J. Cole recently complained that there is no longer a "barrier of entry" for fans to listen to new music, suggesting that the ease of streaming has devalued hip-hop. Appearing on Lost In Vegas, Cole noted that listeners who aren't even fans of an artist will check out their new album just to weigh in on social media.
"An album drops. A conversation happens. You don’t even give a f*** about this artist. You never loved this artist, you don't even really care about this genre, you're not educated in the space, you just see a conversation happening, and you want to be a part of the conversation so lemme go listen to such and such's album... I didn't do no work to actually get to this album and to have an opinion," Cole said.
He continued: "If I didn't like an album when I bought that sh*t on CD, guess what? I got the right to not like this b*tch because I spent $15.99. I got the right, and now I can have a conversation with somebody else that spent their $15.99. If you didn't spend $15.99, you can't even talk to me about this album. We can't have the conversation. You didn't do the work, you didn't make any type of investment."
J. Cole's "The Fall-Off" Album
The interview comes after J. Cole put out his seventh studio album, The Fall-Off, in February. It features collaborations with Burna Boy, Erykah Badu, Future, Morray, Petey Pablo, PJ, and Tems. Cole will be kicking off a world tour in promotion of the project in July.
Lost in Vegas is far from the only interview Cole has done in recent weeks. He's also appeared on the 7PM In Brooklyn podcast with Carmelo Anthony, as well as Cam'ron's Talk With Flee show. With those discussions, he's been making headlines for speaking about his viral feud with Kendrick Lamar, whether he's going to commit to retiring from music, and more.
