“What If” is the twenty-first track on J. Cole’s 2026 album ‘The Fall-Off.’ In the song, Cole shows off his story-telling skills as he assumes the roles of the legendary hip-hop personalities Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. In doing so, he tries to mediate the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud that resulted in the lives of the two artists.
‘The Fall-Off’ is J. Cole’s highly anticipated seventh studio album, followed by the 2021 project ‘The Off-Season.’ With this album, Cole completes his sports-themed album titles, which began with his 2007 debut mixtape ‘The Come Up,’ followed by 2009’s ‘The Warm-Up,’ and 2010’s ‘Friday Night Lights.’
In his personal blog, Algorithm, J. Cole wrote about his passion to create the best music he can with ‘The Fall-Off’ album; “For the past 10 years, this album has been hand crafted with one intention: a personal challenge to myself to create my best work. To do on my last what I was unable to do on my first. I had no way of knowing how much time, focus and energy it would eventually take to achieve this, but despite the countless challenges along the way, I knew in my heart I would one day get to the finish line. I owed it first and foremost to myself. And secondly, I owed it to hip hop.”
Tupac Shakur and The Notorious BIG were truly one-of-a-kind talents in the hip-hop genre. With the come-up of these two artists, the tension that was already bubbling between the East Coast and West Coast music scenes only got worse. The industry split into two factions and went to extreme lengths to get their music on top. Tupac Shakur, representing the West Coast, and The Notorious B.I.G., representing the East Coast, were both fatally shot in 1996 and 1997, respectively.
J. Cole tells that the world lost two of the most prominent hip-hop figures purely out of jealousy, hatred, and miscommunication. Something that could have been avoided with a talk spiraled into the death of two legends and a few others from the industry.
Listen to “What If” by J. Cole
What is the meaning of the song “What If” by J. Cole?
In the intro of the song, J. Cole offers the song to anyone who fell off with another due to petty reasons. In the case of artists, fame can easily get into their heads and change their view of others. Emotions can get the best of anyone and lead to spiraling things out of hand, and when you look back at it all, it might look very unavoidable.
In the first verse, J. Cole speaks from the POV of Biggie.
Biggie starts up a casual conversation with Tupac. But things were already heating up. The conversation dates back to 1996, right after Tupac released his controversial Biggie diss track “Hit ‘Em Up.” Biggie sounds surprised and even more disappointed. He says that they used to be friends, but how did their relationship deteriorate to this level so fast?
“Hit Em Up”, I’m like maybe I should
Right you before shit go left
J. Cole says that open communication could have prevented something more catastrophic down the line. Biggie says that he would rather talk to Tupac on why he would write such a song and clear the air. In the song “Hit ‘Em Up,” Tupac infamously claimed that he had sex with Biggie’s wife, Faith Evans.
Biggie says that this song really stirred up the streets, and his camp really wanted to blow things up as revenge. But, in the song, Biggie says he took the high road – he handled his emotions although Tupac violated the sanctity of his personal life.
In my heart I could never hate him
I love you
A few words like these could have stopped a full-blown East Coast – West Coast war that eventually took 2Pac and Biggie’s lives, among others. Was it worth it at the end of the day, to smear mud around just to pay it back with your life? Probably not.
On November 30, 1994, Tupac was shot five times and robbed in the lobby of Quad Studios in NYC, a pivotal event in the hip-hop scene that would ignite the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud. Tupac publicly blamed The Notorious B.I.G. and others who were in the studio at the time. According to Treach and Pac’s father, Biggie did visit Pac in the hospital, but Pac refused to let him enter the room, believing Biggie had been involved in the attack.
I’m thinkin’, “Dawg, I told you, watch the n*ggas you close to
Biggie seems to insinuate that Tupac should have been more worried about the people close to him than the rival East Coast. Biggie says that the wrong people who he keeps in his camp will turn on him the moment something feels off. This hits hard when there are rumors that Suge Knight is the one who ordered the fatal shooting of Tupac, while Suge Knight was driving Tupac around.
Biggie also looks back at the time when Tupac was incarcerated from February to October 1995, in resentment. He says he should have reached out to Tupac or even visited him. But Biggie had other things going on in his life, on top of the raging emotions. So, he neglected Pac in his solitude. Biggie believes this abandonment fueled the rivalry even more.
Perhaps you might’ve felt that I betrayed you or played you
However, there comes a point when a simple feud between friends gets blown out of proportion and goes out of control. Now, there are more people involved, more money at stake, and media eyes pouring gasoline onto the embers. Rivalries attract attention and sell more. But when things get out of hand, someone has to pay the price.
Not knowin’ most drama only leads to mo’ killings
Biggie ends the verse saying that he regrets how he approached the entire situation. He regrets how he abandoned his friend in times of need and let things escalate beyond control. He is hurt, and he apologizes for everything.
In the second verse of the song, J. Cole gives us the POV of Tupac on that unfortunate day of September 7, 1996 – the day he got fatally shot in Las Vegas.
Tupac receives a letter from Biggie – the first verse of “What If.” Tupac starts breaking down reading Biggie’s confession, and he verifies Biggie’s claims that he felt abandoned.
Been movin’ off pure adrenaline, never knowin’ for certain who’s on my side
Tupac confesses that he has been running on pure adrenaline fueled by the rival, the yes-men fanning the fires around him, and the media blowing things out of proportion. He has not had a minute to exhale and think clearly for years now.
I know there’s money in violence, I know there’s profit in war
But, shit, I felt that you left me to hang
People pulling the strings of Tupac and Biggie had a lot to lose if this rivalry fizzled out. Diss tracks, at the time, gained a lot of attention, and attention equals money. So, there were a lot of people who did not want to see this fuel end – even people in their own camps.
Tupac admits that he was deeply hurt when Biggie turned his back on him, when Tupac was the one who showed Biggie the ropes of the game. There clearly was a teacher-student dynamic between Pac and Biggie. J. Cole says Biggie played off of Tupac’s fame and music style until he took to his own lane later, forgetting how Biggie got to that stage.
The trigger squeezed, my paranoia noticed you in the vicinity
These lines refer to the Quad Studio shooting, where Tupac was shot five times. Biggie was one of the people around him at the time, and Tupac took the easier route of blaming him. He admits he regrets his words now.
Tupac also confesses that when he was incarcerated in 1995, the lawyers milked him for everything he got. On top of that, he could not make music, and Biggie was popping up in the game, overshadowing Tupac’s influence. All of these piled up on his head while he was staring at the four walls in his cell. This mindset became a mission when he got out – he had to aim at everybody – he had to reclaim his throne. And to do this, he would go all out, not thinking about consequences.
For fallin’ victim to ego, vengeance, and dollar signs
I wanna say from the heart, I apologize
Tupac here admits that he played his part well to escalate this drama into something uncontrollable. He had a mindset of vengeance, ego repairing, and lust for money. These are perfect attributes for someone higher up to abuse. However, this letter from Biggie has his attitude completely flipped. He has tears in his eyes and a keen pain in his heart to reconnect a relationship he once cherished.
All would be good in the world.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Read the complete lyrics to the song on Genius.