J Cole has opened up on Kanye West’s disrespectful remark about him during the initial stages of his major label career. In the latest episode of his Inevitable audio series, Cole spoke about his 2010 G.O.O.D. Friday collaboration with the rapper, calling his comments about him “dismissive”.
During the series, Cole shared an incident from Kanye West’s promotional run when he hosted a Ustream in 2010 before releasing the track, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. In the episode, West was asked by a viewer if he would collaborate with the Dreamville captain.
“As far with working with J. Cole, I’m not positive [on when that might happen]. I’m really focused on G.O.O.D. Music right now. But maybe we’ll put him on a G.O.O.D. Friday track or somethin’,” said West during the streaming.
Cole recalled being disappointed in his reaction,
“Kanye’s answer was, like... I don’t think anybody watching it would notice, but me being me, I looked at him like, ‘Aw, that s**t was hella dismissive,'"
“He said, ‘I mean, we might put him on one of the G.O.O.D. Fridays or something.’ It was like a, ‘Yes, but.’ He’s not a n***a that I would [feature on my album] […] If he would’ve been like, ‘Yeah, it would be fire to put him on a G.O.O.D. Friday [song]’ it would have been a different feeling.”
Shortly afterward Cole and West collaborated on the Looking for Trouble track along with Pusha T, CyHi, and Big Sean.
How did J Cole and Kanye West’s relationship turn complicated post-release of Looking for Trouble?
In the recent episode of the Inevitable audio series, Cole admitted that he took “direct shots” at Kanye West, which reflected his frustration.
Cole said that when he and Kanye West collaborated on Looking for Trouble, he decided to slam him through the lyrics. Reciting them, Cole sings:
“Cole world, make way for the chosen one/ What you now hear is puttin’ fear in all the older ones. Downplayed me to downgrade me like they don’t notice son/ Your shoes too big to fill? I can barely squeeze my toes in ‘em/ The world has never known that.”
Cole revealed that the final version of the song left West agitated as it was not how he expected it to be. “It’s not wild offbeat, but when you nudge it, it’s slight. It just makes you sound either early or late. It made my flow sound stiff... This is not how I recorded it,” he expressed.
Were there any other tracks where J. Cole slammed Kanye West?
J. Cole has slammed Kanye West in several other tracks besides Looking for Trouble – False Prophets (2016) and 1985 (Intro to 'The Fall Off') (2018). In the first track, Cole raps about facing disappointment from someone whom he admired - "There was a time when this n***a was my hero maybe / That’s why his fall from grace is hard to take" said the lyrics.
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In the second track, he made certain references to his and Kanye West’s sour relationship.
The relationship between the duo has remained complicated since Looking For Trouble’s release in 2010. But despite the ongoing tension between them Cole has always admired West for playing a pivotal role in shaping his career.
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