Once again, J. Cole has not chosen violence. He demonstrated grace and professionalism during his Dreamville Festival performance this weekend, choosing to acknowledge Kanye West’s influence on his career rather than engage with recent negative comments from the controversial artist.
Cole opted for appreciation over retaliation during his recent festival set.
Check how it went down, while performing his 2011 hit “Work Out,” Cole shared the song’s origin story and gave credit to West for his role in its creation. “I know ns feel a way about him right now, but I got love for [Ye] and I really appreciate him. He cleared all these fing samples for me,”* Cole told the enthusiastic crowd. He explained how Kanye’s “The New Workout Plan” from The College Dropout directly inspired his platinum single. “It’s like it spoke to me,” Cole reflected on the creative process.
This show of respect instead of fighting fire with fire, comes weeks after West unleashed a series of disparaging remarks about Cole on social media. “I hate J Cole music so much,” Ye posted on X. He went on to claim the music industry pressured Cole to diss Drake, adding, “Then we would have been accosted with a Cole Super Bowl commercial with no SZA song to save it.”
West’s criticism continued with personal jabs about Cole’s appeal, stating, “No one listens to Cole after losing their virginity,” before recalling a conversation with Drake where he allegedly said supporting Cole was “hurting hip hop” while praising Future instead.