J. Cole’s infamous song “She Knows” has been taken off of YouTube in the US and has sparked some controversy with connections to everything that’s been unraveling around the P. Diddy situation. Get ready to dive into the lyrics of the track and how they may be hinting at something far more sinister than what they appear to be.
“She Knows” is the 8th track on J. Cole’s sophomore studio album ‘Born Sinners’ released in 2013. “She Knows” was released as a single on October 29, 2013, four months after the album’s release. The lyrics of the song speak of infidelity and how Cole suspects that his girlfriend knows about these affairs. The song also samples Cult’s 2011 track “Bad Things.”
“She Knows” was taken down on YouTube in the USA by SESAC, an organization enabling copyright laws in the US. Some other artists were affected by this recent move and “She Knows” seems to be the only J. Cole song affected at the moment. It might be a coincidence that this taken down is paralleled with the arrest of Puff Daddy AKA Diddy and the surfacing of wild allegations and controversies rooted deep in Hollywood and the music business.
Also, it might not be.
Does “She Knows” by J. Cole Reveals Dark Secrets About Diddy?
In the midst of the lyrics of infidelity, we find a tribute to a few late artists;
Rest in peace to Aaliyah
Rest in peace to Left Eye (Left Eye)
Michael Jackson, I’ll see ya
Just as soon as I die (I die)
Aaliyah known as “Princess of R&B”, R&B Singer, died on August 25, 2001, in a freak airplane accident in the Bahamas, piloted by a person who was unqualified to fly, and also autopsy found traces of cocaine and alcohol in his body. She was only 22 years old at the time of her death and had been gaining massive popularity at that age.
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, a member of TLC, died on April 25th, 2002, involved in a car accident in Honduras. Trying to avoid an oncoming car, the vehicle was sharply swerved out of the road, rolled two times, and hit trees to come to a stop. Lisa died at the scene and was the only passenger, of four, to sustain fatal injuries.
Michael Jackson dubbed the “King of Pop”, died on June 25th, 2009, passed away in his rented mansion in Los Angeles due to a propofol overdose. Conrad Murray, his personal physician, had given Jackson various medications to help him sleep which eventually caused his overdose. Conrad was later convicted of manslaughter for having administered powerful drugs such as propofol as a sleeping agent.
All three incidents could be shrugged off as very unfortunate accidents. Or they could have been arranged. We may never know, or we might know in the future following Diddy’s investigations. However, the common theme among all these three deaths was that they were either gaining popularity way too fast or they knew things they should not have.
Several unrelated videos have surfaced where artists who have won awards at major music ceremonies in categories nominated with Beyonce Knowles, seemingly crediting Beyonce in their acceptance speeches. The most famous of this is the 2017 Grammy acceptance speech by Adele, in which she refused to accept her Album of the Year award for her ’25’ album beating Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ album.
Beyonce Knowles and her husband Jay-Z are cited to be very close with Diddy and sources claim that Diddy would not shy away from having to aid Beyonce and Jay-Z in their career success.
Were Aaliyah and Left Eye becoming too famous for the likes of Beyonce? Did Michael Jackson know too much about his neighbor (Diddy had a mansion across the street from MJ at one point)?
So, did anyone know about these Diddy allegations? Apparently, a lot did and some did things about it and most didn’t.
The song “She Knows” by J. Cole is allegedly about Beyonce knowing all the things Diddy is accused of–sex trafficking, child abuse, the murders of Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Aaliyah, Left Eye, Michael Jackson, and more.
One more lyric that stands out in “She Knows” is;
What, what she want from a n*gga?
To put a ring on it, uh
This could be a friendly shoutout to Beyonce’s massive hit “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” from 2008, or it could be a thinly veiled connection between ‘she knows’ to who the ‘she’ is.
Eminem is one artist who has been vocal about Diddy throughout the years;
But Kells, the day you put out a hit’s the day Diddy admits
That he put the hit out that got Pac killed, ah
~ “Killshot” – Eminem
I’m like a R-A-P-E-R (yeah)
Got so many S-As (S-As), S-As (huh)
Wait, he didn’t just spell the word, “Rapper” and leave out a P, did he? (Yep)
R.I.P., rest in peace, Biggie
And Pac, both of y’all should be living (yep)
But I ain’t tryna beef with him (nope)
‘Cause he might put a hit on me like , “Keefe D, get him”
~ “Fuel” – Eminem
Keefe D is the person who was charged with the shooting of Tupac Shakur and unconfirmed sources mention that he was paid $1 million by Diddy for Tupac’s assassination in 1996.
The rabbit hole involving P. Diddy’s allegations goes deeper and deeper. More information on the truth might surface as the investigations continue following Diddy’s arrest in September 2024.
Listen to “She Knows” by J. Cole
J. Cole “She Knows” Lyrics Review and Song Meaning
In the lyrics of the song, we find J. Cole caught up in a whirlwind of emotions. It is also interesting that he opens the song with “Bad things happen to the people you love,” which seemingly has no connection to the rest of the song. He could be talking about his girlfriend back home whom he is cheating on!
‘Cause those bad things, I always saw them coming for me
J. Cole seems to accept the fate that he sees coming towards him. He admits that he has been no angel and he is fully prepared to accept the ‘bad things’ coming his way. His choice is only to run away from his problems and never come back.
In the first verse of the song, J. Cole compares his morals to that of the late great leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Although King is revered as a leader of moral excellence it is a known fact that he cheated on his wife, Coretta Scott King, multiple times. Cole admits that he is no stranger to the weak will of men and he has succumbed to temptation by the empty promises of women many times.
The chorus of the song is a repetition of the ‘she knows’ chant which has sparked the conversation which was extensively elaborated above. In the context of the song alone, this is about J. Cole suspecting that his partner knows about his infidelity.
In the second verse of the song, J. Cole tries to assess his predicament. If he follows through with the promiscuous woman he found in the club, he is sure to regret his actions later when he goes home to his woman. However, if he doesn’t follow through with the random woman, he might still regret it later when he walks home to his partner.
He understands his weakness. But what do these women want from him? Some just want money and fame. What does his woman back at home want from him? Maybe put a ring on her finger?
In the bridge of the song, we hear J. Cole’s tribute to Aaliyah, Left Eye, and Michael Jackson, who all had passed away by the time of the release of “She Knows.” He also mentions;
Only bad thing ’bout a star is they burn up
Actual stars in the sky, like our Sun, eventually exhaust their energy and either blow up or die away. Stars, like celebrities, also have a knack to blow up and die away rather soon when they are in the path of some people. Even if they don’t cross these people, they also have a tendency to succumb to their inner demons and flame away at rather younger ages. Only a few artists get big and survive to tell the tale.
Cole also casually talks about his own death–as if he is forecasting it almost. Surprise surprise…during the afterparty of MTV VMA awards in 2013 (the same year “She Knows” was released), J. Cole had a brief altercation with Puff Daddy. Cole later said it was ‘nothing too serious.’
However, in J. Cole’s 2021 song “Let Go My Hand,” the rapper reveals more;
My last scrap was with Puff Daddy, who would’ve thought it?
I bought that n*gga album in seventh grade and played it so much
You would’ve thought my favorite rapper was Puff
Back then I ain’t know sh*t, now I know too much
Ignorance is bliss…
The outro of “She Knows” is a chant of “run away” on repeat!
Let us hear what you think about the song in the comments below. Read the complete lyrics to the song on Genius.