D.C.’s own Wale is back and better than ever after dropping a fresh track today with fan-favorite North Carolina rapper J. Cole “Poke It Out”. In addition to reuniting with Cole for a single, Wale has also announced a new album, Folarin 2. Coleworld And Folarin Give Dream Collab In 2019, his sixth studio album, […]
Wale and J. Cole are a match made in hip-hop heaven, proving as much once again on their J Dilla-sampling new single, “Poke It Out.” The two former XXL Freshmen continue their long history of bringing out the best in each other on their smooth new jam, which interpolates the Jay Dee-produced beat from 1999 debut solo single “Vivrant Thing.”
The original was a huge hit in its own right, giving Q-Tip his highest-charting single to date; Wale and Cole’s version, produced by Cool & Dre, updates the lyrics but keeps a similar theme, letting the two rappers praise the beauty of a female companion with their usual slick, wordplay-laden rhymes. The two also shout out female rappers Coi Leray and Megan Thee Stallion as a way of touting their broad and inclusive tastes.
The single is the latest from Wale’s upcoming album Folarin II, which he also announced is set for release on October 22 through Warner Records. So far, he’s released a pair of other singles: “Angles” and the Mike Jones-sampling “Down South” featuring Texans Maxo Kream and Yella Beezy. From the singles released so far, it appears Wale’s latest album will pay homage to classic hip-hop as he parallels his legacy with those of his musical heroes in his ongoing efforts to prove himself one of the greatest rappers of all time.
Listen to “Poke It Out” above and pre-order Folarin II, out 10/22 on Warner Records, here.
Wale is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Rappers J. Cole and Wale have had a low-simmering rivalry, but the two might finally be coming together to unite fanbases. Wale posted a tweet that suggests the two will be dropping a song together tomorrow. Cole + Wale = No Beef Wale and J Cole had tension between them in the past. Cole has […]
21 Savage is currently on tour with J. Cole for the latter’s new album The Off-Season, and while performing in Atlanta, the hometown hero almost took an inadvertent stage dive as he emerged from backstage before catching himself to join J. Cole at center stage. He took the awkward moment in stride (heh), posting a video on Instagram along with a good-humored caption teasing himself for nearly falling. “this the closest I’ll ever be to falling off,” he joked.
Of course, that wasn’t enough to keep some of his famous peers from also taking advantage of the moment, including Drake. The Toronto rapper commented with a sarcastic “Agile,” while fellow Atlanta trap rapper Skooly noted 21 “Caught that Mfr doe.” Chicago rapper G Herbo simply commented with a string of laughing emojis, and Atlanta rapper Trouble praised Savage’s reflexes, writing, “a Boy wasn’t goin fa nannnn.”
Other commenters noted that it looked like 21 “slipped on a banana peel” and one even compared his stumble to the new Korean Netflix show Squid Game. The amusing moment wasn’t the rapper’s first viral hit this week. Speaking with DJ Akademiks, he noted that in Atlanta, Future always seemed to be bigger than Drake, sparking a debate on Twitter about whether he was right or just blowing smoke. He later clarified the comment, explaining that growing up, he and his associates listened to more mixtapes than albums.
Na I said some people that come from where I come from do..because when I was younger I was disconnected from mainstream music I didn’t know what Spotify was until I was a rapper…all we knew was mixtapes https://t.co/mhabkNkJe9
— Saint Laurent Don (@21savage) September 29, 2021
Watch 21 Savage’s near spill above.
J. Cole is finally kicking off his long-awaited The Off-Season tour and he’s already experiencing a few hiccups. The rapper just performed his third show of the year in Greensboro, North Carolina. But after running into several road blocks, Cole made the decision to postpone some of his upcoming concerts.
The rapper shared a video to Instagram to apologize to his fans and explain the reason for the delay. Cole announced he would be postponing the tour’s Philadelphia and Detroit dates because the live show production is so intricate that his crew simply can’t get to the venues in enough time:
“I’m backstage at the Greensboro show. I’ve been here for hours trying to get my voice right. This is the Off-Season tour. I have an announcement for specifically Philly and Detroit. […] When we came out on the Off-Season tour, we wanted to do this sh*t big. I spent days programming the lights, hours and hours the programming the lights. While the show is amazing, we didn’t account for the fact that it takes way longer to load this sh*t into the house, so we’re experiencing delays in opening the doors and getting people in.”
Cole explained that it’s a nine-hour drive from North Carolina to Philadelphia, and that’s not enough time to “get the show up in time.” He added: “I apologize for the inconvenience. I know people done hired babysitters, some people drive in from out of town, I hate this sh*t. Even the fact that people waiting outside right now in Greensboro. That sh*t is A.) embarrassing and B.) I think about people’s time. This is the first time this ever happened to us. So I apologize for this sh*t.”
The Off-Season is out now via Dreamville. Get it here.
As J. Cole embarks on his The Off-Season Tour, fans can also look forward to the return of his Dreamville Festival next year. Dreamville announced the return — and expansion — of its festival today, providing the April dates and location: Raleigh, North Carolina, just an hour away from Cole’s hometown of Fayetteville. The festival returns April 2 and 3, expanding to a two-day schedule which could mean an even greater number of guest artists from outside the label. In the past, the festival has included 21 Savage, 6lack, Big Sean, Davido, Nelly, Rapsody, Saba, and Teyanna Taylor.
The Dreamville Festival, which was obviously planned to be an annual event, has seen its fair share of troubles. The original event was postponed as a result of Hurricane Florence, forcing organizers to forego a planned Young Thug appearance. Then, scheduled to return in 2020, the festival was postponed again due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually outright canceled. But it looks like you can’t keep a Dreamer down; the resilience of the event is a testament to Dreamville’s founder’s own stubbornness and persistence.
The festival will require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations or negative COVID-19 test results, and a portion of proceeds will be donated to the Dreamville Foundation and Dorothea Dix Park Conservancy.
Naturally, more information can be found at DreamvilleFest.com, where tickets will go on sale this Friday, October 1.
Drake and J. Cole have remained open about their friendship over the years. The two rappers have collaborated on a number of occasions, including on J. Cole’s “In The Morning” and Drake’s “Jodeci Freestyle.” More recently, Cole released “Heaven’s EP,” a freestyle that found him rapping over Drake’s “Pipe Down.” This freestyle became the center of a warm moment between the two, as Cole brought Drake out during the first stop of The Off-Season Tour in Miami on Friday night.
Drake tells J. Cole the bronze line on ‘Pipe Down’ is not justified because he’s one of the greatest rappers to touch the mic pic.twitter.com/TnWrK5anSj
— HipHop-N-More (@FreeHHNM) September 25, 2021
“I gotta say this ‘cause I don’t always wanna have a heartfelt moment when we’re on stage together,” Drake said after gracing the crowd with a performance of “Way 2 Sexy,” his No. 1 hit with Future and Young Thug. “You know, you did that ‘Pipe Down’ freestyle the other day. You was sayin’ in the freestyle that they gave you the bronze or whatever, me and Kendrick [Lamar]…I just want you to understand something. You are genuinely, without a doubt, one of the greatest rappers to ever touch a mic.”
The moment on the song that Drake is referring to finds Cole rapping, “Some people say that I’m running third, they threw the bronze at me / Behind Drake and Dot, yeah, them n****s is superstars to me.”
You can watch the rappers share the stage together in the videos above.
Joyner Lucas is on a streak of quality collaborations with popular names in the hip-hop world and the Massachusetts rapper’s latest example of that finds him beside J. Cole. The duo finds magic with “Your Heart,” on which the rappers admit to their wrongs in past relationships, which often left their past partner brokenhearted and hurt by the actions of Lucas or Cole. Both rappers use maturity and wisdom to criticize their wrongdoings while sympathizing with the person they hurt.
The song arrives after Lucas was at the center of one of the biggest stories in the past week. He accused well-known marketing strategist Karen Civil of stealing $60,000 from him nearly a decade ago after he reached out to her with the help of getting help for his aspiring rap career. Lucas fired off the accusations in a series of tweets and even went back and forth with Civil during a discussion about the matter on Clubhouse.
“My son was on the way and you stole 60k from me before I got in the game @KarenCivil,” Lucas wrote in a tweet. “I hired you as a consultant and below attached was the memo you sent me. I was desperate for help and you knew that. After you was paid you went ghost and didn’t expect me to pop. here I am.”
You can press play on the track in the video above.
Leave it to none other than J. Cole to remind us why he is one of the goats of the rap game. The North Carolina rapper just dropped a remix to Drake’s “Pipe Down” from Certified Lover Boy and it’s safe to say he made it his own, then added his two cents on top. […]
Leave it to none other than J. Cole to remind us why he is one of the goats of the rap game. The North Carolina rapper just dropped a remix to Drake’s “Pipe Down” from Certified Lover Boy and it’s safe to say he made it his own, then added his two cents on top. […]
