J. Cole's Surprise Appearance on Future and Metro Boomin’s "Red Leather" Has Fans Overreacting

The feature comes after Cole expressed regret over his Kendrick diss "7 Minute Drill" but fans seem to forget one important detail.

April 12, 2024

Music artist performing on stage wearing a black and red jacket — Image via Getty/Prince Williams / WireImage

It’s safe to say fans were not expecting to hear J. Cole on Future and Metro Boomin’s We Still Don’t Trust You, but here we are. What a time to be alive.

Cole comes in at the end of Disc 1, contributing a memorable verse to "Red Leather" that opens with him being impressed by Future’s "20 girlfriends." From there, Cole dabbles in a lifestyle of sin before he ultimately lets his "willpower" steer him elsewhere.

For fans looking for more from Cole on matters of the Kendrick Lamar and "Like That" variety, it's very unlikely this verse boasts any actual subliminals in that direction. In fact, one could argue that this is potentially an older verse from Cole and could even be one that far precedes the events of the past few weeks.

Still, the timing is noteworthy, if not peculiar; Cole essentially bowed out of the brief back-and-forth when he expressed regret over his own "7 Minute Drill" earlier this month. And lest we forget, Cole's "First Person Shooter" collaborator and recent tour partner Drake is also caught up in all of this, though the "Summer Games" sequel denier hasn't yet taken to wax himself.

But that's not to say that Cole isn't in a reflective state of mind on "Red Leather." Deeper into his verse, he raps confidently about his own legacy while reminding listeners that his "energy was never on some toughest n***a shit," like so:

Me and Astro 6'4", we the Twin Towers
Twin Glocks with the switch piece that extend shots
It's a metaphor for the boy when you in proximity
I can't stop right now, they gon' remember me forever
My story's more clever, my similes was better
My energy was never on some toughest n***a shit
I was just a conscious rapper that would fuck a n***a bitch
I was just a college n***a from a rougher premises
Kept my nose out the streets, but I love to get a whiff
Of the action, with risk comes attraction

Expectedly, Cole's surprise appearance on the We Don't Trust You sequel proved to be a shock for listeners as the album hit streamers overnight. Get a look at how the world handled it below.

Of course, among the surprises we got the last time a Trust full-length from Future and Metro dropped was Kendrick, who used his time on the aforementioned "Like That" to refute Big 3 chatter. Interestingly, the Cole-featuring "Red Leather" on We Still Don’t Trust You leads right into Disc 2 opener "#1 (Intro)," which features audio from Charlamagne Tha God disputing Big 3 talk by instead arguing there’s "a Fantastic Four and Future is in that."