It all started with the lyrically gifted rapper Noname poetically expressing her disappointment with conscious rappers not being more vocal about the challenges the black community face, particularly the recent killings of black women by the police.
“Poor black folks all over the country are putting their bodies on the line in protest for our collective safety and y’all favorite top selling rappers not even willing to put a tweet up,” Noname posted. “N***** whole discographies be about black plight and they no where to be found.”
Although she did not mention any names, J. Cole felt like she was somewhat addressing him. So, he made a whole record about it called “Snow On Tha Bluff”, where he did not say her name but later implied it was a message to her through some tweets.
“N***** Be thinkin’ I’m deep, intelligent, fooled by my college degree,” he rapped. “My IQ is average, there’s a young lady out there, she way smarter than me. I scrolled through her timeline in these wild times, and I started to read. She mad at these crackers, she mad at these capitalists, mad at these murder police. She mad at my n*****, she mad at our ignorance, she wear her heart on her sleeve. She mad at the celebrities, lowkey I be thinkin’ she talkin ’bout me. Now I ain’t no dummy to think I’m above criticism, so when I see something that’s valid, I listen. But, shit, it’s something about the queen tone that’s bothering me. She strike me as somebody blessed enough to grow up in conscious environment with parents that know ’bout the struggle for liberation and in turn they provided with a perspective and awareness of the system and unfairness that afflicts ’em and the clearest understandin’ of what we gotta do to get free and the frustration that fills her words seems to come from the fact that most people don’t see, 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 attacking the very same n***** that really do need the shit that you saying? Instead of conveying you holier, come help get us up to speed. Shit, it’s a reason it took like two hundred years for our ancestors just to get freed, these shackles be lockin’ the mental way more than the physical…f*** is the point of you preaching your message to those that already believe what you believe?”
“Follow @noname,” J. Cole said. “I love and honor her as a leader in these times. She has done and is doing the reading and the listening and the learning on the path that she truly believes is the correct one for our people. Meanwhile a n**** like me just be rapping.”
He continued, “I haven’t done a lot of reading and I don’t feel well equipped as a leader in these times. But I do a lot of thinking. And I appreciate her and others like her because they challenge my beliefs and I feel that in these times that’s important.”
Noname would allegedly respond to J.Cole’s song with “Song33”, the first solo song fans would get from the rapper this year.
“A baby just 19 I know I dream all black, I seen her everything immortalized in tweets, all caps. They say they found her dead… One girl missin’, another go missin’, one girl missin’,” Noname raps. “But n****s act quiet as a church mouse…In the studio when duty calls to get the verse I guess the ego hurt now.”
The back and forth between the two sparked major dialogue on social media about the relationship between black men and black women.
Some people felt like J. Cole shouldn’t have responded with a rap song, but instead should’ve stepped up to the plate and done more for the community. This is despite J. Cole using his music platform for years to address real life topics that most rappers that are popping on the radio don’t. This, too, is despite him being filmed protesting in the streets with the people.
It’s ironic that people are now calling for celebrities to speak up for them, when just a few days ago they were agreeing with Dave Chappelle that celebrities are not needed right now.
While Noname is valid in her concerns about people being more vocal, perhaps she is targeting the wrong rappers. J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and the likes of them aren’t the ones who we should be concerned about. Since Noname champions being a radical for her politics, wouldn’t it be even more radical to actually address the rappers who aren’t conscious? You know, the top 10 rappers who sell their souls to major record labels and continuously promote toxic themes such as misogyny, homophobia, materialism and capitalism?
To pick on the ones who have tried to be responsible with their platforms is to not show appreciation for their efforts. When you don’t show appreciation for the J. Coles and Kendrick Lamars, you end up with artists that purposely avoid uncomfortable and meaningful topics because they’ve witnessed the consequences of being a conscious rapper.
Don’t denigrate our allies. Make aware, educate and then demonstrate. Let’s keep in mind that it is literally the right of an individual to decide when and what they want to say or the actions they want to take when it comes to these issues.
Noname doesn’t know the realities of J. Cole’s everyday pressures and what he’s going through, so to bully him or any other conscious rapper into doing what you feel is right is not only pretentious, but is disingenuous.
If a person feels the conviction to do something, then that person should step up and do it. Don’t cry for the next fellow man to do the work that you’re being called to do. Everyone has their own purpose and right now is not a time to wage war between black men and black women, especially the ones who are an asset to the black community.
Either the discourse should be productive and progressive or the discourse shouldn’t be had at all. For now, let’s leave the music industry produced manufactured beef for 2021.
Daytime Tea Time Breaks It Down
