Genius Meanings
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J. Cole – Be Free
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As many other people did, including Killer Mike, J. Cole took to the internet to express his pain for the loss of Michael Brown. Cole also visited Ferguson in the aftermath of the
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J. Cole – January 28th
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January 28 happens to be J. Cole’s birthday. With an album named after his childhood home, he begins taking us on a tour through his life starting with his earliest years.
Since
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J. Cole – Snow On Tha Bluff
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“Snow On Tha Bluff” is J. Cole’s first release of 2020. On the song, which is titled after a January 2011 film about a robbery in Atlanta, Cole delivers a single continuous verse
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J. Cole – Be Free (Live on The Late Show with David Letterman)
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On December 10th, 2014, Cole performed “Be Free” with a new verse. Though fans and viewers across the US expected Cole to perform a song off his third studio album, 2014 Forest
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J. Cole – Villuminati
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Cole sets the mood for Born Sinner, which is also an ongoing theme, by wittingly announcing this body of work “way darker this time” – the previous time being his debut album.
“
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J. Cole – Intro (2014 Forest Hills Drive)
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Immediately Cole delves into the elements of the album: freedom, happiness and love.
https://twitter.com/JColeNC/status/539848835485696000
When moving back to his hometown of
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J. Cole (Ft. Miguel) – Power Trip
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In 2013, Cole dropped Born Sinner’s lead single just in time for Valentine’s Day. His Facebook page stated this was a continuation of “Dreams,” a track off of his second mixtape
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J. Cole (Ft. Amber Coffman & Major Lazer) – Get Free ColeWorld
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This was released on 9/27/12 to give the fans a little something in honor of the one year anniversary of J. Cole’s debut album, Cole World The Sideline Story.
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Genius Brasil Traduções – J. Cole - Be Free (Tradução em Português)
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J. Cole resolveu lançar essa música para mostrar a sua dor pela perda de Michael Brown.
O som foi lançado via SoundCloud com a seguinte descrição:
Descanse em paz, Michael e
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Bas (Ft. J. Cole) – My Nigga Just Made Bail
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The fourth track off his debut album Last Winter, Bas delivers 2 verses before J. Cole blesses the track with the third and final verse.
Another great collaboration from the two
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J. Cole – Once an Addict (Interlude)
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J. Cole uses “Once an Addict” to detail the development of his feelings concerning his mother’s relationship with alcoholism. Cole uses this interlude to show that he also deals
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J. Cole – Runaway
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On the lush “Runaway,” Cole talks about his relationship troubles, which, underneath the moral struggles and spiritual dichotomies hinted at by the album title, is another topic he
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Drake (Ft. J. Cole) – First Person Shooter
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[Part I] / [Intro: J. Cole & Adonis] / (Pew, pew-pew) / First-person shooter mode, we turnin' your song to a funeral / To them niggas that say they wan' off us, you better be
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J. Cole – 3 Wishes
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This song details what J.Cole would do if he were granted 3 wishes. He uses these wishes to better the lives of 3 people in his life for whom he dearly cared for. It’s worthy of
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Benny the Butcher & J. Cole – Johnny P's Caddy
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On “Johnny P’s Caddy,“ Benny The Butcher and J. Cole link up to boast about their rise to the top in rap. Released on the same day as J. Cole’s birthday (January 28), the track
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J. Cole & Bas (Ft. Lil Tjay) – [The Jackie]
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“The Jackie” is Bas’ second leading release of 2021 and presumably the first single from his upcoming album. The summer anthem is a collaboration of three New York residents who
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J. Cole (Ft. Amber Coffman & Cults) – She Knows
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Born Sinner’s third single features Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman (Cole had previously sampled her on his remix of Major Lazer’s “Get Free”), also heavily sampling the Cult’s
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J. Cole (Ft. 50 Cent & Bas) – New York Times
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This track is not only the 2nd deluxe track and 18th on Cole’s album Born Sinner, but it is the 2nd track on his 3rd EP of his Truly Yours series. It samples “Bells” by Eero
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J. Cole – Chaining Day
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“Chaining Day”, track 12 on Born Sinner, tells the story of Cole’s concerns over materialistic objects, specifically addressing one of hip-hop’s biggest hypocrisies: the Jesus
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J. Cole – J. Cole Freestyle
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On May 12, 2021, J. Cole appeared on L.A. Leakers for their 108th freestyle, two days before releasing his sixth album, The Off-Season. He flowed over “‘93 'Til Infinity” by Souls
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J. Cole – Love Yourz
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Cole draws back to the intro and its main themes as he comes full circle back to present day. A much wiser Cole reflects on the most important things in life, such as love and
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J. Cole – Niggaz Know
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This is the third release off of J. Cole’s 2013 album Born Sinner, and is yet another diverse and intriguing view of the sophomore album.
The song contains a plethora of Biggie
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J. Cole – Change
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On “Change,” Cole reflects on the maturation of his understanding of the cycle of violence and crime in struggling black communities and details the murder of his friend James
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6LACK (Ft. J. Cole) – Pretty Little Fears
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“Pretty Little Fears” is the first collaboration between 6LACK and J. Cole, arriving as a promotional single hours before East Atlanta Love Letter’s full release. 6LACK speaks on a
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J. Cole – False Prophets
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On “False Prophets,” Cole addresses the trials and tribulations of being a star. Though he refrains from name-dropping, Cole uses this track to fire shots at a few people
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J. Cole – Apparently
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Closing in on the final tracks of the 2014 Forest Hills Drive project, Cole reflects on the decisions he’s made in life and tries to make them right, now knowing how much people
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Jeremih (Ft. J. Cole) – Planez
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Originally titled as “Planes” and released as the second single from Jeremih’s third LP Late Nights, “Planez” is a tribute to joining the “mile-high club.”
The song title came
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J. Cole – Killers
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In this song “Killers,” J. Cole is rapping from a first person perspective of a young killer who has killed a man for the first time. The first verse is J. Cole confessing and
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J. Cole – No Role Modelz
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J. Cole believes that shallow, materialistic “L.A. hoes” got that way because their only role models were talentless reality TV stars. But Cole also had no role models growing up
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J. Cole (Ft. Omen) – Enchanted
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In “Enchanted,” Cole links up with Omen to touch on various topics including growing up fatherless with a single mother, the loss of young people to violence, and much more.
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J. Cole (Ft. James Fauntleroy) – Born Sinner
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This is both the title track and the last song on the standard issue of J. Cole’s sophomore LP, Born Sinner. In true Cole fashion, he closes the album with an emotional, cinematic
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J. Cole (Ft. Kendrick Lamar) – Forbidden Fruit
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In the bible, Book Genesis, Adam and Eve are led into temptation by the serpent (the devil) and taste from the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat. This act, the fall of man
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J. Cole – Intro (Live)
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[Verse] / Do you wanna, do you wanna be / Do you wanna, do you wanna be (Hey) / Do you wanna, do you wanna be, happy / Do you wanna, do you wanna be, happy / Do you wanna be / Do
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J. Cole – Too Deep for the Intro
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Over a sped up, soulful sample of Erykah Badu’s “Didn’t Cha Know”, Cole begins Friday Night Lights with a personal and motivational cut on never giving up on your dreams. In his
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Drake (Ft. J. Cole) – Evil Ways
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Coming as a surprise collaboration and released only a few days after the announcement of the second leg of the It’s All A Blur Tour, Drake and J. Cole mark their fourth-ever
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Moneybagg Yo (Ft. J. Cole) – Say Na
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“Say Na” is the first collaboration between Moneybagg Yo and J. Cole.
In an interview with Vulture published in April 2018, J. Cole stated that he could not get Lil Baby and
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J. Cole – procrastination (broke)
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On “procrastination (broke),” J. Cole talks about his inspirations, the struggles he’s facing in working on his album and realness. He mentions how his success and financial
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21 Savage (Ft. J. Cole) – a lot
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On the introspective introduction to his sophomore studio album, 21 Savage raps about having “a lot” of blessings and curses in his life. Savage also reflects on his tumultuous
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