Actor and poet Malcolm Jamal Warner dislikes where hip-hop is going, and points to J. Cole's use of the n-word as one of the problems.
The rapper and Dreamville leader was named while Warner was on his new podcast Not All Hood (NAH), in an episode posted earlier this week, where around the 13-minute mark of the video above, he began sharing his distaste for contemporary rap.
"I honestly feel, and in a very big way [that] we have sold our culture out," Jamal said, continuing, "Record labels have monetized and have gotten to make billions and billions of dollars on perpetuating stereotypes of the hood, if you will."
He added, "So we've got a form of music that has been predicated on...Really, at the end of the day, pull the curtain back, it's music and content that perperuating Black self-hate. Again, they're dope beats, but when we're listening to the lyrical content, it's perpetuating Black self-hate."
Warner expressed that now, "you can't have hip-hop without the n-word," and "all of this money has been made on these stereotypes," making it comfortable for audiences of all races to use the n-word.
The commentary about the n-word went on between Warner and NAH co-hosts Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley, but around the 26-minute mark, Warner namedropped Cole as the artist he's most disappointed about using the "form of disrespect."
"I think why I’m more against it now is because it’s used so gratuitously,” Warner said. "It’s used without regard. At this point, for me, in hip-hop, I think there should be a moratorium on ‘n***a’ and ‘bitch.’ It’s lowline fruit. It’s so easy. Everybody fucking does it to the point that it’s corny."
"There are MCs who I love, who I cannot listen to anymore. I love J. Cole but I had to stop listening to J. Cole because I got tired of hearing ‘n***a’ and ‘bitch’ every two sentences. Because he’s proven himself to be such an incredible lyricist, [so I hate] the regularity that he does [use those words]."
Warner's reference to Cole is ironic considering that the North Carolina native is considered one of the more conscious mainstream rappers, but maybe the commentary could bring about some lyrical change.