Looking for a Twitter War? J. Cole Comes for Kanye West in His Song ‘Middle Child’

Sneaky, sneaky. On Wednesday, January 23, J. Cole released his new single “Middle Child,” and it looks like the rapper threw some subtle shade at Kanye West.

“But I’d never beef with a n—a for nothin’ / If I smoke a rapper it’s gon’ be legit / It won’t be for clout / It won’t be for fame,” the artist raps. “It won’t be ‘cause my s–t ain’t sellin’ the same / It won’t be to sell you my latest lil’ sneakers.”

Many fans believe the Grammy nominee, 33, is suggesting that the “Stronger” rapper, 41, started a fight with Drake for publicity and to sell more music and Yeezy sneakers. J. Cole has yet to confirm exactly who the song is about, but it looks like he is team Drake, as he gives him a shout out in the song, too. “This watch came from Drizzy, he gave me a gift,” he raps.

Fans immediately took to Twitter to share their feelings. One user wrote, “@JColeNC I guess this means @kanyewest will start yet another rant … #middlechild #dreamville,” while another echoed, “J.Cole coming at Kanye West again. Would be so nice to see Kanye reply to someone, in a song, not a tweet. Not gonna happen, though.” A third person was confused as to why the music stars were fighting in the first place, writing, “Why’s J.Cole always coming for Kanye West?!”

This isn’t the first time that J.Cole seemingly dissed the fashion designer. On the 2016 track “False Prophets,” the German native rapped about a former role model, which sounds a lot like Kanye.

“I believed him when he said his s—t was purer / And he the type of n—a swear he real but all around him he’s fake / The women, the d—ck-riders, you know, the yes men / Nobody with the balls to say somethin’ to contest him,” he says.

We also can’t forget to mention that Kanye loves to start trouble with other music stars on social media, like Drake. After an ongoing Twitter battle, the music producer finally made amends with the “In My Feelings” singer. “I love Drake. 2019 we will all heal,” he said in a now-deleted tweet.

All is fair in love and rap, apparently.