On Tuesday, J. Cole surprised fans with a new song titled “Snow On tha Bluff” that addresses racism, activism, organizing, social media, police brutality, his celebrity status, and much more.
“I scrolled through her timeline in these wild times and I started to read/She mad at these crackers, she mad at these capitalists, mad at these murder police/ She mad at my n*ggas, she mad at our ignorance, she wear her heart on her sleeve/She mad at the celebrities, low key I be thinkin she talking bout me,” Cole rapped on the track. Many people took to social media to hypothesize that Cole’s lines were directed at Noname.
The Chicago rapper later addressed it on Twitter, writing, “QUEEN TONE!!!!!!” The line from which Noname was referring to sees J. Cole rap, “But Shit, its something about the queen tone that’s bothering me.”
Back in late May, Noname called out “y’all favorite top selling rappers” for not addressing the protests against systemic racism and police violence that have occurred across the nation. “Poor black folks all over the country are putting their bodies on the line in protest for our collective safety and y’all favorite top selling rappers not even willing to put a tweet up,” Noname wrote at the time. “n*ggas whole discographies be about black plight and they no where to be found.” Many thought she was referring to Cole and Kendrick Lamar. Although neither made public comments about the wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations, both rappers were spotted at protests.
Listen below:
