Why Hip-Hop Doesn’t Respect J. Cole Anymore

j.cole's career was in a very different place at the beginning of 2024 back then jcole was coming in hot after a legendary feature run that led complex to name him as the best rapper of last year despite the fact that he didn't even release a single project while he hadn't dropped it yet the long anticipated album The fallof was expected to come out sometime this year and everyone was ecstatic to see what Cole had in store but now the world has turned on its head and not only have some of Hip Hop's most influential voices turned against him but even parts of his own fan base have as well in just a matter of months the fallof has gone from need it to keep it for a lot of users while Cole himself is being accused of ruining his entire Legacy piece by piece with one terrible miscalculation after another it's your boy Lea and today we're looking at how jcole lost his respects with a culture that once idolized him but to explain how the perception of Cole has shifted so drastically to the point that it looks like his career might have taken critical damage we need to First remind ourselves of how we were discussing this particular MC before all of this happened rapping since a young age under names like the therapist and blaza J's Journey from a hardworking student at St John's University who released a string of classic mixtapes to becoming a Rock Nation s and a highly respected MC in his own right is well documented but it's important to remember that throughout his career Cole has always emphasized that he never wanted to just be on the field but that he specifically aimed to be a star player in the game in fact long before he was even considered in that conversation he was always driven by the desire to be seen as the goat some people want to be great and and and be the greatest so their mind state is different some people just want to make the lead that's the highest they can see I I just always was seeing past that so when I got a record deal everybody was like oh my God you you signed a Jay-Z I'm like I'm looking at that bank account and more than that I'm looking at what I haven't done and I'm like I'm not even I'm barely celebrating this you know what I mean so so I think it's just like sustainability comes from like looking ahead and being very clear on what you want do you want to make the leag or do you want to be one of the goats you know what I mean that's a different type of uh mentality I think it's no secret that Cole achieved a lot throughout his lengthy career and it's thanks to none other than that winner mentality he went platinum with no feature so many times that it became a meme at one point launched his own dreamville label successfully and even brought the entire hip-hop Community together for the Revenge of the dreamers 3 project besides that he was praised for being above the industry Poli politics or negative traits that are usually associated with the genre with fans saying things like jcole is worth $17 million he rides around on a bike with no guns and no security and no one bothers him he's not stunting not flossing he's not messing with other guys' girlfriends he's not kicking guys who are less fortunate he's humble gracious enough to seem like he was accepting third place on tracks like Heaven's EP where he said Drake and Kendrick were still Superstars to him some people say that I'm running third they threw the bronze at me behind that yeah them [ __ ] are superstars to me Co seem content to follow his own path in hip-hop and favorite relationships with his fellow rappers over asserting himself as the best like nobody can really relate to that like these dudes and I really genuinely [ __ ] with these dudes so like I've been trying to you know absolutely make an effort like strip the competition from it like y'all [ __ ] are cemented forever I will hope that I'm cemented forever and if not I will be you know when it's all said and done like the competition part I've Stripped Away and I'm now on some [ __ ] like man I'm more in the relationship because I also see a time when I'm not doing this 100% of people are never going to say jcole is the best rapid breathing you you won't get 90% to say Drake you won't get 90% to say Kendrick it's just never going to happen it comes with age to realize that like yo what are you even worried about I approach my bars from that perspective but the reality of me knows that's unattainable when you look back at that comment it's crazy to see how a small mistake changed everything about how people saw Cole just a few years later but we'll be talking about that more in the second half of this video in it was Cole's level-headed approach to hip-hop that won over fans and even fellow artists as they feel like he truly upheld what the hip-hop genre was all about I feel I feel J Cole should have walked some Ramy the fact that he did a whole album no features he really did what what Nas did on his first record it was it was I can remember people like liking Nas to rock Kim again they were saying that that that that the standard was was met again and and and and exceeded I think that jcole met a certain standard by doing that I think that he brought attention away from the hype of who are the features the hype of who are the producers and he put the hype firmly on the meat of the records I think that Jay C has did something bigger than a Grammy he has given a cultural expectation to a group of kids who didn't have that marker before I think that he has redirected the hype of who can I collab with and how can I how could I grow myself and I'm very proud of that brother for that over time Co would increasingly acquire more flowers as he settled into his role as one of hip-hop's most respected artists including other members of The Big Three I got to say this just cuz you know like I don't I don't always want to have like a heartfelt moment when we're on stage together and [ __ ] but you know you did that pipe down freestyle the other day right you were saying in the freestyle about you know they handed you to Bron and whatever whatever me and Kendrick I just want you to understand something you are genuinely without a doubt one of the greatest rappers to ever touch a in this life time and I want to let you know it's way too many people in the world that think and know that jcole is at top on the pole position I love you all you're my brother one of my favorite artists and I always appreciate but what is notable is that while J.Cole spoke openly about his desire to put aside the need to dominate the game or surpass the achievements of his fellow rappers he also created a contradiction when it came time to actually spit on a track from claiming that he was the hardest on his famous La leakers freestyle you want shoot and shoot don't play with me hard as [ __ ] out the South since slavery [ __ ] to increasingly claiming if rappers want to smoke then he's a whole [ __ ] nicotine company on projects like the off season to say that Cole has been filling himself since the churn of the decade is an understatement deviating from the messages he gave out in the interview Cole not only wanted to Take On The World himself but instilling mentality in his dreamville sese that they could compete head-to-head with the biggest Clicks in the world we just really competing with TD this is whole another thing we competing with TDE that's what needs to be known dreamville we got to step this [ __ ] the [ __ ] up them [ __ ] is fire we got Step It Up claiming that he could cook any rapper that was sent his way Cole invited an attack for years until he got one because soon it was one of these bravado field bars that would bring Cole's career to a dangerous Crossroad when they AR is it K do is it auy or me we The Big Three like we started a leag but right now I feel like Muhammad Ali on firstperson shooter Co delivered a backhanded compliment at both Drake and Kendrick while claiming they were the biggest artists in the game pinpointing that he is the Muhammad Ali would imply that he is truly the greatest in this field at the time that he delivered These Bars it fit in with the image we had of Cole as for years now he had nurtured this perception that he'd willingly shred any rapper to the point that veterans like Royce the 59 and Joe butd in were claiming that he was the only one who upheld that spirit in today's industry it looks like job is the only one one being competitive he's the only one who's rapping with the kind of conviction that says you know like I still value the number one spot as a Lyricist I got Cole as my one I'm hoping that Kendrick's next album could try to fix that for me Drake is doing his Chuck-E-Cheese [ __ ] good film different battles that's it now yeah that's it this belief was shared widely across the game and legends like bust of Rhymes thought that Cole wouldn't hesitate to go all out if a beef ever started I think a lot of light is being shine on Cole right now because he's dis playing himself in that way cuz he's being real active with features from the little yachty to the Drake to 21 Savage like he's moving and shaking in that space with Grace and and he and he's and he's making sure you understand that he ain't got no problem with chopping your head off too with fans leaving comments like I've been saying Jermaine Cole seems to be the only rapper that took Kendrick Lamar's control verse seriously and jcole is the best rapper alive and it's not up for debate it's clear that Busta Roy and Joe were on to something but the problem with all these remarks from rappers and fans is that now Cole has made them feel like they were deceived all along because as you probably know by now Cole's World changed for the worst with one bar from Kendrick Lamar on the song like that where he said mother [ __ ] the big three it's just big me faced with Kendrick throwing that kind of Gauntlet down to both him and Drizzy Cole was in a difficult position after all those bars about how he wanted smoke the dreamville CEO knew that he was expected to respond even if it was clear that he felt no animosity towards dot a man who he know known since way back in 2011 like much of what Cole has said over the years he basically foretold the issues he faced when it came to the whole world expecting a response from him and as he told Lil yti feeling the pressure from the hip-hop Community critics or social media can make you act in ways that aren't true to yourself the conversation can be toxic if you're not protective of your energy you can get wrapped up in that [ __ ] and and and then be affected mentally you know what I mean you can be hurt you can be distraught you can be depressed it can cause you if you're not protecting your energy to move mve in a certain way but crazily he also acknowledged that he knew this was just part of the game and that it didn't govern his decision making imagine the music industry where nobody cared to talk about it and nobody cared to come up with a narrative although it sucks when the narrative is trash and it's toxic and it might be whack or it might be personal like the incident you talking about where it might feel a little personal it's like yo bro we this this what we signed up for but no matter how much wisdom he could give out to Lil boat when he was removed from the heat of that situation it was clearly too much for him to handle when the whole was waiting for him to respond to Kos like that first and with that 7-minute drill was born but it did not do the damage he was expecting it to do a track that took aim at Dot's catalog and suggested he was ready to go to war with Kendrick if he had to the track was one of the biggest talking points off his mixtape might delete later but the only problem was that it seemed like his heart wasn't in it and yet people knew that this is what hip-hop demanded of him this is a weak dis clearly jcole did not want to do this and yet he did it anyway I mean I sort of get it the the the hip-hop fandom is toxic in such a way that if jcole did kind of come out and and and was serious and was real uh about how he actually felt about this and was just like I don't want to do this guys I think it's kind of lame like that would be valid that would be so [ __ ] down to earth and and honestly just reality but if Jak CLE did that if he actually said that in response all all the fans would clown him and just be like oh you you're lame you [ __ ] [ __ ] which honestly sucks while this track this response does kind of blow it's not really a shot against J Cole's Artistry or credibility because I think what the problem ultimately is here is that his heart really wasn't into a response like this and again even if this track is mid which it very much is I can sympathize with that although not everyone is on board with fantano's perspective I personally think that he was right and Cole really wanted no part of releasing that track as a result he took to the stage at the dreamville festival and not only admitted that all of the outside chatter had gotten to him but also that he would be removing the song from streaming services so I'm so proud of that project except for one part it's one part of that [ __ ] that make me feel like man that's the lamest [ __ ] I ever did in my [ __ ] life right and I know this is not what a lot of people want to hear I know I can hear my [ __ ] up there right now like nah I don't do that but I got to keep it 100 with y'all y'all heard some [ __ ] that happened two two 3 weeks ago however long it was y'all y'all y'all heard that bazooka that was dropped on the mother [ __ ] game right all of this time of me moving on my own accord for the first time I was tested why am I tested cuz I got the world and I got my [ __ ] like what you going to do Cole and I was conflicted because one I know my heart you know what I mean and like I know how I feel about my peers these two [ __ ] that I just been blessed to even stand beside in this game let alone chase chase their greatness right so I felt conflicted cuz I'm like bro I know I don't really feel no way but the world want to see blood in my Spirit of trying to like get this music out I ain't going to lie to y'all I moved in a way that was that I feel spiritually feel bad on me like like I try to like jab my [ __ ] back and I try to keep it friendly but at the end of the day when I listen to it and when it comes out and I see the talk that [ __ ] don't sit right with my spirit that [ __ ] make me feel that [ __ ] disrupts my [ __ ] piece although he might have not known it at the time j.cole's world would never be the same again after this moment as suddenly the rapper Hood came up on sheer lyricism and up holding the traditions of the game had just violated one of the biggest rules of the genre and that's that he kept opening the floodgates for both rappers and fans to pile lawn in a way that in all honesty he might not fully recover from in the interest of fairness let me clear that not everyone thinks what Cole did at the dreamville festival was a complete misstep instead they think it was just a mission to rescue his sanity Cole's the guy who recognizes the party is going to end in gunshots he left at the right time Cole sleeping really well as for people like Charlamagne and TI they praised Cole for exhibiting a level of maturity that we're not used to seeing and remaining true to himself what did you feel when when Cole said I'm not being a part of this man I feel he chose peace and Tranquility yeah man you got to have thick skin you got to really be unfazed and unbothered it takes a real human to check himself and say man what I'm what I'm doing I don't even believe in I don't believe what I said I don't even believe in what I did apologize and keep it moving y'all want a man to attack a man For Your Entertainment because we are culture that feeds off conflict we just have to have some conflict to Feast on we like to see people at war with each other because so many of us are at war with ourselves it's really that really that simple salute to Cole for breaking the cycle especially if he simply doesn't want to okay good for you Cole for not succumbing to the peer pressure of your homeboys other artists social media whatever it is okay but the only problem that a lot of people are having is that if Cole is all about being authentic and sticking to his values and beliefs then it invalidates a whole lot of his bars in recent years plus even those who see it as a wise move still can't fathom how much of it goes against how you're supposed to conduct yourself in hip-hop because while people like Charlamagne might have a point about the grown man mindset of jcole that isn't an opinion that's held by most of the culture that Cole has strived to keep alive for so many years and as Mick Jenkins put it you can't be saying that nobody can [ __ ] with you and then when the only rapper they compare you to ends up challenging you you can't expect for every everyone to just accept your reasoning for Bowing out because of his actions you now have people looking at Cole in a whole new light in some cases with complete disregard meanwhile for many of the veterans and commentators in the industry who would have previously given Cole his flowers whenever the opportunity arose the whole thing seemed to not meet their perception of who he was as an MC because from everything we had seen in recent years it looked like he would rather go down swinging than just throw in the towel courtesy of the confusion he caused Cole had 50 Cent demanding that he called his phone to discuss the apology While others like Dame Dash just seemed at a loss to understand it as a fan I'm disappointed and no disrespect to jcole it seemed like he threw up the White Flag personally I wouldn't have gave seven minutes pause I didn't even hear the whole [ __ ] and it seemed like it bugged him so much that he gave him seven minutes but it wasn't a vicious seven minutes like I don't want to hear The Simpsons and all that in that rap in that moment him apologizing to me was saying yo you won you're the best I I can't [ __ ] with you that's how I saw it I'm not mad at him I think it's great he can take the high rope but what high rope they were [ __ ] bad well Dame Dash wanted to see more from Cole even that was a moderate response as for people like academics the whole thing was a master class and embarrassing yourself Yo whose go is this man know if you're a cold fan I don't care man I need one of Y industry [ __ ] to come up here and debate me man what type of beta male [ __ ] weak [ __ ] [ __ ] is this how you crying the song He dissed you on you're apologizing for your song and R his song it's like you in the club a [ __ ] slap you you punch him and now later you say man y I'm sorry for even punching you but I ain't going to lie that slap that you SLA me with that [ __ ] was crazy right yeah I ain't going to lie I felt that what the [ __ ] what the hell's going on although act comments are riddled with classic toxic masculinity which suggests that the only option after being attacked is allout war the unfortunate Truth for Cole is that he of all people should have known that this is the engine that hip-hop runs on from the start the rap game has been all about proving yourself against the competition and claiming the top spot so for some the whole thing couldn't have backfired any harder in terms of what it does to Cole's reputation this is totally unacceptable and I told y'all dudes that when these [ __ ] get out there on stage frolicking acting like they best bestest of buddies these [ __ ] get on these stages and say anything it's way too many Clips going around and him saying that same speech to Drake about him being the greatest that he says to Kendrick about him being the greatest where do you truly stand I don't want to hear no more about that record but I don't want to talk about he didn't mean it it sounded like he didn't mean it his voice was trembling like he didn't mean it his choice of words as one of the greatest Lyricist says he didn't mean it he didn't mean it I don't want to hear about that [ __ ] no more because oddly enough what you did now is make the like that record sound harder again for another [ __ ] week as time went on jcole took a backseat as the Rivalry between Kendrick and Drake heat up and to be honest many thought this was the right move as their beef became so intense that each new release was defined by harsh truths and wild speculation Co would eventually just Retreat into his own world and stay very far from all of the drama and for a moment some fans wondered if he deserved an apology for the internet's outrage over how he left the beef with many speculating that he might have known how things were going to turn out for Drake while Cole's decision to step out of the ring is being seen in a different light after how insanely personal things got between Dot and Drake this doesn't solve the next problem Cole had created for himself after retreating like that Cole had to come out swinging when we next heard from him and remind us why he's such a beloved MC but instead we got this after a month of Silence Cole returned to the game with his feature on Cash coan's song entitled grippy and it's fair to say that this was as far from a chess move as it gets following what had already been a hard time to be a coal miner his fans were left at a loss for words over how they were meant to defend him now and honestly nothing puts it better than this reaction by no life Shack we F to check this out man people telling me this the first song jco made ever since the beef jco fans been fighting for their life for two months here we go man we F to check this out grippy I call it CU it's grippy she Hipp Shep lick ain't no way this [ __ ] just said she thick in the hips she hippie Ain't No Way jco say the bar that simple it's no way [Music] it yeah we doomed we bro jco we cook ain't no way this [ __ ] said strictly dickly I can't take this y'all this [ __ ] jcole said strictly [Music] dickly I cannot get over that he said I'mma take him to Disney I'mma pay enough money so they can meet Mickey what is the world coming to on that verse Cole regress back to the kind of Rhymes that he might have dropped for commercial purposes during his early career except rather than letting NOS down like he did earlier in his career it seemed like it was the entire hip-hop audience that had been writing for him even after he had damaged his own reputation I don't understand why Cole thought that grippy song was a good idea he dropped m delete later then showed us should have deleted immediately left at a loss for words some fans have even begun theorizing that everything he's done recently is part of an elaborate ploy to promote his upcoming album but for the most part people are struggling to get behind the concept that this is some kind of method acting rather than a great rapper making a series of horrendous decisions with some fans going as far as to claim that Cole is the only one who damaged his own career with the song it's safe to say that the admiration he received from the hip-hop Community has taken a major hit from 7-minute drill onwards working within a culture that has a short attention span and even shorter memory J.Cole now finds himself navigating a tight rope that he has only seen from a distance before ever since he came out Cole has controlled his own narrative and that's because he always did what was right for him when the whole Platinum no features thing became a meme he refused to let it bother him when people called him Jay Snore he proved why he was entertaining as any other MC on the M now For the First Time The Narrative has gotten away from him because he's truly taken what the culture scene as an L A man trying to turn the other cheek in a culture that thrives on combat Cole is now at the mercy of the people until he can call himself back up to the level of respect he once had because as they say history is written by The Victors and at the moment there's no way that's not how the world sees Cole

Channel: Louaista

Views: 181,193

Keywords: hip hop, canvas, canvas man, louaista

Id: 9QNLDVbcgao

Length: 21min 29sec (1289 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 23 2024