Noname appears to respond to J. Cole with ‘Song 33’

Less than two days after the release of J. Cole‘s surprise single Snow on Tha Bluff, American rapper Noname has released her own single called Song 33 — which appears to be a response to the Middle Child hitmaker’s controversial track.

While Snow on Tha Bluff addresses the ongoing anti-racism and anti-police brutality protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, Cole, 35, focuses on rapping about his annoyance with one Black Lives Matter activist in particular — who many fans have speculated to be Noname.

“Just ’cause you woke and I’m not, that s—t ain’t no reason to talk like you better than me,” he raps in one verse.

Following the controversy surrounding Snow on The Bluff and Noname’s unexpected release on Thursday, fans took to Twitter suggesting that Song 33 was indeed a response to Cole’s supposed jab.

In the song, Noname, born Fatimah Warner, touches on the death of Floyd, while also taking aim at an unnamed individual — who is speculated to be Cole — for being “quiet as a church mouse” during the protests.

“N—as in the back quiet as a church mouse / Basement studio when duty calls to get the verse out,” Noname raps in the one-minute, 10-second track.

“He really ’bout to write about me when the world is in smokes? / When George was beggin’ for his mother, saying he couldn’t breathe / You thought to write about me?”

After allegedly condemning Noname in Snow on The Bluff, many rushed to Twitter to air their grievances with Cole, using the hashtags #CancelJCole and #JColeIsOverParty.

Some also called the musician a misogynist.

Despite the widespread criticism, Cole tweeted: “I stand behind every word of the song that dropped last night. Right or wrong, I can’t say. But I can say it was honest.”

Since its release, however, Cole has neither confirmed nor denied whether Snow on Tha Bluff was written about Noname. He only suggested that his fans follow the rapper on social media.

“Some assume to know who the song is about,” he tweeted later that day. “That’s fine with me. It’s not my job to tell anybody what to think or feel about the work.”

So if the evidence is not concrete, where did this all of speculation start? Well, weeks before the release of Snow on Tha Bluff, Noname spoke out in a series of since-deleted tweets calling out celebrity rappers for not participating in protests or using their platforms to speak out against racism, according to Complex.

“Poor Black folks all over the country are putting their bodies on the line in protest for our collective safety and y’all favourite top-selling rappers not even willing to put a tweet up,” she reportedly wrote on the social media platform.

Though Noname is never explicitly named in Snow on The Bluff, fans were quick to make the connection that the song may have been a response to her celebrity callout.

In the allegedly “demeaning” song, Cole raps lines like, “There’s something about the queen tone that’s botherin’ me,” “She mad at my n—as, she mad at our ignorance” and “She mad at the celebrities, low key I be thinkin’ she talking ’bout me.”

In response, Noname took to Twitter writing: “QUEEN TONE!!!!!!” referring to the lyric he allegedly used to describe her. The tweet has since been deleted.

In Song 33, too, she appears to respond to the suspected critique by rapping: “Little did I know all my readin’ would be a bother / (There)’s trans women bein’ murdered and this is all he can offer.”

“I’m the new vanguard,” she adds in the Madlib-produced track.

Rather than defending himself following the release of Song 33, Cole simply shared a link to it via his personal Twitter account on Thursday evening.

He also tagged Noname.

Despite indirectly taking aim at Black Lives Matter activists, Cole also raps that he feels “faker than snow on the bluff” in regards to his own silence on Snow on Tha Bluff.”

“Deep down, I know I ain’t doing enough,” Cole admits in the final line of the four-minute track.

“@JColeNC, yo, you hear @noname‘s response?! Shorty spitting with that ‘Queen tone,’” tweeted one fan in wake of the release of Song 33.

“Love how Noname annihilated J. Cole in basically a minute,” wrote another.

Though many commended Noname for her “fire” response to Cole, others suggested that the two rappers should be advocating for the Black Lives Matter movement instead of “feuding” with one another.

Here’s what some of them had to say:

“The world is literally on fire rn and you guys are really releasing disses on each other in a time like this,” tweeted another user. “Smh.”

As well as Snow on Tha Bluff, Song 33 is now available through all major streaming platforms.

Both tracks can be heard in the videos above.