J. Cole Is Hurt By Nas’ Domestic Violence Accusations – “I don’t f**k with people abusing women”

J. Cole Was Hurt By Nas’ Domestic Violence Accusations – “I don’t f*ck with people abusing women”

Rapper J. Cole is known for his poignant stances on Black America, but rarely gives interviews to the press to express them. Marching the streets of Ferguson, MO during the thick of controversy after Mike Brown’s killing – he’d rather be about it than talk about it. Dreamville’s frontrunner reluctantly sat down with Billboard Magazine to drop gems on the current state of politics, why he’s slow to share his opinions, and how Nas let him down. See the excerpts below. 

Nas, Kelis

On Kelis’s abuse allegations against ex-husband Nas:

“Yeah, that hurt. I ain’t going to lie. That hurts. It feels weird because I fuck with Nas, but I just have to be honest. I came up seeing too much fucked-up shit for that to be acceptable. I don’t care who it is. I don’t fuck with people abusing women, and I don’t fuck with people not taking care of their kids.

On if he believes cancel culture is legitimate:

“That’s tough because we’re talking about black women. If it was a white woman involved with these allegations, then sadly — I’m realizing as I’m talking to you — maybe people wouldn’t cancel them just as quick, but labels would be forced to cancel, because white outrage is way more powerful than black outrage, unfortunately. When white people start getting outraged about this type of shit, then maybe something will happen.”

XXXTentacion

On his relationship with XXXTentacion:

“I spoke to him on FaceTime one day in February for, like, three hours. His management reached out and asked if he could FaceTime me or call me. It was a super-intense conversation. He left a mark on me, just as a person…He started off the conversation literally on some, like — he didn’t even say hello. He started off basically saying, “I’m not on your level yet.” He was talking about spiritually and mentally, and that was intense because I was like, “Huh? I’m not on no level.” He was praising me while also saying he was going to achieve whatever it is he felt that I had. I’ve dealt with mentally ill people in my life before, many of them. And right away, I notice that this kid is super passionate and smart, but I could also see that he was so deep in his mind.”

He continued:

“When I found out [about the abuse allegations against him], my first response was, “Man, I hope maybe one day I’ll get a chance to talk to this kid and figure out if there’s any place that I can help.” Because anybody who would do the shit that he did… Hurt people hurt people. I’ve walked through prisons and talked to these dudes who got life. They took someone’s life at 16 or 17 years old. You haven’t had the chance to process your trauma at that age. I’ma be sympathetic to a kid who has clearly been through so much fucked-up shit that he inflicted this on someone else.”

On why he does minimal press and why he agreed to the Billboard interview:

“You want to know the honest truth why I did this interview? Ib [his manager, Ibrahim Hamad] and the team thought it would be good. No disrespect to Billboard, but I literally was not in the mood. I was fine…sometimes, when I do do [press], I end up feeling like it wasn’t fulfilling. But I also understand I’ve been stuck in my ways. 2014 was probably the year I decided, “Fuck it, I’m through trying to play whatever game is going on.” Then shit worked so well I fell all the way back. I’m on the other extreme now. I don’t want to be so stubborn where I don’t listen to people. I’m also building a company, a record label, with other artists. Their success, in some way, may depend on me being a little more present or accessible.”

On why he avoids sharing his opinions on Twitter:

“If I’m in a conversation with somebody and it’s natural and it’s organic, I’m going to speak freely. But rarely do I feel the need to hop on Twitter or social media and chime in, especially on rap and music shit. This shit is not real. This shit is fucking fake. This shit is high school. This shit is fucking celebrity worship.”

He continued:

“I might not be on Twitter at that time. I might not be in the mode of confidently expressing my opinions via text. I speak better from the heart, out loud. And when it really moves me, I’ll do it.”

Donald Trump

His thoughts on Trump-era politics:

“…politics really doesn’t interest me anymore. I try to stay as far away from politics as possible. I don’t click the links. The headlines are enough. I understand there is a segment of politics where you have people — and this is the part I respect — who truly are trying to use it as a tool for change, and they devote their life to grassroots voter registration and shit like that. They’re living a life that’s unselfish. But the politics we’re talking about [slaps table] is Trump headlines.”

He continued:

“Human beings are easily manipulated and distracted. You couldn’t have told anybody 10 years ago that this would be the landscape of American discourse. That these would be the topics of conversation: fucking Kardashian drama and Trump drama.”

Hillary Clinton

On why he didn’t vote in the 2016 election:

“Hillary Clinton wasn’t somebody that was motivating me to go vote. If it was Bernie Sanders, I would’ve showed up and voted. I would’ve been the first one in line, no bullshit. No disrespect to Hillary…I don’t care to lend my voice for a politician at the end of the day.”

Written by Miata Shanay