Chance The Rapper criticized J. Cole’s new song “Snow On Tha Bluff” in a series of Twitter posts on Wednesday (June 17). The Grammy Award-winning artist took issue with Cole for lyrics widely assumed to be aimed at Chicago’s Noname.
“Yet another L for men masking patriarchy and gaslighting as contructive criticism,” he wrote.
In a follow-up tweet, Chance reacted to a fan’s problem with his words. While he noted Cole and Noname were both his friends, he explained why he felt the need to address the Dreamville Records boss’ polarizing track.
“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,” he told the fan. “It’s not constructive and undermines all the work Noname has done. It’s not BWs job to spoon feed us. We grown.”
Chance capped off his Twitter thoughts by noting his disappointment over watching Cole publicly clash with Noname.
“Everybody’s argument on either side is, we can’t personally attack each other if we really want to see a revolution,” he wrote. “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.”
J. Cole surprised fans with the release of his “Snow On Tha Bluff single on Tuesday night (June 16). But the song has been met with an intense backlash over its lyrics, which have been seen as policing a Black woman’s tone.
Although no specific person is actually named on the track, most listeners have inferred Cole is talking about Noname due to her criticism of mainstream rappers’ actions following the police killing of George Floyd. On Wednesday, Cole didn’t confirm he was talking about Noname but encouraged his Twitter followers to listen to her.
“Some assume to know who the song is about,” he wrote. “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. But Let me use this moment to say this.
“Follow @noname. 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. Meanwhile a nigga like me just be rapping.”
Listen to Cole’s “Snow On Tha Bluff” below.