What Did J. Cole Really Mean in That Five Minute Freestyle?
On May 12th, 2021, American rapper J. Cole joined DJ Sourmilk and Justin Credible, the two hosts of the radio show L.A. Leakers, for their customary freestyle and interview. Wearing an oversized gray sweatshirt and an underwhelmed expression, Cole rapped over the beats of "'93 Till Infinity" and Mike Jones's "Still Tippin'" for nearly six minutes, jumping from topic to topic and rhyme to rhyme. Widely considered the best freestyle of the year and possibly the best ever on the show, the video has racked up more than twenty-nine million views on Youtube. I've watched it close a dozen times as much out of enjoyment as a desire to understand everything - every bar, every reference, every double and triple entendre. I've outlined what I've learned below:
0:09:
Justin Credible: Sitting next to arguably one of the greatest of this generation...North Carolina invading Los Angeles, Los Angeles invading North Carolina...
J. Cole: Sheesh.
Throughout his introduction, Cole speaks very little. He is, perhaps, the most nonchalant member of the industry. This is the man who would go on to apologize to Kendrick Lamar scarcely days after he dissed him on Might Delete Later; this is the man who was so famously private about his personal life that fans didn't know whether his child was a son or daughter for years. Fond memes referred to a burger with no toppings as a "J. Cole lunch—humble, so humble." Cole gains his strength not from caring less, but by understanding more.
0:47:
J. Cole: Rest assured, the best is here in the flesh, and that's for sure/The rest should wear 'em a vest, I'm set for war...
Cole starts his freestyle with the classic rap flex, originated with "Rapper's Delight" and perfected by JAY-Z sometime in the earliest twenty-first century. Not only is he the best, but he is the only, ready to fight for his title. It's easy to understand why he begins like this, but the litany seems antithetical to the Cole's philosophy; he is part of the introspective post-Graduation generation that focuses more on their flaws than their flourishes, and simple bragging does little for him. Yet from a standpoint of skill and rhyme, this is solid.
0:59
J. Cole: ...the same flow that put your neck to sword/the same flow that just undressed your whore.
More of the hip hop braggadocio, this time very clever and somewhat amusing. His flow will kill you and it will seduce your girl. When I watch this clip, this is always the first time I remember that Cole is free styling, in the sense that every word he speaks is improvised. He raps at a breakneck, almost unbelievable speed, that has convinced some detractors to believe that he's not improvising at all, but rather reading from a script. I don't believe that. On one hand, his head movements are too frequent for him to be reading and the words too staccato to be memorized; on another, more sentimental tack, Cole seems too honest to play a trick like that. I prefer to believe that his flow really could undress my whore.
1:06
J. Cole: Who gave the world more fire but got less reward?/No stress, my only guess is that less is more/More or less, 100 Gs in my dresser drawer...
This is the first hint we have that Cole believes he's under appreciated. It's true that he is often left out of the GOAT talk and that his so-called "Big Three" peers Drake and Kendrick Lamar receive much more critical and commercial attention. Cole has released two great albums and perhaps two more very good ones, yet it's difficult to quantify if he's really underrated; Billboard ranked him #11 on its list of the best rappers of all time, while Forbes put him #4, behind only JAY-Z, Lamar and Lil' Wayne. Cole may be more valid in the belief that he is only considered great when he should be considered one of the greatest, though there are few rappers who wouldn't assert that point about themselves. No stress, though.
1:15
J. Cole: My new crib got that Times Square view to it/That's two bitches layin' my bed, I'm used to it/That's your best friend giving me head, now you do it.
Cole allows himself his first smile of the set at this lyric.
1:57
J. Cole: Out in Queens with your feins, I'm your highness/Cole World don't mistake it for a sinus...infection.
Where did Cole World come from? Two of his greatest songs, "Wet Dreamz" and "'03 Adolescence," both off the seminal 2014 Forest Hills Drive, present diametrically opposed views of the rapper. In the first, he describes his loss of virginity sweetly but with eager, almost filthy bars; in the second, he eulogizes his bildungsroman with haunting, deflated rhymes, in which he says that he was "in love with the baddest girl in the city," before adding, "I wish I knew her." Understanding who Jermaine Cole was as a teenager may see unimportant, but I'm curious whether he was the swagger-filled Lothario of "Wet Dreamz" or the moody depressive of "'03 Adolescence," and what man he is today.
2:27
J. Cole: Hardest shit out the South since slavery...
The fact that Cole has been rapping only for a little under two minutes at this point is insane, yet this concludes his first freestyle. The last line is difficult to beat, and I think he may be the first rapper to use the word "testes" casually.
3:25
DJ Sourmilk: You rapping, you rapping today, man.
J. Cole: Understatement.
3:41
J. Cole: I keep it humble...I used to be bummin'/Some days I'm still bummin', the difference is now it's by choice.
Here's the J. Cole humility again; unlike so many rappers who ascended from poverty to stardom, Cole has no taste for his riches. Recently, a video of Cole wondering around the Tesla store by himself, without an entourage and unrecognized by the employees, went viral. This lyric perhaps describes that perfectly; he'll buy a car, but he'll do it by himself, thank you, and no, he doesn't need any help.
4:o1
J. Cole: Ain't got no time or no patience for lists they be making or who they debating is better/Let's face it, he's one of the greatest...
Cole refuses to submit to the ratrace of the music industry, eschewing the GOAT lists and rebuking the Grammys. It's possible that this makes him much wiser than any of his competition; he seeks happiness only within himself.
4:13
J. Cole: Cole, how you on top, but you don't got no bitches?/I know!
This has always struck me as a strange thing to say about yourself, especially as a married man in his thirties. I always thought that Cole was much more attractive than Drake or Kendrick, especially given the slow-jammy, sexually explicit nature of his lyrics. But according to him, he gets no bitches.
4:21
J. Cole: They don't even get this/Given the chance to trade family for riches/I know!
Every week there's a new story of J. Cole giving back. He attended a fan's college graduation. He went back to have dinner with his former landlord who gave him reduced rent. He took pictures with a fan he encountered randomly on a beach. This is perhaps the blessing of celebrity, the ability to improve a person's life just by being in it, and Cole utilizes it frequently.
4:36
J. Cole: Ah, you bitch/The Off Season coming May 14th, it's over for you.
Cole loses control of the freestyle at the very end, throwing his hands up in defeat, but not too late to plug his penultimate album, and give one final "fuck you," as the two DJs on either side of him devolve into euphoric laughter.
4:55
Justin Credible: I don't think we need to do any more freestyles after this.
