Image via Getty/Scott Dudelson
J. Cole is back. After spending the final months of 2018 jumping on songs with everyone from 21 Savage to Anderson .Paak, he began 2019 as the orchestrator of Dreamville’s star-studded rap camp. Now, he’s opened a new chapter with the release of a T-Minus-produced single, “Middle Child.”
Cole isn’t a middle child in reality—he has only one older brother—but he uses the idea as a metaphor for his place in hip-hop (between the “lil’ n****s” and the “OGs”) while he warns the rest of the industry that he has no plans of sliding into the background. “I studied the greats, I'm the greatest right now,” he raps over triumphant production. As we enter a new era for Cole, these are the five biggest takeaways from his new single.
He won’t be quitting rap quite as early as he once thought
As early as 2014, Cole was thinking wistfully about never dropping another record. “I’m content if this is my last one, going out like this,” he told us about 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Two years later, he was getting high with DJ Khaled and “play[ing] with thoughts of retirement.” But on “Middle Child,” Cole has changed his attitude, arguing that he “can’t quit” until all of his friends are rich. JAY-Z, another rapper who once threatened to retire early in his career, rhymed about the importance of having everyone around you succeed back in ‘96. Looks like Cole is following in the footsteps of the greats in more ways than we knew. —Shawn Setaro
His collaborative streak continues
Looks like Mr. Platinum With No Features is continuing to push himself to be more collaborative. Sure, “Middle Child” doesn't include guest appearances from any rappers, but it is produced by T-Minus, who Cole makes a point of shouting out in the intro. After producing the majority of KOD himself, it’s somewhat of a surprise that Cole chose to drop a single produced by someone else. Maybe that photo of him working beside Tay Keith at the Revenge of the Dreamers III sessions wasn’t a fluke, and we’ll hear Cole over more beats from other producers in the months to come. —Eric Skelton
He might still be taking shots at Kanye
Cole rapped about Kanye’s “fall from grace” on “False Prophets.” “Middle Child” continues the tradition...maybe. There are snarky lines about rappers who beef with people for “clout,” or because their own album sales are declining, or to sell sneakers, or because they’re worried another artist is taking their spot. These may be generic shots—and our money is that Cole will claim that’s exactly what they are—but they could also apply to Kanye’s recent unanswered shots at Drake. That whole saga definitely involved sneakers, and we know that Yeezy has long been driven to distraction by Drake’s world-beating success. So while no names are spoken, it seems likely that Cole knew who people were likely to think he was talking about. —Shawn Setaro
He’s buddy-buddy with Drake
Cole and Canada’s biggest export go back a long way. Remember this? But, perhaps because they first rose to prominence around the same time, people have long been trying to pit them against each other. This reached a height on “False Prophets” (yes, that song again), which some people thought contained shots at Drizzy as well as ‘Ye. But whatever may or may not have been meant on that song, things are apparently all good now. Drake and Jermaine were recently seen hanging out in L.A., and Cole elaborates on their relationship on “Middle Child.” Mr. Nice Watch says that he just got a Rolex as a gift from Drake, and nods to the tension that used to exist between them “back when the rap game was praying I'd diss.” Doesn’t seem like that diss will be happening any time soon. —Shawn Setaro
This might be the beginning of a (rare) traditional album rollout for Cole
“Middle Child” is J. Cole’s first solo single since 2013, when he dropped four official singles (“Power Trip,” “Crooked Smile,” “Forbidden Fruit,” “She Knows”) and a promotional single (“Miss America”) for Born Sinner. This new track comes in the wake of his last three albums, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, 4 Your Eyez Only, and KOD, which each arrived without traditional album rollouts. Of course, at this point, we have no idea where “Middle Child” will land. It seems more likely this will be on his next solo album or mixtape than the Revenge of the Dreamers III compilation, but it could also be a one-off that never lands on a larger body of work. Regardless, it’s worth noting that he has formally released a solo single for the first time in over five years (with its own middle child-themed Instagram promotional run). We might be in store for our first traditional album rollout from Cole in years. —Eric Skelton