Throughout the past few years, Royce Da 5'9" has been using his platform to speak on hip-hop culture, praising his peers for their accomplishments and building up young Black artists. Today, the legendary Detroit lyricist -- who is currently putting in work on his upcoming follow-up to The Allegory -- has taken a moment to speak on J. Cole's brief but important decision to pursue a pro career in the Basketball Africa League.
Though Cole's time in the league was short-lived, with the rapper wrapping his three-game stint with 5 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, and forty-five minutes of time on court, Royce made it clear that he appreciates and respects the rapper's dedication. "Listen man, I just want to say I'm very proud of what J. Cole is doing," he begins. "He's showing the young kids that look up to him that you don't have to stop at one dream. If you can somehow create enough value for yourself, you can achieve many things and do whatever you want without limits."
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"If you dedicate your life to playing a professional sport and you don't realize its a business, you just wasted your whole life," he continues. "J. Cole brings viewership, just like Jake Paul and Logan Paul bring to boxing. Just like when all the boxing purists go man, this is bad for the sport. No, we don't do that shit when all ya'll n***as decide you want to be rappers and get in our fuc*ing way. We don't say nothing about that."
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"So just be happy for J. Cole," concludes Nickle. "He's chasing his dreams, he's bringing viewership, he didn't take nobody's spot because he's bringing something to the table that other muthafuckas can't bring. And you can thank hip-hop for that."
It's clear that Royce appreciates J. Cole as not only an artist, but a man. We can only hope the pair once again cross paths in the studio, as their first and only collaboration "Boblo Boat" was an excellent piece of music. Check out Royce's glowing assessment of Cole's basketball career below.
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