The roots Frontman Black Thought appeared on This week on White Supremacy podcast and was asked about J. Cole's infamous apology to Kendrick Lamar by host Jasiri X. Interestingly, the Emcee had no problem with Cole going that route and actually applauded his decision.
The Philly rapper, who is also an adjunct instructor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, cited his students asking him what he thought about the apology. “A couple of my students at NYU asked me a week ago how I feel about J. Cole apologizing to Kendrick a day or so after a diss record came out,” he said. “Although I hadn't heard any of the music, I thought it was a beautiful thing. I thought this was unprecedented.”
He went on to mention rap's violent history when it comes to beef, saying, “What we've seen over and over again since the '80s is MCs going back and forth, like they're fighting outside. Sometimes they keep it in the files, sometimes it gets physical and it gets crazy.”
So he applauded Cole for looking at the bigger picture. “What we need to see is someone pinching this at first, right? That's what I felt he actually did. I felt it just showed humility, nobility and a sense of elevation that you don't see very often across the board.” He then added, “When the plane descends, you have to put on your own oxygen mask first. He is on a trajectory of just that, of self-disclosure and self-investment. His mind, his spirit, his body, his soul, his music, everything is better for it.”
Thought admitted that he doesn't know the Carolina rapper very well personally, but is familiar with his music and revealed that in 2018 they almost did a joint album together. However, he feels that he might have scared Cole. “He sent me a bunch of beats and they all felt so close, I guess, to something that was Roots-centric. At the time, I was trying to get away from what I had done with The Roots and I just didn't feel like we were in line.” He then asked Cole for a different pack of beats adding: “So I think I asked him to do a different batch. I gave him an explanation, and in my explanation I think I scared him. Maybe some of the trigger words I used, like “I want something hard! This beat is not aggressive enough. He wasn't in it. He was on a peaceful journey.”
Check out the clip below and listen to the entire podcast here.
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