For all of those not aware, popular hip-hop artist J. Cole released his fifth studio album, KOD, this past Friday.

It was a treat for long-time fans of Cole because the announcement for the album came only a week before its release.

Along with the information about the album’s release date, J. Cole sent out a message prefacing fans as to what his album would be about.

He did this through a very short tweet which read, “KOD. 3 meanings. Kids on Drugs, King Overdosed, Kill Our Demons. The rest of the album I leave to your interpretation.”

Cole, a rapper with a history of touching on very sensitive subject matters through his music, chose to give his take on drugs and addiction with the release of his new album.

One particular song on the project that particularly caught the attention of listeners was the track “1985 (Intro To ‘The Fall Off’).”

In this song, listeners seem to believe J. Cole is addressing a newer wave of rap artists, the likes of which include Lil Pump, Smokepurpp and XXXTENTACION.

Disputes between J. Cole and these rappers have been sent back and forth since J. Cole released a single prior to his last album “4 Your Eyez Only.”

In this single, titled “Everybody Dies,” J. Cole seemingly directs words at rappers that frequently get grouped in with the ones mentioned above (Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Yachty) with the line “Bunch of words and ain’t sayin’ s***, I hate these rappers, especially the amateur eight week rappers Lil’ whatever.”

It is clear that this line was meant to be delivered as an insult, and while insults in rap songs aren’t really that uncommon (especially for Cole), his latest song 1985, I believe, should not be taken that way.

While the song does include some criticism of the lifestyles portrayed by the rappers he is addressing, the song seems to sound more sincere than malicious, as if J. Cole is trying to mediate the dispute through his authenticity.

At its core, the track is a genuine warning that J. Cole istrying to send to what he believes is a younger generation of hip-hop artists currently misguided by addictive vices such as drugs, money and fame.

One example excerpted from the song that supports this claim reads, “All these n***** popping now is young everybody say the music that they make is dumb, I remember I was 18 Money, p****, parties, I was on the same thing, you gotta give a boy a chance to grow some.”

Here, J. Cole appears to take a stance that actually comes to the defense of young rap stars. J. Cole is admitting not only that when he first became a success (also at a young age) he, too, fell victim to the glamour of the wealthy lifestyle, but also that people need to understand that these budding stars of hip-hop are still young and not thinking about the implications of their actions on themselves and others.

Cole goes more in depth with these implications later in the song when he raps, “These white kids love that you don’t give a f*** ’cause that’s exactly what’s expected when your skin black. They wanna see you dab, they wanna see you pop a pill. They wanna see you tatted from your face to your heels. And somewhere deep down, f*** it, I gotta keep it real, they wanna be black and think your song is how it feels.”

Here, J. Cole is addressing what he perceives to be a huge portion of hip-hop music today. Calling this sect of hip-hop “trap music”, J. Cole points out the fact that a lot of rappers who make their way through this type of music are doing it through the glorification of drugs, money and fame.

In these lines, I believe that J. Cole is attempting to reach out and deliver a hard-to- swallow message to these rappers, warning them about the potential manipulation they are being subjected to through the expectation of maintaining a care-free and indulgent lifestyle.

In addition, J. Cole mentions the racial implications of these behaviors.

He makes clear the fact that a large portion of the fans listening to trap music are young, white people.

The line, “They wanna be black and think your song is how it feels” demonstrates this well.

In that line, J. Cole brings up the long-discussed conversation of white appropriation of other cultures. Cole has previously mentioned it in songs like “Fire Squad.”

Through his deconstruction of “trap music,” J. Cole seems to believe that these white teenage listeners are riding the coattails of a trend that paints a negative view of what instant wealth can do to people.

As a result, listeners of this type of music will either try and replicate a similar type of lifestyle through whatever means necessary, or listen to the music to create a false reality for themselves.

Cole cares about the future of his community and has seen, firsthand, loved ones get wrapped up in a life of drugs while chasing a taste of the good life.

Cole is definitely touching on some controversial points here; however, his message seems more like an advisory not to fall down a corrupting path than a diss.

Cole even tries to warn these rappers as to what they can expect from their success in the long term.

He writes, “One day, them kids that’s listening gon’ grow up and get too old for that shit that made you blow up, now your show’s lookin’ light cause they don’t show up which unfortunately means the money slow up.”

Here, J. Cole breaks down the combination of fair-weather fans following youthful trends and indulgent spending accompanied with not much saving.

Cole has been in the rap game for a while and has seen many of his fellow artists suffer financially in their post-music lives.

Again, J. Cole is trying to push these young celebrities in the right direction by warning them.

He writes, “I know you think this type of revenue is never endin’ but I wanna take a minute just to tell you that ain’t true.”

In the end, I understand why people believe J. Cole dissed these rappers in his song “1985 (Intro To ‘The Fall Off’).”

He’s done it before and with lines like “I’m hoping for your sake that you ain’t dumb as you look,” and it makes it hard to argue otherwise.

But ultimately, J. Cole doesn’t want to be known as the 33-year-old rapper who dissed some 17-year-old budding stars without provocation.

As an incredibly reserved individual that has turned more or less into a recluse besides

the occasional album release, J. Cole must find creative ways to express his stance on the ideals he holds close.

In this song, J. Cole gets real and personal with these child celebrities and seeks to be the bigger man by offering up the advice of someone who’s previously been in their shoes and made it to true financial and conceivably mental prosperity.