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    J. Cole Apologizes for Kendrick Lamar Diss Track

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    J. Cole also vowed to update the track, “7 Minute Drill,” or remove it from streaming services after it was featured on his new album, “Might Delete Later.”The rapper J. Cole apologized on Sunday for releasing a diss track about Kendrick Lamar, saying he felt “terrible” and vowing to update the song or remove it from streaming services.The apology followed an exchange of verses that began in October, when J. Cole and Drake ranked themselves, with Lamar, as the “big three” in hip-hop in the song “First Person Shooter.” In March, Lamar dismissed that comparison in a guest verse on the song “Like That” by Future and Metro Boomin, rapping that there was no big three, “it’s just big me.”In response, J. Cole on Friday released the diss track “7 Minute Drill” on his surprise new album, “Might Delete Later.” It includes the lines: “I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissing / You want some attention, it come with extensions / He still doing shows but fell off like ‘The Simpsons.’”Two days after the song was released, J. Cole apologized for it while onstage at his Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, N.C., according to videos posted on social media. During his headlining performance, he said that when he saw the response to the song after it came out, it didn’t “sit right with my spirit,” and that he was speaking about it at the concert to end the beef.He also called Lamar one of the “greatest” to ever use a microphone and said he hoped Lamar would forgive him.“The past two days felt terrible,” J. Cole said. “It let me know how good I’ve been sleeping for the past 10 years.”As of early afternoon on Monday, “7 Minute Drill” was still available on major streaming services.J. Cole released “Might Delete Later” on his Dreamville Records label, an imprint of Interscope Records, which is owned by Universal Music Group. Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Lamar does not appear to have addressed the track or the apology publicly. Representatives for Lamar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Drake seemed to respond to Lamar’s verse at a concert in Sunrise, Fla., in late March, according to Complex. He told the crowd that people had been asking him how he was feeling and that he had his “head up high,” and felt as if no one could mess with him.Lamar, Drake and J. Cole have worked together in the past and have individually received numerous awards for their music, including multiple Grammy Awards and nominations. In 2018, Lamar received the Pulitzer Prize in music for his album “DAMN.” More

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      Mahogany L. Browne’s Love Letter to Hip-Hop

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      It was a clear black night, a clear white moon. Warren G, “Regulate” (1994)Originally appearing on the soundtrack of the Tupac Shakur film “Above the Rim,” this song is built around a sample of Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near).” I’m looking like a star when you see me make a wish. […] More

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      Little Simz’s Big Moment

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      The British rapper’s laser focus has been trained on fame since she was a child. Now, she’s ready to take it to the next level.LONDON — Long before she was famous here as the rapper Little Simz, Simbiatu Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, known as Simbi, made her debut performance at a local youth club showcase. Ten years old and wearing a red Ecko tracksuit, her hair parted in two bunches, she lunged to the edge of the stage, almost collapsing into her classmates in the front row, and rapped: “In 10 years, I want to be a performer that can entertain, and still remain, to do good things in life.”More than a decade has passed, and Little Simz, now 27, is living up to her ambitions. Her fourth album, “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert,” is due on Sept. 3. As an actor, she has starred in British TV shows, including Ronan Bennet’s breakout hit, “Top Boy.” She is an active member of her community in Islington, North London, doing good through charitable acts she “doesn’t feel the need to be loud about,” she said.A master storyteller who raps with wisdom and heart, Little Simz has a narrative style that’s been likened to Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, both fans of her work. Where she was once just “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper,” she is becoming a household name here in her own right.In 2019, the grime star Stormzy shouted out Little Simz as an up-and-comer to watch during his headlining set at the Glastonbury Festival. That same year, her third studio LP, “Grey Area,” a grooving and eclectic rumination on her early 20s, was named best British album at the NME Awards.But now, poised to release her latest album, she feels on the cusp of something really big, she said in a recent interview, as she lounged gracefully on a restaurant sofa in King’s Cross, London, as though it were her own. “Everyone has their moment,” she said, “and I think ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ will be mine.”“I’m still young, innit?” she added. “But I know that’s where I’m heading.”Kadeem Clarke, a frequent collaborator who directs Little Simz’s live performances, said her determination was unshakable. “She has a vision, and we don’t even know where it comes from, or how it’s going to get done, but she does it,” he said. “She will not take her eye off it.”That laser focus has been a hallmark since Little Simz’s North London childhood. Her house was crowded, noisy and alive, she recalled: Her mother played Afrobeats and reggae, her sisters garage and grime, her brothers rap and hip-hop.In her bedroom, Little Simz listened to Busta Rhymes, Nas and Biggie Smalls, and dreamed of being like them, she said: a rap legend who spoke to their listener, not at them. She wrote their lyrics out in notebooks, trying to work out how the artists turned stubborn words into something slick and percussive. The natural and chatty approach of Biggie Smalls, in particular, drew her in: “If you took away his flow and instrumental, he could just be talking to you.”She said that she had “struggled to articulate myself in conversation,” but that her own rapping, which she thought of as a dialogue with herself, helped make sense of her thoughts. “And then, I even question it — like, why do I think that?”In rapping, she said, she found the thing that set her apart from her peers. “Everyone knew me as that girl who rapped,” she explained. “I’m the youngest of four, and my older siblings knew everyone, so I was always, ‘T’s little sister,’ or ‘Fem’s little sister.’ Then other people would find out that I did music, and it’d be another layer, like, ‘Aw, you know T’s sister raps?’”Claire Hough and Little Simz shooting the video for her new song “Introvert.”Tamiym CaderAt 14, Little Simz began making sacrifices for the hobby she was determined to turn into a career: She stayed in when her friends went out together on weekends, saving her pocket money for studio equipment. Her bedroom became a shrine to her musical idols, with posters of Lauryn Hill, Nas and Jay-Z, and a photo of herself placed above them. On a piece of cardboard, she wrote an affirmation in all caps: “Dream big! Family is everything! God is love! Be great!”That same year, she landed an acting role on a BBC children’s adventure show, “Spirit Warriors.” Later, at 17, Little Simz was cast in “Youngers,” a children’s drama depicting a group of London teenagers hoping to make it big in music. Life began to imitate art when she formed a group called Space Age with other young musicians and artists she met at EC1 Music Project, another London community program. The crew became a kind of extended family, Little Simz said, playing instruments, adding vocals and producing visual art for the mixtapes she began recording.Tilla Arcé, a close friend who also rapped in Space Age, said, “Simz always surrounded herself with real people,” but noted she was more inclined to open up in her music than in social settings. “When she’s performing, it’s her space to let go and be immersed in pure emotion and expression,” he said. “Simbi the person is a lot more to herself, but because I’ve known her as a virtuoso, I understand the moments she taps into Little Simz.”Space Age’s members joined in on Little Simz’s debut album “A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons,” which she released when she was 20: Arcé recorded additional vocals, and his brother, Josh, helmed the production on several tracks. The album is a reflection on fame and its effects on the human spirit, with Little Simz adopting new personas on different songs, each one a character at a different stage of their journey to celebrity. How about that as a statement of intent?With the release of “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert,” Little Simz said she was ready to move to the next level: “There’s just something in the air.” Featuring interludes voiced by Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana in “The Crown,” the 19-track album is an odyssey through Little Simz’s inner conflicts and joys. Bringing together influences including lackadaisical neo-soul and ’80s electro funk, it has the scope and spectacle of a West End production.Little Simz recorded the album in Los Angeles, working with Dean Josiah Cover, 33, who produces under the name InFlo. He is, like the members of Space Age, both a childhood friend and a persistent influence on her music. The two have been collaborating since Little Simz was a dream-driven teen, in 2008.“When I listen to the stuff we made back then, it sounds almost like ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert,’” she said. Both artists’ tastes and sound palettes are far-ranging, taking in hip-hop, jazz, R&B, punk and soul. “We literally have a brother-sister relationship,” Little Simz said. “I annoy him, he annoys me. But we make great music together,” she said, describing their creative process as a safe space: “Whatever you feel, it’s between these four walls, and if it goes on the record then it does, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Shout, scream, cry, whatever it is.”With all that space for self-examination, Little Simz’s ambitions didn’t go without self- scrutiny: “Why the desperate need to be remembered? Everybody knowing what you’ve done, how far you’ve come?” Little Simz raps on “Standing Ovation,” one of the new album’s tracks.In the interview, she said she was willing to sacrifice a lot for the big time she saw coming, not least her privacy. “If I didn’t do music, no one would know who I am,” she said. The comfort of invisibility appealed to her introverted side, but she has struck a bargain: “I’m not going to be nameless. I want my music to be known, I want my music to be heard, I want to tell my story.”But fame isn’t the be-all and end-all, Little Simz added. “I’m trying to be my greatest self in all aspects of my life, and not just music,” she said. Echoing the song she performed as a 10-year-old, she reiterated her purpose: “Not only am I trying to be a great artist and performer, I’m trying to be a great sister, friend, daughter, auntie.” More

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      J. Cole, Triumphant (at His Own Pace)

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      Of hip-hop’s current superstar elite, no one has had a path to the top as curious or unexpected as J. Cole. A decade ago, he had his eye on becoming one of rap’s biggest stars in the mold of Jay-Z and Nas. But when he found the path to the top riddled with compromises, he peeled off to follow his own happiness, resulting in some of the most popular and successful music of his career. He just released his sixth album, “The Off-Season,” which debuted at the top of the Billboard album chart, just like the five that preceded it.And where is Cole now that he’s No. 1? Playing in the Basketball Africa League, for the Rwanda Patriots. Once more, he is following an unconventional muse, choosing a route that prioritizes internal fulfillment over immediate gain and acclaim.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about Cole’s music career, from aspirant to confused victor to triumphant cult hero. Plus, an analysis of his basketball sojourn, and the long and curious exchange between hip-hop and basketball — rappers with hoop dreams and players with rap ambitions alike.Guests:Elena Bergeron, The New York Times’s assistant sports editorYoh Phillips, who writes about music for Complex and others, and a founder of Rap Portraits More

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      ‘The Off-Season’ Is J. Cole’s Sixth Straight No. 1 Album

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      The rapper’s latest LP opens with the year’s biggest streaming total, and Olivia Rodrigo, projected to top the album chart next week, has the No. 1 song.Two big new hits top the Billboard charts this week: J. Cole’s “The Off-Season” is the No. 1 album, with the year’s most robust streaming number so far, while Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” is the top single.“The Off-Season” had the equivalent of 282,000 sales in the United States last week, according to MRC Data. That is the second-best opening of the year, after Taylor Swift’s “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” which had 291,000 a month ago. But “The Off-Season” — a nod to Cole’s second career as a basketball player with the Rwanda-based Patriots, part of the new Basketball Africa League —  had by far the biggest streaming number of the year, with 325 million clicks. That beat the 240 million opening for Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” in January, and was the highest for any album since Juice WRLD’s posthumous “Legends Never Die,” which had 423 million in July 2020.In addition to its streams, “The Off-Season” sold 37,000 copies as a complete package. It is J. Cole’s sixth studio album, each of which has gone to No. 1.Also this week, a reissue of Nicki Minaj’s 12-year-old mixtape “Beam Me Up Scotty” — she has not released a new album in three years — opens at No. 2 with the equivalent of 80,000 sales, including 86 million streams.Moneybagg Yo’s “A Gangsta’s Pain,” last week’s top seller, falls to No. 3, and Wallen’s “Dangerous” is No. 4. Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” is No. 5. The Black Keys’ new “Delta Kream” opens at No. 6.Rodrigo’s song “Good 4 U” reaches the top of the singles chart just as her debut album, “Sour,” looks like a safe bet for the peak position on next week’s chart. Her debut single, “Drivers License,” held No. 1 for eight weeks earlier this year. More

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      Silk Sonic or J. Cole Has the No. 1 Song, Depending on the Chart

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      In a rare but not unheard-of discrepancy, Billboard and Rolling Stone named two different singles as the week’s biggest.What is the No. 1 song in the country? These days, it depends on the chart.On Wednesday, Billboard announced, after a two-day delay, that “Leave the Door Open” by Silk Sonic, the new retro-soul project of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, reached the top spot on the Hot 100, the magazine’s singles chart and the industry standard since 1958.But days earlier, the competing Rolling Stone 100 crowned J. Cole’s new “Interlude” as its No. 1, with “Leave the Door Open” just No. 10. On Billboard’s latest chart, “Interlude” reached only as high as No. 8.Even more strange, both charts are now owned by the same company. When Rolling Stone introduced its rankings in 2019, they were positioned as competitors to Billboard’s, with different data sources and methodologies. Rolling Stone chart positions are often hyped by fans and press agents, but have not proved a major challenge to Billboard’s authority.Last year, a deal between the publishers of Rolling Stone and Billboard brought both companies under a new joint venture, P-MRC. Jay Penske, the young media entrepreneur who represents half that deal, controls those publications as part of a portfolio that now also includes The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline, WWD and Vibe. P-MRC also has a 50 percent stake in the South by Southwest festivals.A spokeswoman for MRC Data, Billboard’s tracking arm, said the delay in the magazine’s Hot 100 was a result of data anomalies that were being investigated by its chart experts, and was not related to Rolling Stone having a conflicting song at No. 1. It is also not the first discrepancy: Early this year, Olivia Rodrigo’s blockbuster “Drivers License” topped the Billboard chart for eight weeks, but Rolling Stone’s for only five.Rolling Stone looks at songs’ sales and popularity on audio streaming services, but not radio; for the Hot 100, Billboard considers sales, audio and video streams, along with radio spins. Still a persistent head-scratcher in the music world is why the same company maintains two separate and competing charts.In a slow week for albums, the Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo reclaims the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart with “A Gangsta’s Pain.” It had the equivalent of 61,000 sales in the United States, mostly from streaming, according to MRC Data. “A Gangsta’s Pain,” which had opened at the top two weeks ago, then dipped to No. 2, had the lowest sales number for a No. 1 album since early January, when Taylor Swift’s “Evermore” notched its third time at the top with 56,000 sales in the post-holiday doldrums.Morgan Wallen’s “Dangerous: The Double Album” is in second place, while last week’s top seller, DJ Khaled’s “Khaled Khaled,” falls to No. 3 in its second week out. Justin Bieber’s “Justice” is No. 4.Dua Lipa is in fifth place with her album “Future Nostalgia.” Lipa’s song “Levitating,” featuring the rapper DaBaby, is No. 2 on Billboard’s singles chart thanks in part to its popularity on TikTok. More

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      Noname Explains Why She Will Keep 'Song 33' Online Though Expressing Regret Over It

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      The Chicago rapper is believed by many to be using her Madlib-produced single as her response to J. Cole’s shade on his controversial song ‘Snow on Tha Bluff’.
      Jun 22, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Noname is backtracking what was believed to be her clapback at J. Cole for shading her on his controversial song, “Snow on Tha Bluff”. Three days after releasing her new single, “Song 33,” the Chicago rapper expressed her regret for taking a jab at her fellow MC, but insisted to keep the song online for a specific reason.
      Offering her apology through Twitter on Sunday, June 21, the 28-year-old first tweeted, “i’ve been thinking a lot about it and i am not proud of myself for responding with song 33. i tried to use it as a moment to draw attention back to the issues i care about but i didn’t have to respond.” She further admitted, “my ego got the best of me. i apologize for any further distraction this caused.”
      In a follow-up tweet, Noname then explained why the Madlib-produced single will remain online. “madlib killed that beat and i see there’s a lot of people that resonate with the words so i’m leaving it up but i’ll be donating my portion of the songs earnings to various mutual aid funds,” she declared. “black radical unity.”

      Noname expressed her regret over her release of ‘Song 33′.
      The drama between Noname and Cole sprung up on June 16 after Cole released his song that seemingly criticized her for calling out her peers in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota. “She mad at the celebrities, low key I be thinkin’ she talking bout me,” parts of his lyrics read, “But s**t, it’s something about the queen tone that’s botherin’ me.”
      Many were quick to criticize him for his song’s lyrics, prompting him to explain, “I love and honor her as a leader in these times.” He added, “She has done and is doing the reading and the listening and the learning on the path that she truly believes is the correct one for our people. Meanwhile a n***a like me just be rapping.”
      Noname herself dropped “Song 33” two days later. In her one-minute and nine-seconds track, she appeared to hit back by rapping, “He really bout to write about me/ When the world is in smokes?/ When it’s people in trees?/ When George begging for his mother saying he couldn’t breathe/ You thought to write about me?”

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      Noname Claps Back at J. Cole on 'Song 33': 'You Thought to Write About Me?'

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      Instagram/WENN

      Noname’s response earns mixed reactions from fans as one praises the Chicago rapper for the new song while someone else dubs the clapback ‘so unnecessary.’
      Jun 20, 2020
      AceShowbiz – Noname has publicly responded to J. Cole’s shade on his controversial song “Snow on Tha Bluff”. On Thursday, June 18, the Chicago took to her Twitter account to address the drama with her own song called “Song 33”, in which she also highlights social issues that are happening in the recent weeks.
      Seemingly taking a jab at J. Cole, Noname raps in the one-minute and nine-seconds track, “He really bout to write about me/ When the world is in smokes?” She continues, “When it’s people in trees?/ When George begging for his mother saying he couldn’t breathe/ You thought to write about me?”

      Noname responded to J. Cole with new song ‘Song 33′.
      “Little did I know all my reading would be a bother/ It’s trans women being murdered and this is all he can offer?/ And this is what y’all receive?” she goes on rapping in the song, in which she touched on the recent murder of 19-year-old activist Oluwatoyin Salau.

      She also highlighted recent social issues in the song.
      Her response earned mixed reactions from fans. Praising Noname, a fan wrote in the replies, “This is how you criticize someone without attacking or disrespecting them.”
      However, some others slammed Noname for the response which someone dubbed “so unnecessary.” The naysayer added, “It says a lot about maturity when you get pressurized by society to respond, but the n***a @JColeNC was legit being sincerely honest. I like you but this is crazy, especially from you. You are a woke person, dreaming right now.”
      Criticizing Noname, another person wrote, “Yet you’re doing the same with all this going on. Why not have a actual conversation with him and speak to him about? Why make it bigger than it is?” Another comment read, “you didn’t even addressed his praise or understood what he said to you. your ego blinded you. i thought you were more focused & smart than this. take your 15 of clout, that apparently that’s your agenda.”
      A fan, meanwhile, thought it would be a great thing if Noname and J. Cole put their differences aside and do a collaboration. “Shaq and Kobe had their differences, but when it came time to win the ring, they were unstopabble. With that said, it’d be dope to see a @noname and @JColeNC collab. They’re both on the same team, just debating over whose approach is more effective,” the person noted.
      The beef between J. Cole and Noname started after the former criticized Noname on his song for recently calling out her peers over their social media silence following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota last month, May 2020.
      “She mad at the celebrities, low key I be thinkin’ she talking bout me,” he raps, later adding, “But s**t, it’s something about the queen tone that’s botherin’ me.” Cole goes on to claim he isn’t educated enough to be as outspoken about the Black Lives Matter campaign as some think he should be, and suggests those wanting to share their knowledge “treat people like children” so they can better understand.
      The lyrics sparked a backlash online, but he returned to Twitter on Wednesday to defend his track – while also addressing speculation his verses were about Noname. “I stand behind every word of the song that dropped last night,” he declared. “Right or wrong I can’t say, but I can say it was honest. Some assume to know who the song is about. That’s fine with me, it’s not my job to tell anybody what to think or feel about the work. I accept all conversation and criticisms.”

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      J. Cole Defends Himself as Chance the Rapper Slams Him for Seemingly Dissing Noname Over BLM

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      WENN

      The ‘Born Sinner’ rapper says he ‘stands behind every word’ of his controversial song ‘Snow on Tha Bluff’ despite criticisms that come from fans and fellow hip-hop stars alike.
      Jun 18, 2020
      AceShowbiz – J. Cole has expressed his “love” and respect for fellow rapper Noname as a “leader” in the Black Lives Matter movement after appearing to criticise her in a new song.
      “Snow on Tha Bluff” dropped late on Tuesday, June 16, 2020, and on the track, he seemingly addresses Noname for recently calling out her peers over their social media silence following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota last month, May 2020.
      “She mad at the celebrities, low key I be thinkin’ she talking bout me,” he raps, later adding, “But s**t, it’s something about the queen tone that’s botherin’ me.” Cole goes on to claim he isn’t educated enough to be as outspoken about the Black Lives Matter campaign as some think he should be, and suggests those wanting to share their knowledge “treat people like children” so they can better understand.
      [embedded content]
      The lyrics sparked a backlash online, but he returned to Twitter on Wednesday to defend his track – while also addressing speculation his verses were about Noname.
      “I stand behind every word of the song that dropped last night,” he declared. “Right or wrong I can’t say, but I can say it was honest.
      “Some assume to know who the song is about. That’s fine with me, it’s not my job to tell anybody what to think or feel about the work. I accept all conversation and criticisms.”
      The “Lights Out” hitmaker, who attended a recent BLM rally in his native North Carolina, then encouraged his fans to “follow Noname,” explaining he holds no ill will against her and her message. “I love and honor her as a leader in these times. She has done and is doing the reading and the listening and the learning on the path that she truly believes is the correct one for our people,” Cole continued.
      “Meanwhile a n**ga like me just be rapping. I haven’t done a lot of reading and I don’t feel well equipped as a leader in these times. But I do a lot of thinking. And I appreciate her and others like her because they challenge my beliefs and I feel that in these times that’s important. We may not agree with each other but we gotta be gentle with each other.”
      Other hip-hop stars have since weighed in on the controversy, with Chamillionaire reminding fans “J. Cole isn’t your enemy” while Chance the Rapper argued Cole was wrong to turn the disagreement into a song.
      “Yet another L (loss) for men masking patriarchy and gaslighting as constructive criticism,” he tweeted.
      Responding to a fan’s comment suggesting Chance was taking the dispute between his former collaborators too far, he replied, “They both my peoples but only one of them put out a whole song talking about how the other needs to reconsider their tone and attitude in order to save the world. It’s not constructive and undermines all the work Noname has done. It’s not BWs (black women’s) job to spoon feed us. We grown (sic).”

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