This week conscious rapper J. Cole found himself in the crosshairs of controversy after fans seemingly deciphered that his new surprise single “Snow on tha Bluff’ was directed at fellow rapper Noname.
In the track, the enigmatic 35-year-old kicks things off by lamenting, “It’s something about the queen tone that’s botherin’ me.”
READ MORE: J. Cole responds to backlash over new song: ‘I don’t feel well equipped as a leader in these times’
He opens up about how he feels when activists call out celebrities for not using their platforms during moments of civil unrest, explaining, “There’s a young lady out there, she way smarter than me / I scrolled through her timeline in these wild times and I started to read / She mad at these crackers, she mad at these capitalists, mad at these murder police / She mad at my n***as, she mad at our ignorance, she wear her heart on her sleeve / She mad at the celebrities, low-key I be thinkin’ she talkin’ ’bout me.”
After the song dropped, several fans called Cole out, stating that it was both defensive and perhaps even misogynistic to do dedicate a whole diss track a Black woman on the frontlines when he’s repeatedly admitted to not being equipped to do the same.
Despite Cole’s critique that the “young lady” in question condescends rather than educates, fans also pointed out that the Chicago native actually has an entire book club dedicated to teaching Black people about social justice issues and liberation.
After a full day of debates, NoName responded Thursday evening with a track of her own called “Song 33.”
“I saw a demon on my shoulder/It’s looking like patriarchy,” she begins, making it clear exactly who and what she’s referencing.
“I guess the ego hurt now/ It’s time to go to work/ Wow/Look at him go/He really bout to write about me when the world is in smokes?…” she continues.
At one point she even references her pro-Blacl book club musing, “Little did I know all my reading would be a bother.”:
They both my peoples but only one of them put out a whole song talking about how the other needs to reconsider their tone and attitude in order to save the world. It’s not constructive and undermines all the work Noname has done. It’s not BWs job to spoon feed us. We grown https://t.co/TjIrMyFzQd
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 17, 2020
Yet another L for men masking patriarchy and gaslighting as contructive criticism.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) June 17, 2020
Response to the two singles has been mixed with some siding with Cole, others with Noname, and still others who believe the entire debate was a healthy one.
The Noname thing hits different cos I’m too familiar with that weird competition thing men do when they feel threatened by your intelligence. So they start calling you condescending and being passive aggressive
— DelayedButNotDenied?️? (@YaaAsantewaaBa) June 19, 2020
Noname & J. Cole delivered 2 good tracks that critiqued how a message is conveyed on current events. It’s not a “beef” but rather a passionate discussion through music.
Don’t allow misogynists or J. Cole haters make this something that it isn’t. Ignore the immaturity.— Dedee ? (@thoughtfulbae) June 19, 2020
The J. Cole & Noname situation, a timeline
— Debating Hip-Hop (@DebatingHipHop_) June 19, 2020
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0RCfxfB5wJmOf0n18l2pEk
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EqV56xsXcxMaCQhYDdQhc