J. Cole is kicking off his year in music with a brand new single, the self-reflective “Middle Child.”
In the tune, released on Wednesday evening (Jan. 23), the rapper doesn’t sweat the competition, noting that he’ll “make sure that the real gon’ prevail.”
He also plays the role of “little bro and big bro all at once,” shouting out other prominent rappers in the hip-hop world right now, including 21 Savage, JAY-Z and Kodak Black, and showing them nothing but love and support in his lyrics.
He continues the idea that rap beef isn’t necessary in his verse about Drake: “Just put the Rollie right back on my wrist/This watch came from Drizzy, he gave me a gift/Back when the rap game was praying I’d diss/They act like two legends cannot coexist.”
“But I’d never beef with a n—- for nothing,” he continues. “If I smoke a rapper it’s gone be legit.”
Listen to “Middle Child” below.