J. Cole Critiques Rappers Exploiting Beef for Sales

Last night, J. Cole surprised fans by dropping off Birthday Blizzard ’26, a collection of four new freestyles. He doesn’t hold back in any of the tracks either, speaking his mind in honor of his 41st birthday. On “99 Build Freestyle,” for example, he calls out rappers who use drama to sell records.

“Rays from the flows, radiate the globe, meltin’ snow on this frozen tundra / Known as the rap game, that’s been overcome / With loads of marketin’ plans / Based on randomly dissin’ and hatin’ on the next man,” he raps. “Drama enhances the attention brought to the fans / On popular channels, so you wanna hop on the band / Wagon of battle rappin’, and throwin’ shots in a jam / I had my chance, but I dropped it, which means my only option’s / To do the opposite then (Lead with the skill, n***a).”

This isn’t the only jab J. Cole threw, however.

He’s also rumored to have dissed Drake on “Golden Goose Freestyle.” It features bars about Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge, botted streams, failed tours, and more.

“Lotta rappers make dough then be prone to lose it / For crumbs, dumb n****s sold their soul to Lucian… N****s cheatin’ and I won’t еxcuse it / If I said it then I wrote it, stupid,” Cole spits. “If the streams say you winnin,’ why your tours is losin’? / When the math ain’t mathin’, of course you’re juicin’ / That mean the bots is boostin’ / Cut the tough guy image, it is not conducive / To breathe and don’t gamble with your life ‘cause the opps is cruisin’ / Word to Mike Vick, your dog might get sh*t for losin’.”

At the time of writing, Birthday Blizzard ’26 is not available to stream. Instead, fans can purchase the collection on J. Cole’s website for as little as $1. The release of this latest batch of freestyles comes just a few days before the release of The Fall-Off, J. Cole’s long-awaited seventh studio album. It’s slated for release on February 6.