It’s worth dwelling for a moment, too, on the specific context here: J. At a time when celebrities are facing scrutiny for their inaction and silence on matters of literal life and death, it’s important for him to speak up-and embarrassing that he used the moment to condescend to a woman about how she communicates with men. “Snow on Tha Bluff” suggests he feels like a fraud of sorts himself: someone who’s been placed on a pedestal he doesn’t deserve someone considering the idea that perhaps he isn’t doing as much for Black people as he can. Cole released “False Prophets,” a song in which he held Kanye West (who he idolized), among others, to the flame. Someone perceptive enough to recognize and contextualize other’s missteps should have some degree of self-awareness. And if you’re complaining about someone’s delivery, there’s a good chance the bigger issue soared right over your head. Men can’t ask women to hold their hands-and then suggest the best way to lead is to follow their instruction. Cole, who’s 35, says during the song’s lone verse. “Just ‘cause you woke and I’m not, that shit ain’t no reason to talk like you better than me/How you gon’ lead when you attackin’ the very same niggas that really do need, the shit that you sayin’?/Instead of conveying you holier, come help get us up to speed,” J. Noname aside, “Snow on Tha Bluff” highlights a pernicious kind of misogyny: Cole’s perspective is that of the man who’s happy to listen to the women in his life, provided they speak to him in a way that flatters his ego. But “Snow on Tha Bluff,” his first single of 2020, is an instance where saying less-or nothing at all-would’ve been ideal.īut the track mostly fails as an attempt to communicate. He’s erred in the past but gotten by, thanks to the same humble honesty that can get him in trouble-you could forgive him, because he at least seemed to be coming from a good place. Cole’s earnestness has largely shielded him from major criticism. His rap conservatism is so deep-rooted that it’s manifested conceptually too: The hip-hop community interpreted his 2018 album, KOD, as sweeping criticism of a new generation of rappers doomed to fizzle out because they aren’t married to the same values that guide him.
Cole told this very magazine he’d grown tired of it. His last three albums, you may have heard, went platinum without any guest appearances-the impetus for a joke so worn out that J. He’s self-produced a significant portion of his discography.
Cole’s less-is-more approach has made him one of the most successful figures in hip-hop.
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