J. Cole Raps From the Personas of Tupac, Biggie on ‘What If’

On J. Cole’s just-released album, The Fall-Off, there’s a song titled “What If” where the Dreamville leader raps from the perspective of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.

On Friday (Feb. 6), J. Cole dropped his highly-anticipated project, The Fall-Off. One of the many standout tracks on the LP is a song titled “What If” where he raps from the personas of late hip-hop icons, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.

On the Beat Butcha and TaeBeast-produced tune, the Dreamville leader lyrically hypothesizes if ‘Pac and Biggie could have reached out to each other to air out their grievances and set their beef aside.

“The streets is a bit upset/You claimin’ that you f**ked my bi**h,” Cole spits on the first verse with almost the same cadence as B.I.G. “But, check, instead of escalatin’/At a time when ni**as say ‘Big, let’s decimate ’em/I’m tellin’ em chill ’cause although he violatin’/In my heart, I could never hate ’em/I love you.”

On the second verse, the North Carolina rhymer spits from the perspective of Tupac.

“Know sh*t got outta hand/I’ll take the blame for it,” Cole raps. “For my mistakes, I couldn’t take you gettin’ slain for it/For fallin’ victim to ego, vengeance and dollar signs/I wanna say from the heart, I apologize.”

J. Cole’s The Fall-Off arrives as a double-disc album concept, which represents his “full-circle” as an artist from a once budding MC to now a much wiser and skillful rapper. The 24-song project boasts guest features from Future, Erykah Badu, Burna Boy and Westside Gunn as well as production from T-Minus, the Alchemist, Boi-1da and others.

Listen to J. Cole’s Song “What If” From His New Project The Fall-Off

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