It looks like J. Cole is done lying low in the aftermath of his aborted battle with Kendrick Lamar. After dropping the Kendrick-dissing track “7 Minute Drill,” having regrets about the song’s lukewarm reception, removing the song from streaming services, and seemingly going on vacation to let the dust settle, he returned in earnest with a new video for his Might Delete Later track, “Trae The Truth In Ibiza.”
The “Trae The Truth In Ibiza” video follows the lo-fi approach of the rest of the album’s rollout, incorporating camcorder footage of the two rappers on tour together in the titular Spanish isle. In much of the footage, we see a baby-faced J. Cole from early in his career as the dreadlocked, nearly 40-year-old version reflects on how far he’s come in the pursuit of his rap dreams.
Although J. Cole appeared reluctant to publicly promote himself in the aftermath of the Kendrick kerfuffle, a few of the artists for whom he’d previously recorded verses did drop their new songs featuring him. Future and Metro Boomin had previously secured a Cole feature on their second joint album called “Red Leather,” which dropped just as he was pondering withdrawing “7 Minute Drill” and just before that song debuted at No.6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then, New York rising star Cash Cobain dropped “Grippy” with an experimental J. Cole verse that some fans weren’t feeling in light of the preceding month. Finally, Tems featured Cole on her debut album Born In The World on the song “Free Fall.” So, Cole hasn’t been completely invisible lately, but this is the first thing he’s released of his own accord — perhaps this means he’s ready to emerge and finally start working in earnest on releasing his long-waited album, The Fall Off.
Watch J. Cole’s “Trae The Truth In Ibiza” video above.
Might Delete Later is out now via Cole World Inc./Interscope Records.
