J. Cole has released a surprise new track called “cLOUDs,” where he delves into topics like aging, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
The song premiered on his Algorithm blog on Thursday (February 20), accompanied by a message from the Dreamville rapper. He explained: “Just wanted to share. made this a few days ago, then I added a second verse and was like ‘man I got a blog now, I can put whatever I want up there.’ I didn’t have a title 20 minutes ago when I decided to really put this up. But now I got one…”
Cole also shared that the track was produced by DZL and Omen, with “small contributions” from him.
Over the dreamy instrumental, he references the attempt on Trump’s life last summer that left the then-presidential candidate injured.
“I’m that bass in your trunk, the bullet that missed Trump / The gun that jammed ’cause it seemed God had other plans,” he raps.
Cole also expresses concern about the current state of the world and criticizes the ultra-wealthy: “Served on a plate with sirloin steak to billionaires who don’t care the world’s gon’ break / Long as they make money off it, pain brings profit.”
In his second and final verse, the North Carolina artist discusses artificial intelligence and its impact on creative industries.
“Don’t buy, subscribe so you can just stream your content / Like rent, you won’t own a thing / Before long, all the songs the whole world sings’ll be generated by latest of AI regimes / As all of our favorite artists erased by it scream / From the wayside, ‘Aye, whatever happened to human beings?’” he spits.
Listen to the track below.
“cLOUDs” marks J. Cole’s first release of 2025 and his second since his brief altercation with Kendrick Lamar last year.
On the YouTube single “Port Antonio,” released last October, Cole addressed his controversial choice to step back from the conflict and apologize to his longtime friend and collaborator.
“I pulled the plug because I seen where that was ’bout to go / They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make they pockets grow / They see this fire in my pen and think I’m dodgin’ smoke / I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro / I woulda gained a foe,” he rapped over the same sample used in JAY-Z’s “Dead Presidents.”
As fans continue to eagerly anticipate his seventh album The Fall-Off, Cole recently hinted at new music, sharing that he has been working in the studio.
In a separate blog post, he wrote: “I knowwww mannnn. I’m off to a bad start with the consistency, but I’ma do better! Watch!! I been locked in on the music while also balancing family life. It’s a juggling act that a blog post wouldn’t do justice in explaining.
“But with that said, I’m back tending to this garden. I think I’m gonna let some other people post on here too, to get the vibes up.”
