UGK’s Bun B isn’t down to pick sides. The hip-hop veteran has shared his issues with trying to choose favorites in the new war of words between rap artists Noname and J. Cole following multiple diss records.
Bun x Battle
Instead of choosing to fully support Cole or No, Bun said it’s deeper than a battle. He credited both of them for playing key positive parts in hip-hop and said they should have taken any issues toward one another behind closed doors.
“I’ve known J Cole for many years now. I’ve been a fan of NoName since Lost. I think both of their voices are extremely vital. While I understand the very human need to defend yourself and your position, I don’t want us to divert our attentions from what’s at the core of our cultural conversation right now. If we have issues with someone or need clarity on something, let’s try to have that conversation behind closed doors. We don’t need our people feeling like they need to choose sides right now. Because we are all in this together.” -Bun B’s Instagram
High-Key Details
On Friday, Detroit rap veteran Royce Da 5’9 went to his Instagram page to repost Noname’s “Song 33” artwork. The rap heavyweight also shared a massive co-sign for No’s anthem.
“Dear @nonamehiding … I love you??” -Royce Da 5’9’s Instagram
Wait, There’s More
Heading into Friday, Noname came through with her hard-hitting response record. Produced by Madlib, she focuses her attention on questioning Cole getting at her on his “Snow on Tha Bluff” song while black people continue to deal with oppression and brutality across the nation.
Noname has released her first solo song of the year. “Song 33” references the killings of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter activist Oluwatoyin Salau and also appears to address J. Cole’s new track, “Snow on Tha Bluff.” On the Madlib-produced single, the Chicago rapper discusses Salau’s disappearance and killing. “A baby just 19/I know I dream all black/I seen her everything immortalized in tweets, all caps/They say they found her dead,” she raps. “One girl missing another one go missing/One girl missing another. (Rolling Stone)
Before You Go
On Wednesday, Chicago’s Chance The Rapper spoke on the entire situation. While he said he wouldn’t pick sides, he did share his issues with Cole speaking out on an entire ‘diss’ song.
“Yet another L for men masking patriarchy and gaslighting as contructive criticism. … 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 job to spoon feed us. We grown … Everybody’s argument on either side is, we can’t personally attack each other if we really want to see a revolution. I can agree with that and can apply it in my own life. I wish we could learn that w/o two artists I admire having a public dispute.” -Chance The Rapper’s Twitter