J. Cole broke his silence last night on the Kendrick and Drake beef. His latest release addresses exactly why he bowed out of the beef, and fans are split about his truth. His latest track got us thinking, what are the top five J. Cole songs? And to take it a little bit deeper, we aren’t listing any of his radio hits. These are J. Cole’s top five deep cuts or songs that didn’t become singles.
5. “Return Of Simba”
This is one for the day one J. Cole fans. This track was the final song of the Simba series, and if you didn’t know when J. Cole first started releasing music, he referred to himself as Simba for multiple reasons. The song starts with an iconic sample from The Lion King when Mufasa was talking to Simba. Cole then proceeds to go off for nearly four minutes with no chorus.
Memorable rhyme: “Being good is good, that’ll get you Drew Gooden/But me, I want Jordan numbers, LeBron footin’/Can’t guard me, Vince Lombardi, John Wooden … ”
4. “Losing My Balance”
If you never heard this song, go on YouTube right now. This song is really three different stories in one, and it shows why people consider J. Cole a master storyteller. In each verse, J. Cole is rapping about something we’ve all seen or experienced growing up. The first is about about a girl who’s lost in the world and does anything for attention. The second verse is about the ‘hood he grew up in and all the negativity surrounding it. And the final verse is an ode to a girl he was really feeling at the time.
Memorable rhyme: “Won’t catch her up in the club ’cause she ain’t into that/Kind of chick that rather rent a flick and get intimate/Say she never fuck with thug n****s, only gentlemen/And yeah that a** is fat but what’s better is her intellect … ”
3. “C L O S E”
This is the newest song on the list and it comes from his latest album, The Off-Season. J. Cole gets super introspective on this track, thinking back on a past friendship and when he was on his come up. He drops bars about growing up in his old ‘hood and seeing this friend get rich through illegal means, while he’s still broke as a joke trying to make it the right way. The song ends in terrifying fashion, but Cole wakes up, realizing it was all a dream. Another masterclass from J. Cole in storytelling.
Memorable rhyme: “meanwhile I’m so close/Don’t even give a fuck that I’m broke/’Cause in my mind I’m rich with shit I done wrote/Therefore I’m convinced that this is supposed to happen/And in time I’ma blow, they gon’ label me the GOAT … ”
2. “3 Wishes”
The best J. Cole is when he gets to reminiscing and this song shows why. “3 Wishes” is from J. Cole’s Truly Yours mixtape that came out in 2013. On this track, J. Cole paints the story of what he would do with his three wishes if he had genie. The first two wishes get used up quick when he starts remembering his childhood. He uses one on his best friend, who was dirt poor and wishes riches on his mother, who loved him like he was her son. The next wish was used as he starts to remember the physical abuse his mom used to deal with from his stepdad, and he wishes he would’ve grabbed a gun and at least scared him instead of sitting in the room crying. The third wish was used on another friend who ended up in a murder case, and obviously, that was to free him.
Memorable rhyme: “Told me you just caught a body twice your size/I asked if it was self-defense, he said it was defense of pride/And that they tryna give you ten, but if you lucky you’ll do five, damn/Not my n—a … ”
1. “Premeditated Murder”
The best deep cut of Cole’s career might be from his classic mixtape, Friday Night Lights. On this song, Cole gets super introspective because he’s finally made it, people know who he is and love his music. But he notices that all the change that comes from success might not all be good, and it kills him that he’s changed so much already.
Memorable rhyme: “You see I promised that I’d never change/But that was way before I made the dough and met the game/Say hello to Miss Thang, I forgot yo name, she yellow/And And even white women want a n—a, Othello/I’m balling with nuggets, like f–k it I’m Carmelo … ”
