J. Cole is a rapper that’s made a name for himself not only with his though-provoking lyricism and production but also for making a point of having no guest features on his albums (and still going platinum). Today following the release of Gang Starr’s first new song in 15 years, he has made a bold statement about being featured on other rapper’s music.
In a tweet this morning to promote the song, he also mentioned that “This is the last feature you’ll hear from me. Thank you to everybody I got to work with during this run.”
The song, called “Family and Loyalty” was released nine years after the death of Gang Starr’s MC Guru. DJ Premiere and J. Cole teamed up with a posthumous verse from Guru to create the song.
This year J. Cole has appeared on a few songs as a featured artist. Ty Dolla $ign recruited him for “Purple Emoji,” Offset brought him on for “How Did I Get Here” and he was on the 21 Savage song “A Lot.” It’s unclear if he won’t appear on songs like “Down Bad” from the Dreamville album, where he appeared with EarthGang, J.I.D., Young Nudy and Bas.
KOD was J. Cole’s last album and became his third straight LP to go platinum without any guest features. And while he may not be burning up Top 40 radio with his thoughtful brand of hip-hop and lack of big-name verses, he set streaming records with KOD album back in 2018. In 2017 4 Your Eyez Only went platinum with no features and in 2014 Forest Hill Drive was his first album to go platinum without any guests.
Photo Credit: Mehreen Rizvi
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