J. Cole Releases New Politically-Charged Song ‘Snow on Tha Bluff’

Rapper J. Cole surprised fans by dropping a new song titled “Snow on Tha Bluff” on Tuesday night.

The single, his first of the year so far, touches on themes such as police brutality, racism and activism in a quick flow.

“It’s a reason it took like two hundred years for our ancestors just to get freed / These shackles be lockin’ the mental way more than the physical / I look at freedom like trees, can’t grow a forest like overnight / Hit the ghetto and slowly start plantin’ your seeds,” he raps.

The new song comes in the midst of nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd and police brutality. Cole joined protestors in his native city of Fayetteville, N.C., last month, and in the official video for “Snow on Tha Bluff” it appears the lyrics were written on June 4.

“This change is inevitable but ain’t none of us seen this before, therefore we just gotta learn everything as we go / I struggle with thoughts on the daily, feel like a slave that somehow done saved enough coins to buy his way up outta slavery / Thinkin’ just maybe, in my pursuit to make life so much better for me and my babies, I done betrayed the very same people that look at me like I’m some kind of a hero / Because of the zeros that’s next to the commas, but look here I promise I’m not who you think,” he raps.

The song shares its name with the 2012 drama by Damon Russell. The film follows the exploits of a drug dealer named Curtis Snow in the Atlanta neighborhood called The Bluff, which is infamous for its high crime.

Listen to the song below.