The Best J.Cole Verses

Looking for some of the best J. Cole verses? Your search is over with our list of some of the top verses.

J. Cole
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J. Cole

It’s hard to believe that J. Cole’s hip-hop odometer has already clocked a full decade. While his rap roots go even deeper (shoutout to his Therapist days), it was back in May 2007 when the Fayetteville, North Carolina lyricist dropped his DJ On Point-hosted debut mixtape The Come Up. He caught the eyes of many, including Jay-Z, who signed him in 2009. He quickly proved why his signing would prove to be a savvy move, growing his following via show-stealing guest verses and his own masterpiece mixtapes, The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights.

But it’s his LPs that have really shaped J. Cole’s narrative. He went from rap rookie with a chip on his shoulder on 2011’s Cole World: The Sideline Story, to conflicted about the trappings of success and fame on Born Sinner two years later. On album three, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, Jermaine Cole found happiness by rejecting Hollywood for a simpler lifestyle, and last year’s 4 Your Eyez Only he went conceptual, and deeper than ever before, weaving his songs with personal themes of fatherhood, love, and almond milk into an overarching storyline about a friend who met his demise in the streets.

What’s consistent throughout the J. Cole canon is his ability to captivate—whether stringing together a rare but urgent Twitter thread or kicking a thoughtful, relatable rhyme. “It just hurts to not be inspired constantly by hip-hop artists,” Cole told NPR in 2014. “’Cause we are the ones that got the real power in the pen. We can say so much.” Cole clearly understands the influence of the lyrics on his tracks, always striving to be an elite MC, capable of chest-thumping battle raps, gut-wrenching stories of struggle or intricate lyrical concepts with a message. Here, we take a look back at the rapper's 10-year music catalog to highlight his strongest verses—a tough task regarding an MC as thoughtful as Jermaine. Welcome to Cole World.

“Be Free (Live on The Late Show with David Letterman)” (3rd Verse)

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Best line: “We so elated, we celebrated like Obama waited until his last day in office to tell the nation, brothers is getting their reparations, hey/A man can dream, can't he?/No disrespect, in terms of change I haven't seen any”

Album: N/A

When J. Cole dropped “Be Free” in response to Mike Brown’s 2014 murder in Ferguson, he expressed his feels via sung vocals, vaguely recalling Mos Def’s “Umi Says.” So it was a big surprise when he performed the track on The Late Show months later, adding a sober new verse that addresses the limitations of Barack Obama’s presidential run and the struggles of those living in poverty back in the ’Ville. “That's what I get for thinking/This world is fair, they let a brother steer the ship and never told him that the ship was sinking,” he raps. With the world’s full attention, Cole got his message across emphatically.

“No Sleeep (Remix)” (3rd Verse)

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Best line: “Too scared to say cause we know how this seems/Thinking, maybe we’d be better off friends... with benefits”

Album: Unbreakable


Don’t snooze on J. Cole’s crossover record with Janet. Unlike his awkward dirty talk on Jeremih’s “Planez” the same year, Cole lays his game down quite flat alongside an icon who went by “Miss Jackson if you’re nasty” back when the rapper was still potty training. Over Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis’ mellow production, he rhymes: “Damn, how’d it get so late so quick?/The sun rising until the next time/I love diving in your mind and coming out with every diamond I can find.” It’s the type of mind sex that will certainly lead to all-nighters.

“My Nigga Just Made Bail” (3rd Verse)

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Best line: “If we the new slaves, I am Frederick Douglass/of rhetoric ahead the the others/You motherfuckas better get, free”

Album: Last Winter


J. Cole matches the joyous occasion described in this song’s title with a fire verse that somehow contains a hat tip to both iconic freed slave Frederick Douglass and gold-obsessed one-hit wonder Trinidad James. Cole’s words dance to a gentle string loop—his nimble flow will leave you feeling out of breath by the time he’s done annihilating Bas’ single.

“Everybody Dies”

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Best line: I reload the clip, then I hit more rappers with that/Straight shittin' on these piss-poor rappers, I'm back”

Album: N/A


“I ain't into sorta-kinda dissin' niggas/I'm borderline addicted to slaughter,” J. Cole rhymes on this outtake from 4 Your Eyez Only, before sorta-kinda dissing virtually the entire rap game. At least the title holds up, as Jermaine snipes at everyone from “fake deep rappers” to “Pitchfork rappers” to “Lil’ whatever — just another short bus rapper.” Unlike the mumble MCs he calls out (many believe Lil Yachty and/or Lil Uzi Vert were targets), Cole’s bars rang throughout the rap world loud and clear.

“Is She Gon Pop” (2nd Verse)

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Best line: “She thinking she got a first round pick/She thinking 'bout all the things she can get/She thinking you got a Range for a whip/And a fly ass cribbo/But it's not that simple/Cause, all you got is a phone full of bitches/and they just like her”

Album: Born Sinner/Truly Yours 3


Similar to “Lights Please”—in which Cole, perhaps condescendingly, philosophizes to a woman who’s only concerned with sex—the rapper observes how his entourage members spend their time preoccupied with the question in this song’s title instead of focusing on purpose and paper. “I swear if niggas put half of what they put in chasing ass into a craft, by now you'd be famous and rich,” he says. It’s a fascinating take on the perception of the circle that orbits a celebrity and the dynamics of their interactions with the adoring public (i.e. groupies).

“Love Yourz” (2nd Verse)

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Best line: “Always gon' be a bigger house somewhere, but nigga feel me/Long as the people in that motherfucker love you dearly/Always gon' be a whip that's better than the one you got/Always gon' be some clothes/That's fresher than the ones you rock/Always gon' be a bitch that's badder out there on the tours/But you ain't never gon' be happy till you love yours”

Album: 2014 Forest Hills Drive


The crux of J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive thesis is tucked away in the second verse from “Love Yourz,” which finds Cole arriving at the realization that the constant need for more (whether validation or material) is a quick route to misery and unfulfillment. He points listeners toward gratitude as a conduit to true happiness, sounding every bit like the life coach you didn’t know you needed.

“3 Wishes”

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Best line: “I felt like a coward, so powerless I was only 12/I wish I wouldla bust through that door my fucking self/And grab the Glock right off the fucking shelf, if nothing else/Scared a nigga shitless/There goes two of my wishes”

Album: Truly Yours 2


No, this isn’t a nod to Aladdin’s Genie and J. Cole doesn’t wish for more wishes. Instead, he get personal, flipping a clever concept as an expression of things he’d like to change in the past and future. Cole weaves in his requests seamlessly, recalling an incident in which his stepfather abused with his mother. The emotion is palpable, a diary entry set to music.

“Cole Summer” (1st Verse)

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Best Line: "Throwing thousands in the strip club with Drizzy/Difference is I'm throwing four, he's throwing fifty."

Album: Truly Yours 2


Cole takes his raps super-seriously, but on "Cole Summer" he shows he can have fun on the mic, too. His first verse here is off-the-cuff and self-effacing: He humbly begs Lauryn Hill not to sue him (he looped her "Nothing Even Matters" for the song's soulful beat), offers fans who don't like his album a refund, and calls himself cheap—admitting that Drake handily out-precipitates him at the strip club.

“Runaway” (3rd Verse)

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Best Line: "If I follow my heart to save myself/Could I run away from 50 mil like Dave Chappelle?"

Album: Born Sinner


Riding most gorgeous production on Born Sinner, J. Cole goes in the opposite direction, looking at the darker side of things. On the third verse, after spitting that he's seen "evil that not even Knievel know," he gets deep, connecting the dots between a pervy high school coach, slaves being raped, his grandmother's light complexion, and modern-day mental chains.

“Chaining Day” (1st Verse)

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Best line: “Money short so this jewelry is like a weave/Meant to deceive/And hear niggas say I see you/Now bitches wanna fuck you and niggas wanna be you/And police wanna stop you, frisk you wonder what he do/If a hater snatch your chain, I bet it still won't free you”

Album: Born Sinner


Seemingly influenced by Kanye West’s “All Falls Down” and “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” a conflicted J. Cole expresses his mixed feelings about his passion for flashing. “Look at me, pathetic nigga, this chain that I bought/You mix greed, pain and fame, this is heinous result,” he rhymes, over the most delicate chimes ever. Cole evokes imagery of slavery to show how materialism and the desire to put on a front can take control of your life.

“A Star Is Born”

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Best line: “The flow cold as a shoulder/Of gold digging hoes/when a broke nigga approaches”

Album: Blueprint 3


The stakes were high on Cole’s major league debut: This song appeared on the third chapter of Jay-Z's Blueprint trilogy, and as the first artist signed to the label wing of Roc Nation, Cole was under extreme scrutiny. Needless to say, he delivered on the history-making standout, making the song's title a reality with a verse that still shines to this day.

“Just Begun” (3rd Verse)

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Best Line: "Couple years ago the game had they pajamas on/But now they on my dick, man I should throw a condom on/Ay, 'cause a nigga coming raw like I ain't got one on."

Album: Revolutions per Minute



C
ole's Born Sinner vs. Yeezus showdown with Kanye wasn't the first time he's gone head-to-head with a legend. On this highlight from Reflection Eternal's comeback album, Cole trades bars with Kweli, Mos Def, and Jay Electronica, who was fresh off the scorching “Exhibit C.” Cole rises and shines, hitting you over the head with a series of dizzying, interconnected rhyme schemes. At one moment he's comparing himself to a "bezel without a flaw," the next he's upgrading himself from Pau Gasol to Lebron.

“Let Nas Down” (2nd Verse)

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Best Line: "I couldn't help but think that maybe I had made a mistake/I mean, you made 'You Owe Me' dog, I thought that you could relate."

Album: Born Sinner


Cole drops a humble, brutally honest dissection of the artistic sacrifices musicians make for commercial success. In the second verse in particular, he doesn't hold his tongue, taking a jab at Jay, labeling his label home Roc Nation "archaic, formulaic," and calling Nas out for making some clunkers of his own.

“I Get Up” (1st Verse)

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Best Line: "Right now my mind elsewhere/My Mom's healthcare, get her out this hell here."

Album: The Warm Up


The horn loop on "I Get Up" may be hypnotizingly breezy, but he's in another place, thinking about how to "get up" and over hard times. Especially on the first verse, where he's talking the nuts and bolts of survival that anyone can relate to: healthcare, welfare, "broke days." He even humbly admits to being too stressed about his ends to deal with women. It's all too relatable to many of us—one major reason behind Cole's success.

“Looking For Trouble” (5th Verse)

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Best Line: "Fuck it, everybody can get it/When you're this hot, everybody's a critic/But when you're this high, everybody's a midget."

Album: Friday Night Lights


Cole rose to the occasion once again here, outshining Kanye and his heavy hitters when they were in the middle of their epic G.O.O.D. Friday run—no easy feat. Yeezy even cut the reggae-influenced beat at the end of Cole's closing verse, letting him go acapella so that the lines hit their skeptical targets that much harder.

“Black Friday” (2nd Verse)

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Best line: “Got suicidal doors, I just slit my wrists/Never stingy with the hoes word to Cliff and Chris/So if I fuck six bitches I got six assists nigga/The flow sick as shit, catch ebola if you bit this shit”

Album: N/A


Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole swapped two of their hottest beats (K Dot's "Alright" for Cole's "Tale of Two Citiez") for a Black Friday 2015 double drop that was more exhilarating than grappling for the last discounted flat-screen at Walmart. Cole blacks out in verse two, dropping bravado about money, status, and mic skills with an energetic, propulsive flow. He even revisits the concept of Kendrick’s original, saving a couple bars to get at Uncle Sam.

“Fire Squad” (3rd Verse)

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Best line: “This year I’ll prolly go to the awards dappered down/Watch Iggy win a Grammy as I try to crack a smile”

Album: 2014 Forest Hills Drive


In 2014—right in the midst of Macklemore and Iggy Azalea’s Great Gentrification of Hip-Hop™—Cole addressed the blond elephant in the room: white privilege. Over a bassline that thumps like a Mobb Deep cut, he puts the phenomenon into historical context, comparing Eminem to Elvis, perhaps unflatteringly. The verse instantly raised eyebrows, but J. Cole was wrong about one thing: Iggy was shut out at the Grammys the following year, proving this world is not completely fucked after all.

“Simba”

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Best Line: "I grew up with nothing, it hurt me to see my mother poor/The only pops a nigga ever seen around was Huxtable."

Album: The Come Up


From the start, even before Jay crowned him on "A Star Is Born," Cole's musical mythology has always been about the passing of a torch—a prince hoping to ascend his own throne. On the very first song on his maiden mixtape, the widely overlooked The Come Up, he sets off his Lion King-inspired "Simba" series by showing himself to be an underdog talent with bigger visions straight off the bat. "Man, I'm hungry, does it show?" he asks. But he's already answered his own question, with lines like, “I'm somethin' like the light-skin version of the very same baby that the Virgin Mary raised/That's word to everything.”

“Breakdown” (1st Verse)

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Best Line: "I ain't know no better/Thought I was brighter than a Polo sweater/No pops was like Martin with no Coretta."

Album: Cole World: The Sideline Story


"Breakdown" is at its core a song about that: Breaking down, to the point of tears. It's a refreshing break from the old, "There's no crying in hip-hop" rule, particularly on the first verse, where he addresses his absentee father head-on. It's been done by other rappers before, but Cole's take is especially touching, starting with him admitting he just "shed tears" and ending with him telling his pops, "Maybe I should be telling you 'Fuck you' 'cause you selfish, but I want a father so bad." Damn. That's some of the realest shit he ever wrote.

“Grown Simba” (3rd Verse)

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Best Line: "What they taught us? Man, them bad bitches only want the ballers/The starters, we hooping now the hoes wanna guard us."

Album: The Warm Up


On this 2009 fan favorite, Cole once again used the Disney film Lion King as a metaphor and personal mission statement. On the third verse he's at his sharpest, flipping the same rhythm and cadence on each bar and repping his Fayetteville hometown. "I'm finna put the ’Ville on the map/I'll be back, and I'm coming with a deal and a plaque," he spits. Hear him roar.

“False Prophets” (1st Verse)

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Best line: Maybe it's my fault for idolizing niggas/Based off the words they be rapping/But come to find out, these niggas don't even write they shit/Hear some new style bubblin' up, then they bite this shit/Damn, that's what I get for lying to myself/Well, fuck it, what's more important is he's crying out for help”

Album: N/A


For rappers, it seems inevitable that idols eventually become rivals—or even worse, disappointments. Cole dismantles the pedestal on which we exalt celebrities with “False Prophets,” insisting that, ahem, nobody’s perfect. The first verse plays like a not-so-subliminal open letter to Kanye West, a plea that’s stinging, but ultimately sounds doused in hurt as Cole addresses his former hero’s downward artistic and societal spiral. “Ego in charge of every move, he's a star/And we can't look away due to the days that he caught our hearts/He's falling apart, but we deny it/Justifying that half-ass shit he dropped, we always buy it,” he rhymes over Freddie Joachim’s “Waves” instrumental (most notably used by Joey Bada$$).

“Lost Ones” (2nd Verse)

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Best Line: "Now I'm pregnant, you don't wanna get involved, motherfucker?/Tryna take away a life, is you God, motherfucker?"

Album: Cole World: The Sideline Story


Many of the songs in Cole's catalog are powerful stories that tell the story of various characters in the first person—"Lost Ones" is probably the best example. Here, Cole takes on a young, unwed couple arguing over their unborn child and whether to abort it. This topic has been tackled before—Common's "Retrospect for Life," for example—but Cole goes deeper than ever on the second verse, rhyming from the perspective of a pregnant woman who can't believe the man she loves is "flipping like reciprocals."

“Beautiful Bliss” (2nd Verse)

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Best Line: "Pac said fuck the world and I ain't come yet, you up yet?/My punchlines like gut checks I'm raw-dog, I'm rough sex/I'm on deck, I'm up next."

Album: Attention Deficit


In 2009, Cole was steadily murdering rappers on their own shit (You'd think Wale would've learned his lesson after "Rather Be With You (Vagina Is For Lovers)"). Cole starts slow, but after admitting Jay was making him earn his success, ends his verse with a breathless series of quick couplets that drops jaws.

“Lights Please” (2nd Verse)

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Best Line: "And ain't it shameful, how niggas blame hoes for giving birth/To a baby that took two to make—coward nigga, you a fake."

Album: The Warm Up


This is the song that reportedly got J. Cole his deal with Roc Nation, impressing both legendary manager Mark Pitts (who used to work with Biggie) and Jay-Z. It's easy to see why, especially on the second verse: Cole's flow is singsongy and agile, but he's telling a deep, all-too-familiar story, of how he wants to change the world—right after he beds this beautiful girl.

“4 Your Eyez Only” (4th Verse)

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Best line: Sometimes I think that segregation would've done us better/Although I know that means that I would never/Be brought into this world/'Cause my daddy was so thrilled/When he found him a white girl/To take back to Jonesboro/With 'lil Zach and Cole World/Barely 1 years old/Now it's 30 years later, making sure this story's told”

Album: 4 Your Eyez Only


The concept of 4 Your Eyez Only unravels on its eponymous closer, a somber track that delivers nearly nine minutes of foreshadowing and storytelling, taking cues from narrative classics like Eminem’s “Stan.” Like much of the album, Cole raps from the perspective of a slain friend delivering a last will and testament to his surviving daughter. But on the song’s affecting final verse, he switches to his own voice, spinning a passionate eulogy into a humanization of mass incarceration and systemic racism. It’ll give you chills every time.

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