meanwhile a n*gga like me just be rapping.”
“I haven’t done a lot of reading and I don’t feel well equipped as a leader in these times,” the K.O.D. rapper continued. “But I do a lot of thinking. And I appreciate her and others like her because they challenge my beliefs and I feel that in these times that’s important. We may not agree with each other but we gotta be gentle with each other.”
