J. Cole broke the silence about his upcoming album, but the news is quite vague: “No date for the album yet, taking my time, still finishing…,” he wrote on Twitter. However, the announcement was regarding more exciting news–the release of two brand new songs, namely “The Climb Back” and “Lion King on Ice.” And both songs are due tomorrow, July 22, 2020.
There have been several rumors of J. Cole’s 2020 album ‘The Fall Off’ circulating around the vines in the last few months. Ever since “Snow On tha Bluff” single released last month, speculations have been growing on the album.
The title of the song is a play on J. Cole’s alter-ego ‘Young Simba.’ In this POV, he raps about growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Much like the story of Disney’s The Lion King’s son, Simba, had a very traumatizing childhood, J. Cole too witnessed things no one should witness while he was growing up. This made him cold at heart when he became the Lion King.
Listen to “Lion King on Ice” by J. Cole
On the chorus of the song, J. Cole admits to having blood on his hands and mud in his shoes–both of which are not perceived to be ‘pure’ and ‘innocent’ things. Might be that his background growing up, made him do some things that he regret now, just to survive back in the day.
J. Cole talks about recollecting himself and setting his priorities straight to get out of the hell he was brought up in; “Put the jewelry to the side, had to find me, had to find God.” This line means that the rapper had to put aside the lust and chase for material things and take a step back to look at himself, and his inner peace. Through his song, J. Cole wants all of his fans to see him and everything he is made up of–his struggles and wins, losses and pains;
I need y’all to see every part of me
Every scar and every artery
Every story that I can recall, then I can fall
This would be his legacy.
In the second verse of the song, J. Cole spits out some highly motivational lines. He talks about how everyone doubted him when he started off taking a different path as an artist. His ‘friends’ wanted to see him fall to the streets just like everyone else and waste his life. But he proved all of them wrong. He is stronger than ever before!
All his past trauma, struggles and his wits, pushed him to become the Lion King he is today. However, at the cost of a cold heart. ‘Ice’ also refers to diamonds in slang. Hence, it also could be interpreted that he is a Lion King with so much wealth.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics and further meaning breakdown on Genius.