Tems brings sultriness and soulfulness on every track in which she appears. It’s the combination of these qualities that’s made her such a sought after feature in the music world. It’s also what makes her debut album, Born In the Wild, such a mesmerizing listen. The Nigerian singer emphasizes all of her strengths and displays very few weaknesses over the album’s 18 tracks. She handles most of these tracks alone, but “Free Fall,” the single featuring J Cole, is an unmistakable highlight. The two artists join forces for a beautiful meditation on love and regret.
Tems’ vocals are achingly vulnerable. The lyrics follow suit. “Sorry if you don’t know what you’re doing with me. How you do me wrong then call my name, my name,” she sings in the pre-chorus. “Too late for you, babe, I don’t think I can let you in. I’m not opened up anymore.” The singer has a talent for evoking beauty and tragedy simultaneously, as evidenced by some of the album’s teaser tracks, but “Free Fall” kicks it up a notch. J Cole also delivers. The rapper has struggled to get his footing post Kendrick beef, as evidenced by the head-scratching “Grippy” verse, but he’s back in his element. Cole shines when it comes to detailing complicated romances, and his appearance on “Free Fall” evokes fan-favorite guest spots like “Warm Enough” and “Pretty Little Fears.”
Let us know what you think of this brand-new track, in the comments section down below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.
Toxic, who would’vе thought whats comin’ was a plot twist Soon as you let me in, you start huntin’ for the locksmith Now thе key i once had to your heart does not fit I got three choices, bad on your door or lock-pick Or walk away confused at your logic
With her debut album Born In The Wild coming soon, Nigerian singer Tems is soon to ascned to global superstar status. After becoming the first African-born artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (thanks in part to Future and Drake) and penning for both Beyoncé and Rihanna, she’s ready to take the next step in her journey as an artist with Born In The Wild. Here’s everything to know about the upcoming album.
6/12 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
6/15 — Paris, France @ L’Olympia
7/4 — Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
7/8 — Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
7/10 — Cologne, Germany @ Carlswerk Victoria
7/12 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
7/16 — Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux
North America
8/22 — Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore
8/24 — Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Cafe
8/26 — Dallas, TX @ Gilley’s South Side Ballroom
8/28 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
8/30 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
9/01 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
9/03 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
9/05 — New York City, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
9/07 — Toronto, ON, Canada @ History
9/11 — Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
9/13 — Montreal, QC, Canada @ L’Olympia
9/15 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
9/17 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
9/22 — Vancouver, BC, Canada @ The Queen Elizabeth Theatre
9/25 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
9/27 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
9/29 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Theatre At Virgin Hotel
10/1 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
Africa
10/19 & 25 — TBA
Asia
11/5 — TBA
Australia
11/09 — Melbourne @ Margaret Court Arena
11/12 — Brisbane @ Fortitude Music Hall
11/15 — Sydney @ The Hordern Pavilion
Tems has been one of the true breakout stars of the 2020s. The singer went from relative obscurity to headlining radio hits alongside rappers like Drake and Future. She even got the lead singer on a Black Panther soundtrack. The anticipation for her album has been at a fever pitch since it was announced back in 2022, and we finally have a tracklist. The Nigerian singer previously released the album cover, but the tracklist gives us a better feel for what she has in store, musically speaking.
Tems’ body of work so far has been concise and largely EP driven. Born In the Wild is a chance for her to display her artistry over a lengthy period, and she’s taking advantage of it. The album has 18 songs on it, and the features are minimal. It’s obvious the singer has the chops and the confidence to carry the lion’s share of the album on her own. Asake, another Nigerian artist, is featured on the song “Get It Right,” and J Cole will appear on “Free Fall.” The latter is a fascinating choice, given that Tems has worked with the other two rappers in the so-called Big Three. She’s made two hit songs with Drake, and she had a Q&A with Kendrick Lamar in 2023.
Tems talked about the recording process of Born In the Wild during her Interview Magazine chat with Lamar. She told the rapper that she didn’t intend to make the album so personal in theme. She was just compelled to dig into her own life whenever she stepped in the booth. “Sometimes it freaks me out,” she explained. “Sometimes I freestyle to a point where I can’t feel my feet. I’ve entered somewhere and I don’t even know where I am anymore. I’m just pouring out my gut and then when I’m done, I don’t remember what I just did.”
Tems also claimed that she encountered several “lightning in a bottle” moments during the making of the album. Moments in which she gave herself over to her artistic muse, and operated on instinct. It’s hard to find, but it’s special when you find it. “It’s like tuning a radio and you find a channel, but the thing is, once you lose that channel, you can’t find it again,” she told Lamar. “You can find another channel, another freestyle, another thing, but not that. Unless you’re really, really tapped in.”
Daylyt has a unique perspective on the battle of the so-called “Big Three.” The rapper has ties to Drake, J Cole and Kendrick Lamar, and has given his opinions on the various diss tracks that have been released between them all. This makes him an authoritative voice in terms of what to expect, and whether there is more that fans should be expecting. Daylyt even appeared on the J Cole album in which the Dreamville rapper dissed Kendrick Lamar. In his estimation, though, the battle is officially over.
Daylyt hopped on X (formerly Twitter) to give his two cents on the battle. He not only weighed in, but he acknowledged that the discourse around the battle has gotten old. “This my last and final post about this beef,” he wrote. “So that y’all don’t keep coming to my page looking for ebony type tweets.” The rapper then revealed that he’s had individual conversations with each of the Big Three in recent weeks. “I spoke to Cole,” he added. “I spoke to Dot, I spoke to Drake. The beef is over.” Daylyt then shifted the focus to the good music that came out of the beef, and the good music that’s still to come. “We back to making good music,” he tweeted. “To all rap n**gas the game has ben set hof!”
Daylyt’s association with the Big Three has taken on different forms over the years. He scored his first Billboard charting song opposite J. Cole on “Pi,” which also featured TDE rapper Ab-Soul. He previously worked with Drake, though there’s controversy surrounding the work they did together. Some fans think Daylyt wrote “Back to Back” for Drizzy, and the former’s song “Uncharged Up” was meant to poke fun at the Drake diss “Charged Up.” Another Daylyt song, 2016’s “Cat’s Out the Bag,” supports the “Back to Back” theory in its lyrics. “All of em jewish guys,” he raps. “Help em write the back 2 back but what money did you provide. Drake Joe, who should i ride for.”
Daylyt isn’t the only person who’s claimed that the Big Three battle is over. On May 10, Kendrick Lamar’s former label head, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, tweeted a similar opinion. “This battle is over,” he wrote. “A win for the culture, while keeping it all on wax. Especially when publications try to make it something else. We proved them wrong. That’s a victory within itself.” Top Dawg’s sentiments were shared only a handful of days after Lamar released the one-two punch of “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us.”
In between Coachella’s Weekend 1 and Weekend 2, Tems announced Born In The Wild, her debut studio album. Earlier this month, Tems shared the album would be released on June 7 and revealed the album’s cover artwork. The Grammy winner will embark the Born In The Wild World Tour, her first world tour, beginning in London on June 12, and now, we have an idea of what the setlist will look like.
On Thursday, May 30, Tems posted the Born In The Wild tracklist. Check it out, as well the album’s cover artwork and Tems’ tour dates, below.
Tems’ Born In The Wild Album Cover Artwork
RCA Records
Tems’ Born In The Wild Tracklist
1. “Born In The Wild”
2. “Special Baby (Interlude)”
3. “Burning”
4. “Wickedest”
5. “Love Me JeJe”
6. “Get It Right” Feat. Asake
7. “Ready”
8. “Gangsta”
9. “Unfortunate”
10. “Boy O Boy”
11. “Forever”
12. “Free Fall” Feat. J. Cole
13. “Voices In My Head (Interlude)”
14. “Turn Me Up”
15. “Me & U”
16. “T-Unit”
17. “You In My Face”
18. “Hold On”
Tems’ Born In The Wild World Tour Dates
Europe
6/12 — London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
6/15 — Paris, France @ L’Olympia
7/4 — Oslo, Norway @ Sentrum Scene
7/8 — Berlin, Germany @ Tempodrom
7/10 — Cologne, Germany @ Carlswerk Victoria
7/12 — Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
7/16 — Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux
North America
8/22 — Miami Beach, FL @ The Fillmore
8/24 — Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Cafe
8/26 — Dallas, TX @ Gilley’s South Side Ballroom
8/28 — Houston, TX @ 713 Music Hall
8/30 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
9/01 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
9/03 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
9/05 — New York City, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
9/07 — Toronto, ON, Canada @ History
9/11 — Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
9/13 — Montreal, QC, Canada @ L’Olympia
9/15 — Chicago, IL @ Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom
9/17 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
9/22 — Vancouver, BC, Canada @ The Queen Elizabeth Theatre
9/25 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
9/27 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
9/29 — Las Vegas, NV @ The Theatre At Virgin Hotel
10/1 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
Africa
10/19 & 25 — TBA
Asia
11/5 — TBA
Australia
11/09 — Melbourne @ Margaret Court Arena
11/12 — Brisbane @ Fortitude Music Hall
11/15 — Sydney @ The Hordern Pavilion
Born In The Wild is out 6/7 via RCA Records. Find more information here.
J Cole has a reputation for bringing elite rhymes and skilled guest vocals to other artists’ songs, with some features such as “Johnny P’s Caddy” going down in rap history books as the hardest in recent memory. Unfortunately, even J Cole can have a miss or two on his record, as evidenced by his feature on the recent Cash Cobain track “Grippy.” “Grippy” has been universally panned by critics and fans of J Cole alike, with most listeners lamenting the awkward delivery, poor mixing, and especially cringe lyrics as major lowlights. Let’s dive into a brief list of Cole’s worst bars on the track, and examine what makes the song so awkward. Without further ado, here are 5 of the most cringe J Cole lyrics on “Grippy.”
Rappers often utilize shoddy wordplay to force a rhyme into place or paint a visual image. Most times, fans are willing to accept these instances and move right along. That is, as long as the tone and delivery of the awkward bars are jovial, and don’t take themselves too seriously. On “Grippy,” this is not the case, as J Cole opens his verse with a painful comparison between the words “hip” and “hippie.” On the song, the Dreamville head honcho raps “Grippy, huh/ Grippy, I call her that ’cause it’s grippy/ She thick in the hips, she a hippie.” These lyrics are spoken with the comfortable vibrato of a man who didn’t just spend the last month getting torn apart by rap fans for apologizing to Kendrick Lamar, and serve as a really painful first post-beef outing.
4. The Sloppy Similes Keep Going
As fans of J Cole, we all wish the awkward bars on “Grippy” would have ended with the hippie punch line, but things only get worse from there. Cole goes on to deliver one of the worst similes of his entire career with the bars “With a kissy emoji, she miss me/ When she see me, she say she gon’ strip me/ She gon’ chew on this stick like it’s Wrigley’s.” In case you need those lyrics broken down, he’s referencing Wrigley’s chewing gum, in an allusion to a woman performing oral sex. It remains unclear, however, why J Cole thinks “chewing” is a term that belongs anywhere in the same universe as a bar about receiving oral, but that’s his personal business.
Without a doubt, the most heavily-memed bar on this record comes in the form of a borderline problematic lyric, in which J Cole raps “Mm, yеah, believe it or not likе Ripley’s/ She said she was gay until I slayed, now she strictly dickly.” Here J Cole suggests that he’s such a powerful performer in the bedroom that he could convince a lesbian to turn straight. This would be an awkward bar for any rapper to deliver at any point in their career, but it’s especially odd after Cole just faced backlash for some seemingly transphobic bars on his most recent release. Either way, fans have already started posting audio clips of this portion of the song alongside images of The Simpsons‘ Ned Flanders, as he delivers his classic lines like “Okilly dokilly.”
2. Graphic Sexual Depictions Make The Track Nauseating
Some rap songs are specifically designed to be added to a bedroom playlist. While there’s no way of knowing for sure if that was the intent that J Cole and Cash Cobain had in mind when they penned “Grippy,” it certainly seems like they weren’t shy about delivering graphic sexual imagery in their lyrics. As J Cole nears the merciful end of his cringe-inducing feature, he offers up the bars, “I gotta get you up out of them Vickies/ uh, like p**** so good, I just had an epiphany/ It’s grippy and wet, you know I’m a vet, but you makin’ me feel like a rookie/ How you make me tap out so swiftly?” Maybe in an alternate universe, somebody could consider these lyrics steamy, but currently, these bars are positively obnoxious.
Nearing the close of J Cole’s verse on “Grippy” forces the listener to look inward and ask themselves what exactly Cole meant the last few years while promising The Fall Off. If this awkward and cringe-worthy refrain is anything to go by, that title may serve as much more than just the name of a long-awaited album. Cole closes out his verse by crooning “Like, b****, I’ma send all your kids to Disney/ hmm, hmm I’ma pay a lil’ extra, make sure they meet Mickey/ hmm she a what? She a what,she a grippy/ huh she a what? She a what, she a grippy.” Needless to say, this song has been getting a lot of attention from fans online, for all the wrong reasons. Even J Cole’s most die-hard supporters are finding it impossible to defend his awkward bars on this latest verse.
Drake has seen brighter days. The rapper’s popularity has taken a hit since he lost the Kendrick Lamar battle. The last diss that he issued towards Lamar, “The Heart Part 6,” wound up with more dislikes than likes on YouTube. The next single he appeared on, “U My Everything,” fell victim to the same ratio. Drake is losing fans by the day, it seems, but DJ Akademiks thinks there’s something fishy about the stats. The avid 6 God supporter claimed that there’s a concentrated effort to make the rapper’s “fall” seem more significant than it actually is.
DJ Akademiks rolled out his conspiracy theory on May 26. He took to X (formerly Twitter) to note the overwhelmingly harsh response to the aforementioned songs. He also included Drake’s second Lamar diss, “Family Matters,” in his statement. “Either n**gas hating on Drake or n**gas hate botting his latest releases,” Ak wrote. “His last 2 releases has more dislikes than likes on YouTube. The Heart Part 6 and his newest feature on Sexyy Redd song. And family matters has over 400k dislikes on YouTube. Very abnormal.”
Either niggas hating on Drake or niggas hate botting his latest releases.
His last 2 releases has more dislikes than likes on YouTube. the heart part 6 and his newest feature on Sexyy redd song . And family matters has over 400k dislikes on YouTube. Very abnormal. pic.twitter.com/2ht0rs3SAF
While it’s admittedly strange to see Drake songs consistently perform poorly, the rapper is dealing with public fallout that he’s never had to deal with before. Lamar turned his Drake disses into hits, with “Not Like Us” and “Euphoria” peaking at number one and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. Drake, meanwhile, struggled to crack the top ten with his disses. Drake’s music has also seen a downturn in streaming. His numbers were reportedly down 5% the week of May 3-6.
Drake’s feature on Sexxy Red’s “U My Everything” proves that he’s not been able to shake the Lamar battle. Instead of ignoring the battle, and his various targets outright, he decided to flip Metro Boomin’s “BBL Drizzy” beat and change the meaning of the title. It was a decent idea in theory, but enough time had passed to where fans felt as though it fell flat. “U My Everything” is suffering from post-Kendrick Lamar fallout, much in the same way that J. Cole’s verse is on the Cash Cobain single “Grippy.” Both rappers are struggling to get their footing back.
DJ Akademiks might be right in terms of there being too much Drake hate, but it’s also worth noting that dislikes and mockery come with the territory when you decide to go to battle. The 6 God will be fine, but it might take longer than he or Ak want it to.
TI has got opinions. The legendary rapper has already given J Cole his flowers for bowing out of the Big Three Battle, and affirmed that lying about other rappers in song is an acceptable tactic. He’s not done giving his two cents, though. TI recently went on DJ Whoo Kid’s SiriusXM Whoo’s House Podcast, and he decided he had a solution to the ongoing (?) battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. The way TIP sees it, the two superstars should come together and do a joint tour.
TI called the Drake and Kendrick Lamar battle “probably one of the more exacerbated beefs” he’s ever seen. It’s a bold statement, given that he spent most of the 2000s going to war with every other rapper in the South. Regardless, TI has matured and praised both artists for defining their generation. “I got respect for both of them,” he explained to the hosts. “I think [Drake and Kendrick are] both phenomenal hitmakers.” Where things took an interesting turn is when TI suggested they should set their differences aside for a massive payday. “I’m just waiting on the tour,” he noted. “That’s the only thing.”
TI Thinks Both Rappers Would Benefit From A “Reunion”
The “Live Your Life” rapper has a rationalization for his bold proposal. He feels like things have gotten so bad between Drake and Lamar that a public reunion is the only thing that would outdo it. All the lies and the hateful bars are cool, but coming together would be even bigger. “Listen, after the disagreement, the only thing that’s gon’ sell is the reunion,” he added.
TI isn’t the first rapper to suggest Drake, Kenny and Cole should bury the hatchet. Chuck D claimed they go on tour while the former two were still battling each other on wax. The Public Enemy icon stated that they should capitalize on the friction between them and use it for something positive. “These fantastic 3 rappers (I’m biased for KL) have songs that never will get this public attention,” he wrote. “Hence this low hanging kid sh*t turns casuals heads… Get them all on a TOUR so we can pick seats.” We aren’t going to hold our breath on that tour, based on where things left off.
Cash Cobain‘s rise continues with his latest big-name collaboration. After collaborations with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Don Toliver, and Ice Spice, the slizzy movement creator has his biggest look yet thanks to J. Cole, who appears on “Grippy,” Cobain’s newest single. The song is definitely closer Cobain’s wheelhouse than Cole’s, yet the veteran rapper easily adapts to the new style. Cole has proven his versatility throughout his career as a guest verse assassin, and in this case, he is just as solid as ever.
Cole’s appearance on the younger rapper’s latest is a case of fortuitous timing for him, as well. In Uproxx’s review of his new mixtape, Might Delete Later, I wrote that his formula could use an update; meanwhile, after initially jumping into the conflict between Kendrick Lamar and Drake with “7 Minute Drill,” which wasn’t received all that warmly by most of the hip-hop establishment, he then deleted the track from streamers, which drew another wave of criticism. However, withdrawing from the “beef” may have been for the best for him. When fans last heard from the formerly well-respected rapper, he was just hanging out on the beach with fans, avoiding conflict, and living his best life.
Cash Cobain has become everybody’s favorite collaborator. He linked up with Ice Spice on the remix to his breakout single “Fisherrr,” and produced the hypnotic beat for the new Don Toliver song “Attitude.” There’s something about his glitchy, “sexy drill” (as he describes it) that is irresistible to major artists, and J Cole is the latest to get the Cobain stimulus package. The Dreamville rapper, and unfortunate causality in the Big Three battle, is back doing what he does best. Well, sort of.
Cash Cobain sounds slick as ever on “Grippy.” He produced the beat, and the way he effortlessly glides over each little glitch and bouncy drum pattern feels symbiotic. As with all producer/rappers, they have the benefit of knowing what will sound best on their own music. “Destiny, I’m tryna give you the best of me,” he raps. “I wanna kill it like rest in peace, Eat on that p**sy like it was a recipe, like Shanti, I wanna make you a mommy.” These lines are not profound in any way, but they match “Grippy”‘s glitchy drums like a glove.
Cash Cobain Drops Off A Memorable “Sexy Drill” Track
J. Cole also started out as a producer/rapper. He’s proven himself to be extremely versatile in both fields, but there’s something about Cash Cobain’s production that trips him up. Cole starts the song, and while he has time to fire off a few memorable bars, he never really finds his footing. There’s a reliance on Auto Tune that’s unpleasant to the ear, and a repetitive rhyme scheme that makes sense, yet quickly runs out of steam. J. Cole is trying to approach “Grippy” like most guest verses, but this is one of the first times where it sounds like he’s blatantly chasing a trendy sound.
His Big Three peer, Drake, has also worked with Cash Cobain on “Calling for You,” but the 6 God has always been better at absorbing trends and making them sound natural. Cole can do lots of things, but he can’t do that. A solid song, but one in which Cobain is carrying his feature.
What are your thoughts on this new song, “Grippy” by Cash Cobain and J. Cole? Does Cobain carry the song? Is J. Cole better than we gave him credit for? Do you want to hear more collabs between them in the future? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Cash Cobain. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
Quotable Lyrics
When she see me, she say she gon’ strip me She gon’ chew on the stick like it’s Wrigleys Mm, yеah, believe it or not likе Ripley’s She said she was gay until I slayed, now she’s strictly— As soon as she page, I’m on the way, and I be showin’ up quickly
