Wale Recalls Venting To J. Cole Before “False Prophets” Dropped

Wale says that he vented to J. Cole about some of his personal struggles the night before “False Prophets” dropped back in 2016. At the time, many fans quickly interpreted one of the verses to be about their relationship. On the song, Cole references a friend who is struggling with a perceived lack of appreciation in the music industry. Wale discussed the situation during an appearance on The Breakfast Club on Tuesday.

He began by recalling a time he called J. Cole and noted it was one of the few times he “really leaned on an industry person.” “The crazy thing is, ‘False Prophets’ came out the next day. ‘False Prophets’ came out the very next day after that,” he said. After clarifying that he didn’t take offense to the verse, he added: “I love him. That’s my brother. I think I kind of halted telling any industry person anything too deep around that time.” Wale also noted that Cole told him the track wasn’t about him.

As for “False Prophets,” J. Cole raps on the song: “I got a homie, he a rapper and he wanna win bad / He want the fame, the acclaim, the respect that’s been had / By all the legends, so every time I see him, he stressin’ / Talkin’ ’bout, n****s don’t f*ck with him, this sh*t is depressin’ / And I know he so bitter he can’t see his own blessings.”

When The Shade Room shared a clip of Wale’s comments on Instagram, fans had mixed reactions in the comments section. “But it wasn’t mean spirited when you see those words. It’s like bro, just accept your greatness and stop worrying about what other people think,” one user wrote. Another added: “If it came out the next day that means he already recorded it before you told him sir.”

Elsewhere on “False Prophets,” J. Cole seemingly targets Kanye West. He raps: “Ego in charge of every move, he’s a star / And we can’t look away due to the days that he caught our hearts / He’s fallin’ apart, but we deny it / Justifying that half ass sh*t he dropped, we always buy it / When he tell us he a genius but it’s clearer lately / It’s been hard for him to look into the mirror lately.”

Despite not attacking Kanye West by name, the controversial rapper had described himself as a “genius” on numerous occasions over the years. Earlier this year, West slammed Cole in a series of posts on social media, writing: “I hate J Cole music so much… No one listens to J Cole after loosing their virginity.”