J. Cole’s media run for The Fall-Off has been interesting, especially since he hasn’t necessarily gone the traditional route. Instead, the platforms that he’s been on indicate that he’s just as much of a nerdy hip-hop fan as the rest of us, diving into YouTube rabbit holes to find breakdowns and analyses of his favorite records.
Most recently, he sat down with The No Bars Off Show where he dove into a few bars from his latest project that have gone over people’s heads. One in particular that he highlighted comes from “WHO TF IZ U,” which he describes as having a blatant homage to Eminem, where J Cole raps, “I'm the Carolina 910 Shakespeare / All that cap you let them —- rap is over with.” The direct connection is Shakespeare and the reference to Juliet Capulet from Romeo & Juliet.
J Cole Sits Down And Breaks Down His Lyrics
“There’s a line on ‘Run A Train’ where like, I know–ain’t nobody ever came up to me and say, ‘yo, boom boom,’ so I know they’re not making the connection. And that’s the only one that actually bothers me,” he said. “There’s [other] lines like the ‘cap you let,’ I’m already knowing when I’m writing it, nobody’s gonna give a f*ck outside of me and get it, and I’m at peace with that.”
Cole explained how he understands that the depth of his wordplay will only be appreciated by those who care about his craftsmanship as deeply as the hosts of the show.
"I'm not doing it for y'all. It's a self-satisfying–I'm scratching my own itch," he added.
It’s a pretty interesting episode overall. Check out the full episode above and sound off with your thoughts in the comments below.
