J. Cole learned to appreciate SoundCloud rappers
But he still cautions, “the most popping rappers all are exaggerated versions of black stereotypes.”
J. Cole spoke to Vulture about the release of his latest album, KOD. In the lengthy interview, the rapper, who set new streaming records on with KOD's release on both Apple and Spotify, discussed his evolving opinion of so-called Soundcloud rappers, with whom he has an acknowledged rocky relationship with.
“If you exclude the top three rappers in the game, the most popping rappers all are exaggerated versions of black stereotypes,” J. Cole told Vulture. “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.”
Still, J. Cole says he's getting on board with the younger, popular artists, and names XXXTentacion, Trippie Redd, and Lil Baby as acts he's been into lately.
“I’m now in a place where I can hear people and get excited, like this kid is dope as fuck,” he said. “I wasn’t there before — everybody was trash.”
Read the full interview here.