J. Cole Shares His Thoughts On Cancel Culture And Explains Why He Embraced XXXTentacion: “I Don’t Cancel Nobody”

Dreamville’s own J.Cole sat down with XXL for an interview, in which the N.C. rapper took the time to explain his position on the “cancel culture” and why he embraced the late XXXTentacion.

Cole stated that the idea of “canceling” someone for their wrongdoings is counterproductive and is why he supported problematic artists like 6ix9ine and XXXTentacion. He said, “I understand outrage. So I don’t know. If anything, it kind of makes me want to be even more empathetic to people that the world considers to be undesirable. Because we live in a world where everybody wants to be so quick to cancel somebody. But at the same time, people condemn the criminal justice system, which is entirely the cancellation system.”

He continued, “To me, both of those ideas are f*cked up, like, ‘We’re throwing you away.’ You’re looking to punish me, and don’t get it twisted, what I did was a punishable offense, but where are you talking about healing me? Where are you going to show me some compassion and some f*cking love?”

Cole said he would’ve shown X compassion and steered him toward the direction of healing had he had the opportunity prior to X’s passing; something Cole says X and his alleged victims desperately needed. But despite his support, he certainly doesn’t feel wrong-doings should go unpunished. He said, “I’m down for accountability culture. I’m cool with that. Even for myself. Everyone needs to be accountable. I don’t mind if someone got something to say about me or what I said or did. That’s all good. But cancel culture? I don’t cancel nobody.”

During the interview, J. Cole also touched on why the passing of #MacMiller prompted him to invite those in the industry going through it mentally, to reach out to him. He said he shared the tweet because he knows young, rising rappers face a unique set of problems that not many people understand.

Cole said, “You just got a song that kind of went viral and you’ve got your first little bit of money from a record deal or your first publishing deal, everything’s amazing for however long that goes. Six months. Then shit starts cooling off, and you’re only f*cking 19, 20 years old.” He continued, “To everybody in the world, he’s so lucky and so blessed. And in his mind, he’s f*cking terrified. He’s scared that he’s about to be irrelevant. Scared the little bit of money that he thought was so much ain’t going to last.”