In an NPR interview conducted by an “emotional” Angie Martinez on Power 105.1, J. Cole spoke about the state of race relations in Hip Hop in light of his Late Show with David Letterman performance Wednesday.
“This is that time for the switch in Hip Hop, “ J. Cole says in the Power 105.1 interview. “It’s the system’s fault. There comes a time when the system realizes, ‘I can sell this White person a lot easier.’ Hip Hop is like completely White.”
North Carolina native J. Cole, himself half-Black and half-White, said the track “Fire Squad,” off his latest album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, was not intended to be a diss to White rappers such as Eminem.
“It’s silly how much of an Eminem fan I am,” J. Cole says. “There’s a select topnotch group I worship. Eminem’s the top of the list. That part of the song was just an observation.”
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J. Cole says that the lyric about Iggy Azalea was meant to point out what he sees as capitalist overreaches into Hip Hop culture.
“While silly nigga argue over who gon’ snatch the crown,” J. Cole raps on “Fire Squad.” “Look around my nigga, White people have snatched the sound / This year I’ll be probably go to the awards dappered down / Watch Iggy win a Grammy as I try to crack a smile.”
J. Cole says that his lyrics where meant to point out an observation that White people started to sound Black on tracks in order to sell records. Cole says not to believe the headlines.
“That headline is not the truth,” J. Cole says. “It is a perspective that someone took and they made the most enticing headline for you so they could make money. The news ain’t set up to inform you. It’s set up to make money.”
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J. Cole says that his passion to deeply think about America. He thinks the current system has duped people.
“We’ve been pimped, and we pimping ourselves,” J. Cole says. “We all sell outs.”
J. Cole’s album, which dropped this week, is projected to sell a quarter million copies its first week in stores.
