J. Cole Drops Surprise Track ‘cLOUDs,’ Reflects on AI, Aging & Trump Assassination Attempt
J. Cole just dropped a surprise track, cLOUDs, diving deep into topics like getting older, the rise of AI, and the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. The song, released through his Algorithm blog on February 20, comes with a personal note from Cole himself.
“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…” he wrote.
Produced by DZL and Omen, with Cole contributing in small ways, the track carries a dreamy instrumental while delivering some heavy bars. He directly references the Trump shooting, rapping:
"I’m that bass in your trunk, the bullet that missed Trump / The gun that jammed ’cause it seemed God had other plans.”
He also takes aim at the ultra-rich and the broken system that prioritizes profit over people:
"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 the song’s final verse, Cole warns about the growing impact of artificial intelligence on creativity, questioning what happens when machines replace human expression:
"Before long, all the songs the whole world sings’ll be / Generated by the latest of AI regimes / As all of our favorite artists erased by it scream / From the wayside, ‘Aye, whatever happened to human beings?’"
This is Cole’s first track of 2025 and only his second release since his brief lyrical clash with Kendrick Lamar last year. On Port Antonio, a YouTube loosie from October, he explained why he stepped back from the rap battle, rapping:
"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.”
Fans are still eagerly waiting for The Fall-Off, and earlier this week, Cole hinted that new music is coming soon. In another blog post, he reassured fans that he’s been locked in the studio, balancing music and family life.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
For now, cLOUDs is here to hold fans over—deep, introspective, and exactly the kind of thought-provoking storytelling Cole is known for.