Lil Pump on Whether He Thinks J. Cole’s Prediction About Him Falling Off Came True

Lil Pump shared whether he thinks J. Cole was right about his career trajectory with the pointed bars on his song "1985," which arrived four years ago.

October 28, 2022

Lil Pump doesn’t think J. Cole was right about his career trajectory, even if he’s on good terms with the rapper.

In an interview with Bootleg Kev, the 22-year-old rapper reflected on what he took away from his sit-down interview with Cole four years ago. “He was trying to understand [the] young generation, ’cause at that time people didn’t understand what was going on with the music,” he said. “‘There’s this new wave coming in, we don’t understand it but we’re just gonna roll with it.’ But I fuck with J. Cole, I don’t have no problems with him.”

Kev asked if Cole was correct in his prediction about the younger generation of rappers on his song “1985,” which some listeners perceived as a diss directed at Lil Pump and many of his collaborators, came true in some respects. “Nope, because I’m still here,” he replied. “I don’t think he predicted shit. I’m still here.”

None of Lil Pump’s 2022 singles have charted on the Billboard Hot 100, despite his success in 2017 and ’18 with tracks like “Gucci Gang” and “I Love It” with Kanye West.

On “1985,” Cole rapped, “If it’s really true what people saying/And you call yourself playin’ with my name/Then I really know you fucked, trust/I’ll be around forever ‘cause my skills is tip-top/To any amateur n***as that wanna get rocked/Just remember what I told you when your shit flop/In five years you gon’ be on Love & Hip-Hop, n***a.” Around the time the 2018 track was released, Pump trolled Cole consistently.

Cole never clarified who he was directing his advice to on the track, and later suggested it was a “shoes fit” situation. “Why you yelling at your show?” he said, apparently in reference to both Pump and Smokepurrp leading “fuck J. Cole” chants at some of their concerts. “You must feel attacked in some kind of way, must feel offended, and if you feel offended, then that means something rings true, something struck a chord. That's cool with me. That's all I ever want to do."

Watch Pump’s chat with Bootleg Kev above.