J. Cole has been connecting deeply with fans on his The Fall-Off tour, although the trek has led to some divisive moments online. After he shed tears during a recent performance of "Love Yourz," Mal called this performative. Now, he has apologized for his remarks on the New Rory & Mal podcast after more information emerged about why J. Cole cried during that "Love Yourz" rendition.
This moment was at a Cleveland show where the family of Collin Griffin attended. Cole shouted them out and showed love to Collin before diving into "Love Yourz," remarking how they had pictures of him. Collin met the Dreamville MC in 2017 when he was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Collin's Make-A-Wish was to meet Cole, and they met backstage at a Washington, D.C. show where they shared a special moment about inspiring each other. Collin sadly passed away the next year, and the rapper was mentioned in his obituary.
Mal's J. Cole Apology
Following this revelation, Mal apologized to Cole for calling his emotions "performative." Considering Mal praised J. Cole's The Fall-Off tour before, fans were happy to see him correct the previous misinterpretation.
"Let me start with an apology," Mal said, saying he means it and doesn't speak with malicious intent. CY Chels caught the clip on Twitter.
"I did not know that Cole had the family of a fan who was in the audience," he continued. "We recorded way before that information came out. I was talking s**t, I said Cole felt performative. The information came out [about] the family of his fan who passed away from cancer, Colin Griffin was the name. Rest in peace and prayers to the Griffin family. So yes, I apologize to J. Cole. I sit here and talk s**t about Cole, but I actually do f**k with him. I'm a Cole fan, but I'm gon' give him s**t, it don't matter. I was not aware of this. I said it felt performative, him crying for 'Love Yourz.' Obviously, this had something to do with it. So I do apologize. J. Cole, my bad, bro. Nothing but love, nothing but respect."
