J. Cole didn’t do much to promote the arrival of his third studio album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. He didn’t drop any promotional singles, and he didn’t appear on any talk shows or give radio interviews. But he didn’t have to—with no features or marketing, the album famously debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in December 2014 and later earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. And today, it’s third single, “No Role Modelz,” is more popular than ever.
The ninth track off Forest Hills, “No Role Modelz” was produced by Phonix Beats, J. Cole, and DJ Dahi. The beat originated with Phonix Beats, who got the idea for the horn melody right before he was supposed to go pick up his girlfriend. “I was like, ‘I have to go back to the studio, I just have this idea I need to make,’” Phonix tells Genius.
He later played the track for DJ Dahi, who immediately asked for the file. That night, Phonix got a call. “Cole was in the background. I didn’t know who it was,” he recalls. “He just took the phone and was like, ‘Look, you need to come over now.’ I’m like, ‘Who is this yelling at me?’ He’s like, ‘This is J. Cole.’”
Phonix’s horn melody remained front and center on the “No Role Modelz” beat, but Cole had a few other additions to contribute. He argued with Phonix—and won—over adding 808s to the drum pattern, and he also made the producer drop in some unexpected nature sounds. “He says, ‘I need birds. I just hear birds,’” Phonix remembers. “I pull up a bunch of different bird sounds, and I’m really finding this funny because I’m like, ‘Yo, I’ve just been listening to a thousand different birds.’ I finally found this one where it’s a stretch of birds fluttering, and so I’m like, ‘What if I use them as a hi-hat?’”
All of that came together to make the high-energy instrumental, over which Cole reflects on his love-hate relationship with materialistic L.A. women and what that dynamic signifies about his own upbringing. Along the way, Cole makes three references to the iconic ‘90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The first comes in the opening verse, where Cole—who was raised by his mom after his dad left early on in his childhood—asserts that the show’s fictional patriarch, Uncle Phil, was his only father figure growing up.
First things first: rest in peace Uncle Phil
For real
You the only father that I ever knew
I get my bitch pregnant, I’ma be a better you
Despite his lack of role models, Cole went on to find fame and success in Hollywood, where he faces a new batch of problems. Finding love with a good woman is one of them. On the pre-chorus, Cole differentiates between two types of women that he can date in L.A. He salutes any man who can tell the difference between the real ones and their shallow, materialistic counterparts.
One time for my L.A. sisters
One time for my L.A. hoes
Lame niggas can’t tell the difference
One time for a nigga who know
Despite being able to make that distinction, Cole still sometimes finds himself drawn to these troubled women. He explained how one specific experience partly inspired this song during a 2015 concert in London. “There was this girl, some type of daddy issues and insecurities got her fucked up,” he said. “I thought I could look past it, so the next week, I find myself on her Instagram, as I often am. Her Instagram is really made for a thirsty nigga like me … I’m like, ‘She’s perfect.’ What I found out the hard way is that she’s not perfect. All of that is a mask to cover up the fact that she’s really fucked up. I didn’t have the chance to help her, but I did write this song about her.”
Cole suppresses that urge to try and save her on the hook, where he interpolates Project Pat’s 2001 song “Don’t Save Her,” featuring DJ Paul and Juicy J.
Don’t save her, she don’t wanna be saved
Don’t save her, she don’t wanna be saved
On the interlude, Cole samples a speech made by former President George W. Bush, where he accidentally botches the popular expression, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Cole purposely plays with the same expression on the bridge, where he admits it’s not entirely the girl’s fault for pulling him into her mess.
Fool me one time, shame on you (Ayy)
Fool me twice, can’t put the blame on you (Ayy)
Cole’s other Fresh Prince references appear on his third and fourth verses. On the third verse, Cole shouts out the character Aunt Viv as an example of the type of partner he’s looking for. He also uses Will Smith’s real-life marriage to actress Jada Pinkett-Smith as an example of the relationship he wants—a line that sparked new debate and sent the song back to the forefront of pop culture following Smith’s 2022 Oscar’s debacle.
I want a real love, dark-skinned Aunt Viv love
That Jada and that Will love
On the fourth verse, Cole continues to list off examples of his ideal woman. Among the famous women he praises is Fresh Prince actress Nia Long, who played Will’s girlfriend Lisa on the show.
My only regret was too young for Lisa Bonet
My only regret was too young for Nia Long
Now all I’m left with is hoes from reality shows
Hand her a script, the bitch prolly couldn’t read along
“No Role Modelz” was the highest-charting single off Forest Hills upon its release, climbing to No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, and its popularity has only continued to soar. In March of this year—nearly eight years after it dropped—the track became the longest-running song on Spotify’s Top Songs – USA chart, appearing on the list for a whopping 2,274 days. Not only that, it reached a new peak on the streaming platform’s chart on March 31, climbing to No. 12 with 527K streams in one day. Some might argue the song’s enduring success is due to its hotly debated, introspective lyrics, while others may attribute its timelessness to the infectious beat. More likely, it’s some magical combination of the two.
You can read all the lyrics to “No Role Modelz” on Genius now.
