J. Cole Addresses Lil Pump and Smokepurpp After "1985" Backlash

J. Cole new track "1985" has stirred up emotions.

All these niggas popping now is young
Everybody say the music that they make is dumb
I remember I was 18
Money, pussy, parties, I was on the same thing
You gotta give a boy a chance to grow some
Everybody talkin' like they know somethin' these days
Niggas actin' woke, but they broke, umm
I respect the struggle but you all frontin' these days
Man, they barely old enough to drive
To tell them what they should do, who the fuck am I?
I heard one of em' diss me, I'm surprised
I ain't trippin', listen good to my reply
Come here lil' man, let me talk with ya'
See if I can paint for you the larger picture
Congrats 'cause you made it out your mama's house
I hope you make enough to buy your mom a house
I see your watch icy and your whip foreign
I got some good advice, never quit tourin'
'Cause that's the way we eat here in this rap game
I'm fuckin' with your funky lil' rap name
I hear your music and I know that rap's changed
A bunch of folks would say that that's a bad thing
'Cause everything's commercial and it's pop now, Cole raps.

Cole seems to be directing those condescending, lecturing bars at Lil Pump. Pump and his good buddy Smokepurpp have been at the forefront of the "Fuck J. Cole" movement, which comes off as a mix between the generational conflicts that have always been part of the rap game and pure, new-fashioned trolling. 

In response to "1985", Pump blasted Cole for being a "lame ass jit" and Purrp had his crowds chanting "Fuck J. Cole" over the weekend.

Cole addressed "1985" and who he's talking about in a new interview with New York Mag.

“It’s really a ‘shoe fits’ situation — several people can wear that shoe,” Cole says cryptically. “Why you yelling at your show? You must feel attacked in some kind of way, must feel offended, and if you feel offended, then that means something rings true, something struck a chord. That’s cool with me. That’s all I ever want to do.”

For Cole, the target is more general. He takes aim at what he sees as the cartoon version of hip-hop. “If you exclude the top three rappers in the game, the most popping rappers all are exaggerated versions of black stereotypes,” he says. “Extremely tatted up. Colorful hair. Flamboyant. Brand names. It’s caricatures, and still the dominant representation of black people, on the most popular entertainment format for black people, period.”

What do you think of Cole's words, which seem to be calling out rappers who aren't named Drake, Kendrick Lamar or J. Cole?