J. Cole has finally dropped his long-anticipated album The Fall-Off, and it unsurprisingly contains a lot of dense, layered, and lengthy verses for fans to sink their teeth into. On one of the second disc's highlights, "What If," the North Carolina MC raps from the perspective of Biggie Smalls in the first verse and Tupac Shakur in the second, basically presenting an alternate future in which their feud amid the East Coast/West Coast beef never escalated beyond Pac's "Hit 'Em Up."
In the first verse, "The Notorious B.I.G." tells his rival that he still loves him despite the diss, recalls when he visited him when he got shot, ponders on why Pac might've dissed him, and said the media's forcing an East versus West narrative. The verse comes in the form of a letter, which "2Pac" got hold of on the second verse. Cole presents an alternate reality in which Pac chose not to go to Vegas, and from his perspective, speaks on why he felt compelled to diss Big and why he was in a vulnerable emotional position.
Both verses conclude with both artists apologizing for their transgressions, a curious connection to J. Cole's own story. "What If" is definitely one of the most conceptually rich but also divisive tracks on The Fall-Off, and we're sure it will continue to inspire discussion and debate as fans spin this LP some more.
J. Cole's The Fall-Off Features
While Biggie and Tupac's perspectives show up on this track, they don't appear in musical form via a sample or some other form of homage. However, J. Cole did choose Bad Boy-era beats, like the iconic "Who Shot Ya?," for his recent Birthday Blizzard '26 freestyles project hosted by DJ Clue.
Elsewhere, traditional features on J. Cole's The Fall-Off include Future on the track "Run A Train" and on the song "Bunce Road Blues," which also features Tems. Also, "Old Dog" boasts North Carolina legend Petey Pablo and "Only You" has an assist from Burna Boy.
Overall, fans are still dissecting many details on this tracklist. For the hip-hop historians out there, "What If" stands out as an ambitious, compelling exercise.
