By Jasmine Grant
According to J.Cole, a certain (or a few) rappers need a wake up call. At least that’s what’s being debated on social media about Cole’s latest song “False Prophets.”
The North Carolina rapper is only days away from dropping his fourth studio album 4 Your Eyez Only. Only a mere 12 hours after dropping his controversial single leading up to its release, several theories have been conjured up that Cole is taking direct shots at artists such as Kanye West, Drake and Wale.
The narrative of “False Prophets” takes aim at a certain rap star that Cole once admired but has now lost his way.
“He’s fallin’ apart, but we deny it / Justifying that half-ass sh*t he dropped, we always buy it / When he tell us he a genius but it’s clearer lately / It’s been hard for him to look into the mirror lately.”
I don't think anyone could of described Kanye better than J Cole did on false prophets
— 0-19 (@AlecWilliamson) December 2, 2016
Not gonna lie…. it makes me feel some type of way listening to J. Cole's “False Prophets” knowing he’s talking about Kanye.
— Ani Caribbean (@AniCaribbean) December 2, 2016
J. Cole said "You screamed all over your last album, now you in the psych ward, used to be my mentor, now you nothing but a psycho…wow man
— Civilian At Earth (@MF_Brown) December 2, 2016
I don't think anyone could of described Kanye better than J Cole did on false prophets
— 0-19 (@AlecWilliamson) December 2, 2016
Lol where the outrage.
J. Cole tooks jabs at kanye while he recovering
Y'all was up in arms when Drake dissed Cudi
— Six (@Sixfever) December 2, 2016
Only real Kanye fans will appreciate J Cole's false prophet, that's not a diss, it's a fact.
Someone just grew the balls to speak.— KennY OsuntuYi (@KennYAfro) December 2, 2016
Other tweets pick apart J. Cole’s second verse and believe the struggling “friend” he describes is a dead ringer for Wale (the D.C. rapper had a falling out with his own MMG label mates last year):
“I got a homie, he a rapper and he wanna win bad / He want the fame, the acclaim, the respect that’s been had / By all the legends, so every time I see him, he stressin’ / Talkin’ ’bout, n**gas don’t f**k with him, the s**t is depressin'”
Don't let the Kanye verse distract you from the fact Cole is talking to his homie Wale on this verse pic.twitter.com/8E6DjatYzA
— D. Ciano (@DCiano) December 2, 2016
People overlook Wale so much that they overlooking J Cole's verse about Wale……
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) December 2, 2016
If the 2nd verse of false prophets is about wale then we def gonna know case he'll react
— Hassan (@Bargathi) December 2, 2016
Wale texting J.Cole like pic.twitter.com/j5F8ynJHcw
— Music is Life (@ArtOfMusic_) December 2, 2016
1st verse J Cole Bodied Kanye.2nd verse he gives Wale words of Wisdom. Both verses he spitting that REAL #FalseProphets Eyez #Coleworld pic.twitter.com/JfFJuRVG8w
— AintUJohnDoe (@Young_Jayrock) December 2, 2016
There are also those who argue that maybe J. Cole isn’t taking shots at anyone in particular, but rather giving a general critique about the current state of rap – even turning the lens on himself. A modern day “Lost Ones” if you will…
“These rappers insecure / They talk about being a man so much I finally understand that they ain’t even sure / ’Bout who they are and why they do this / Guess I’m included in that category / As a n—a who done had the glory”
False Prophets reminds me of Hov's line on Lost Ones – "It's not a diss song, it's just a real song."
— Boo Radley (@ClauGasol) December 2, 2016
A song like 'False Prophet" is suppose to inspire discussion and make you rethink how you look at artists…
— Nigel Int'l D. (@Nigel_D) December 2, 2016
J Cole sent shots at Drake for being a culture vulture and Kanye west for being an ego maniac and sent for all these 'lil' rappers omg
— Pluggin (@AbdiTV) December 2, 2016
First time I listened to False Prophets I saw it at as him talking about himself…
— Kalan Minnard (@of_Kminna) December 2, 2016
I honestly don't feel like "False Prophets" is a diss per say.. it's just like an "if the shoe fits" …
— minnie (@_OohLaaaaawd) December 2, 2016
One thing is for sure: a hit dog will always holler. So we’ll sit back and patiently wait to see who from the bunch responds to J. Cole. Listen to and watch his man-on-the-street style video for “False Prophets” below and decide who you think is being called out: