Is J Cole Dissing Kanye West & Drake?
J. Cole takes aim and fires, but who are his targets? That’s the question fans are asking after the release of “False Prophets” and “Everybody Dies” from Jermaine’s TIDAL documentary Eyez and presumably off his forthcoming album 4 Your Eyez Only.
So far, fans are speculating that “False Prophets” is, at least in part, about Kanye West, with lyrics about a “star” who “caught our hearts” but is now “fallin’ apart.” “When he tell us he a genius but it’s clearer lately,” raps Cole. “It’s been hard for him to look into the mirror lately / There was a time when this ni**a was my hero, maybe / That’s the reason why his fall from grace is hard to take.” The “hearts” reference has been seen as a nod to 808s & Heartbreak, while his “falling apart” quote could be a possible prediction or reflection of Yeezy’s recent hospitalisation.
Some have called that a diss aimed at West, particularly because he ends the verse by saying he will “never top” his old material. However, listeners have suggested that it’s merely a moment of tough love and disappointment as he acknowledges West might be “crying out for help.”
Within that same verse, fans are wondering if Drake might be another possible target. Here, Cole adds: “When come to find out these ni**as don’t even write their shit / Hear some new style bubbling up, then they bite that shit.”
We all know Drake has been criticised for both of those things since ghostwriting allegations surfaced last year and with “Hotline Bling’s” likeness to D.R.A.M.’s “Cha Cha,”
