On Monday (Nov. 18), J. Cole premiered his new audio series, “Inevitable.” During the first episode, he opened up about how influential Kanye West was to his music.
“I was an aggressive battle rapper that had bars and I was a storyteller of fantasy,” Cole explained, referencing songs like “The Storm.” “But my life was actually h**la regular. I didn’t sell no drugs. It was nothing like my favorite rappers. It was nothing like JAY-Z’s life. It was nothing like what ‘Pac’s life appeared to be.”
The North Carolina talent continued, “In the summer of 2003, before I went to college, the ‘Through The Wire’ video dropped, and that s**t changed my life... Kanye was the first time that I saw myself in somebody. He just made it possible to talk about your life or your regular-a** perspective in a way that’s appealing. This n**ga became my favorite artist at that point. He kinda cracked my mind open.”
Despite Ye’s profound impact on his career, there were also alleged moments of criticism. On 2016’s “False Prophets,” Cole seemingly addressed the Chicago icon’s perceived creative decline with lines like, “There was a time when this n**ga was my hero, maybe, that’s the reason why his fall from grace is hard to take.”
The aforementioned lines did not go unnoticed by Ye, either. Back in 2020, the G.O.O.D. Music head honcho demanded a “public apology” from Cole. Earlier this year, he fired at the Dreamville captain on a remix of Future and Metro Boomin's “Like That.” During an interview with Justin Laboy, Ye took Cole to task for the perceived jabs and apologizing to Kendrick Lamar. “F**k all that p**sy s**t. F**k all that s**t, man,” he stated. “Because it’s like, that n**ga J. Cole went on tour with Drake. He knows what it is. It’s like, n**ga, you can’t run now.”