Eyez, a promo documentary for J. Cole’s upcoming album released through TIDAL, gave a few fascinating glimpses into what fans can expect from the North Carolina rapper’s new record.
At around the half-hour mark, a verse from “False Prophets” plays and the lyrics have led many on social media to believe that the words refer to Kanye West’s perceived fall from greatness.
Whether or not he’s talking about West, Cole pulls no punches — referring to a “half-assed’ rapper surrounded by “yes-men” who’s “finding it hard to look in the mirror lately.”
The sharpest lines in the verse include: “Ego in charge of every move, he’s a star/ And we can’t look away due to the days when he caught our hearts. He’s falling apart but we deny it/ Just to find the half-assed shit he drop, we always buy it.”
This could certainly refer to West, who has certainly grown more preoccupied with his own greatness in the years since College Dropout and Late Registration. The “half-assed” barb could also be applied to the many changes West continued to make to The Life of Pablo after its release.
“He tell us he a genius but it’s clearer lately/ It’s been hard for him to look into the mirror lately. There was a time when this nigga was my hero maybe/ That’s why his fall from grace is hard to take. Cause I believed him when he said his shit was purer and he the type of nigga swear he real but all around is fake.”
The song also touches on ghostwriting in rap — something that was at the heart of the feud between Drake and Meek Mill: “Wonder if it’s my fault for idolizing niggas’ words that they be rappin/ But come to find out these niggas, they don’t even write they own shit.”
Maybe the most notable line in the verse comes toward the end, when Cole raps “Damn, that’s what I get for lying to myself but what’s more important is that he’s crying out for help,” which couldn’t sound more on the nose given Kanye West’s recent rants followed by his hospitalization … if the song was recorded that recently.
Watch the snippet from “False Prophets” below.
Twitter had its own theories on who Cole was addressing in the song, ranging from Wale to “whoever it applies to.”
No matter who he’s talking about, it’s the kind of fire that has his fans very eager to hear more of what J. Cole’s been working on.
#REALRAP
Waiting on Drakes sons to arrive and start making excuses….
Sounds like he is going at KANYE. Music wise, dude kind of became below average.
Cole is clearly referring to a bunch of rappers here, especially Kanye. Funny how DX dances around that like they don’t wanna ruffle anyone’s feathers. You’e a blog, not an impartial news site — take ownership and just say it. ‘Cole Takes Shots At Kanye’ is the headline here, not some coy “Is J. Cole …?”
Definitely and mainly kanye, Dude says he is a god now look at him ” self proclaimed god” fearing for his life
False profit, dont take shotz at J. Hova
YE and BAS are the men in question here..
Why bas?
Its mos def kanye and drake.cant see anything that wud suggest he goin at wale.. I hope cole got some features tho , esp these new skul greats such as uzi ,kodak and savage. Tired of hearing bas and omen
How tf is he supposed to feature niggas that he dissed? Bas and Omen better than all of these new sschool fake lil whatever rappers anyway
Yeah ain’t nobody wanna hear these lil rappers. Lil dicks lil skills and lil voices. Seriously, hip hop needs to change. Early to mid 2000s was great for hip hop
so you think j cole idolized drake? didn’t they come out at the exact same time? you can tell what was ghostwritten with drake…listen to rico and energy and running through the 6 with my woes and then listen to 6pm in new york and the 30 for 30 freestyle…the key word is listen though which is something you ADHD idiots aren’t capable of doing….
Why people assume he talks about drake when he talks about the Ghostwriting stuff when its obvious that all the prior go clearly to kanye?? Since when is Kanye known to be a lyricist? Kanye isnt writing his sh*t neither. The Song “famous” by Kanye has 17 Writer Credits. 17 People wrote on that Song. So why would he suddenly switch to Drake???
Stop acting like Kanye is a great musician. He never been a total package. He used to be a good Producer 10 years ago but thats it. The last Years he couldnt even produce without the help of at least 5-10 People. SMMFH
i try not to be one of those guys but damn hhdx is continuing to lower the standards of hip hop journalism….. every line is clearly about kanye (even the ghostwriting part, see kid cudi twitter rant)…
Cole lettin Kanye and Drake know whats up! Write your own rhymes, stop ridin other peoples waves. Let’s go! So hyped right now!
You know damn well you a lil Uzi vert and lil Yachty fan stop the bullshit
Call that fool out!
He is prob taking shots at justin hunte. If he isn’t he should be
No hate to Justin but this comment was funny af. Had me actually lol ?
First verse Kanye, second verse Wale. 100%
Jcole is dissing drake. Jcole resents the fact that he has to hone his craft and put out high grade hiphop to get by, while drake can spew up sum garbage and it sells due to his corporate backing. Jcole and kdot think drake is weak as fuck.
Baloney. Drake and J Cole hav made multiple appearances together since so so-called ghostwriting allegation. Drake’s concert in NYC, J Cole’s Homecoming video. get real
Come and 6god suppose to be homiez unless he said Fuck it and went at him w this track . Hope not cuz no stopping Drake no competition! Coke is nice not a fan but he bury 95% these bum rappers !
6 god fell off after he changed up his “chune” buying 21 savage a ferrari. thats not even cool.
You had 2 opportunitys to spell “Cole” right. You fucking blew it
fuck j cole and anybody who loves him
It’s not just to find, it’s justify the half assed shit he dropped always buy it. as in the album is not good but we justify it and say ohh its eXperimental his pushing boundaries and make eXcuses for it – how has every blog mis quoted that lyric. just to find doesn’t even make sense.
FYI Kanye stans the ghostwriter bar was not a switch dis to drake, cole was staying on topic with mr.west because he has ghostwriters examples rhythmfest and consequence # oldkanye
It’s Rhymefest, not Rhythmfest…If you’re going to talk smack, get your info right smh. Troll.
Not ghostwriting when you get writer credits on the track/album. #facts #dontusehashtagsbecausetheyareuselesseverywhereexceptforsocialmedia
#thisagain…IF SOMEONE RAPS SOMETHING SOMEONE ELSE WROTE FOR THEM , STREET DEFINITION OF GHOSTWRITING. @ SMH, ITS NOT TROLLING WHEN YOU ARE GIVING FACTS TO THE UNAWARE, AND STFU ABOUT THE ACCIDENTAL MISSPELLING , TROLL!!!!! Thats why my comments get the fire LAME STANS
A ghostwriter is someone who writes for someone else without anybody knowing. Thus, he’s a ghost. If you put out a song and list all the writers, there are no ghosts, it’s out there for all to see. Its not a Kanye thing, it’s an everybody thing. Just because you are too lazy to look for the info doesn’t mean he has ghostwriters, just means you’re ignorant. He has writers. No real hip hop heads believe he has the lyrics anyway, so if you were fooled then I feel bad for you.
HE”S TAKING SHOTS AT 22 SAVAGE
Who cares? He’ll be interviewed and will say something else otherwise. Y’all (hhdx included) are the modern day old wives gossipers smh. Like how bored are all your lives exaggerating something that Cole hasn’t even talked about. Social media has created grade schoolers.
J cole is dope, but if he talkin bout yeezy, shoulda been direct and said his name, cause yeezy woulda, that dude called the potus a racist on national TV, no fear, real talk
we aint dealin with that kanye anymore, he gone
He’s talking about Lil Wayne or Diddy.
“fuck j cole” -lil yachty
Second verse was def for Wale…but he wasn’t dissing him more like friendly motivation/constructive criticism!!!
The first verse was for Kendrick. Listen closely & understand.