Today, J. Cole officially “surprise released” his new 12-track project, I could delete later, in which he responds to the dispute caused by Kendrick Lamar in “Like That” by Future and Metro Boomin. Of his several hits on Lamar, a hit on track eight, “Pi” feat. Daylyt and Ab-Soul, stands out in particular for being… well… vile.
They declare themselves fifth, I'm seeing signs of a trans guy
In the vicinity of cancel culture, he is not a murderer, believe me.
Beneath the chosen identity, there is still a pussy, period.
Yes. And by yes, I mean, oh! And unfortunately, I mean, man, J. Cole is really out here slinging transphobic, ill-considered bars. Beyond using transness as an insult and introducing a bit of misogyny, the implication that trans men are still women is, by definition, transphobic.
A generous reading is that the bar about the “trans guy” is an overwritten attempt to call the subject of his ire a coward gone wrong, who was more concerned with appearing smart and tough than making big statements about gender identity. Even with such grace granted, it illustrates how Cole addresses LGBTQ+ issues and, unfortunately, it is not the first case.
In 2013, in the song “Villuminati” from his album. Born sinnerCole rapped, “I don't mean no disrespect every time I say fuck/ Okay, fuck?/ Don't be so sensitive/ If you want to get your ass fucked, that's between you and whoever's dick,” following with the 'punchline', “Pause, maybe that line went too far/Just a little joke to show how homophobic you are/And who can blame you.” Most recently, on “9 5 . sur” from 2021 The low season, dropped this shit line: “Check your genitals, niggas bleeding all over yourself.” I guess the 'trans+menstruation' well was so rich that Cole ends up had to get back to it.
All of which is to say it's 2024, and in 11 years of rapping, Cole still hasn't learned that maybe he shouldn't use the LGBTQ+ community as a punchline.
But waitCole Stans might respond, Kendrick has her own strange trans clue story. And sure, it's true that “Auntie Diaries” felt dated upon arrival (and repeating the insult as a chorus was… a choice), but the song at least had an underlying theme of acceptance and empathy. More than that, the song was a love letter to a trans family member. “Pi,” on the other hand, uses trans identity as an insult and a joke. See the difference?
At the end of the day, it's just a shame that such a mainstream rapper (a rapper who not only headlines a festival, but has his own damn festival) falls so low.
thanks to our partners at consequence.net
