Life is too short to listen to bad music. So…let AFH fight through it for you and only supply you with that great stuff. Despite the reports, Hip-Hop is alive and well and, in many ways, is better than it’s ever been. Not only are we able to go back and listen to all of our favorites, at the click of a button, there is also a ton of great music still being made by artists, young and veteran alike…if you know where to look. To help with that task, we’ve created a playlists with recent music—songs that have been released within the last year or so. We update it regularly, so, if you like what you hear, subscribe to follow us on Spotify.

One year ago, Miami, Florida rapper Lil Pump dissed J. Cole on a song plainly titled “F*ck J. Cole.” Produced by fellow South Florida rapper/beat-maker Smokepurpp, the track put to music some previous social media sentiments towards the Dreamville founder. The track knocked Cole’s looks and his toughness. Then, after this week’s album announcement, Smokepurpp told fans on social media that he “will be featured on J. Cole’s album.” That now confirmed to be not the case.

J Cole Has Just Released His New Album. Listen To All Of KOD (Audio)

Since 2016’s 4 Your Eyez Only, Cole has also ruffled other feathers in the young-rapper community. Lil Uzi Vert responded directly to Cole on Twitter, praising the album, but including a devil emoji. Some perceived the Philadelphia Rap star as sarcastically reacting to “Everybody Dies” lines: “Especially the amateur eight-week rappers / Lil’ whatever, just another short bus rapper,” which some took to be a shot at Lil Yachty. One more Florida rapper XXXTentacion called out Cole in his 2017 XXL Freshman Freestyle: “Don’t understand why J. Cole talkin’ ’bout false prophets / But didn’t mention higher-ups / Change your name to Amber Cole These f*ckin’ entertainers is playing it by the rules / Sucking government d*ck for safety to stay cool.”

A year passed, and J. Cole—not an active participant in social media dialogue used his brand new KOD album to respond. “1985 (Intro To The Falloff)” seems to address Pump and Purpp with bars that close out the self-produced song. Cole gets surgical speaking directly to those who have dissed him, but also spilling game to trend-chasing Rap artists who have a problem with his type of musical aesthetic. Rather than mean, Jermaine uses reality to do battle with his announced opponents:

“All these ni**as popping now is young / Everybody say the music that they make is dumb / I remember I was 18 / Money, p*ssy, parties, I was on the same thing / You gotta give a boy a chance to grow some / Everybody talkin’ like they know somethin’ these days / Ni**as actin’ woke, but they broke, umm, I respect the struggle but you all frontin’ these days / Man, they barely old enough to drive / To tell them what they should do, who the f*ck am I? / I heard one of em’ diss me, I’m suprised I ain’t trippin’, listen good to my reply / Come here, lil’ man, let me talk with ya’ / See if I can paint for you the larger picture / Congrats ’cause you made it out your mama’s house / I hope you make enough to buy your mom a house / I see your watch icy and your whip foreign / I got some good advice, never quit tourin’ / ‘Cause that’s the way we eat here in this Rap game / I’m f*ckin’ with your funky lil’ Rap name / I hear your music and I know that Rap’s changed / A bunch of folks would say that that’s a bad thing / ‘Cause everything’s commercial and it’s pop now / Trap drums is the sh*t that’s hot now / See, I’ve been on a quest for the next wave / But never mind, that was just a segue / I must say, by your songs I’m unimpressed, hey / But I love to see a Black man get paid / And plus, you havin’ fun and I respect that / But have you ever thought about your impact? / These white kids love that you don’t give a f*ck / ‘Cause that’s exactly what’s expected when your skin black / They wanna see you dab, they wanna see you pop a pill / They wanna see you tatted from your face to your heels / And somewhere deep down, f*ck it, I gotta keep it real / They wanna be black and think your song is how it feels / So when you turn up, you see them turnin’ up too / You hit the next city, collect your money when it’s due / You gettin’ that paper, swimmin’ in b*tches, I don’t blame you / You ain’t thinkin’ ’bout the people that’s lookin’ like me and you / True, you got better sh*t to do / You coulda bought a crib with all that bread that you done blew / I know you think this type of revenue is never endin’ / But I wanna take a minute just to tell you that ain’t true / One day, them kids that’s listening gon’ grow up / And get too old for that sh*t that made you blow up / Now your show’s lookin’ light ’cause they don’t show up / Which unfortunately means the money slow up / Now you scramblin’ and hopin’ to get hot again / But you forgot you only popped ’cause you was ridin’ trends / Now you old news and you goin’ through regrets / ‘Cause you never bought that house, but you got a Benz And a bunch of jewels and a bunch of shoes / And a bunch of fake friends, I ain’t judgin’ you / I’m just tellin’ you what’s probably gon’ happen when you rappin’ / ‘Bout the type of sh*t you rappin’ ’bout It’s a faster route to the bottom / I wish you good luck I’m hoping for your sake that you ain’t dumb as you look / But if it’s really true what people sayin’ And you call yourself playin’ with my name / Then I really know you f*cked, trust I’ll be around forever ’cause my skills is tip-top / To any amateur ni**as that wanna get rocked / Just remember what I told you when your sh*t flop In five years you gon’ be on Love & Hip-Hop.”

Tupac Hit Up Many More People Than Biggie In His Original Makaveli Liner Notes

Since KOD released, Lil Pump responded with a social media video. In it, he says, “Wow you get so much props. You diss a 17-year-old. Lame-ass [stuff].” Meanwhile, in a newly published interview with The Source, Smokepurpp declared that Pump is a better rapper than J. Cole, because he does not listen to the latter.

In addition to new music from Cole, the playlist features recent music from Phonte, Royce 5’9, Drake, Logic, Saba, Kendrick Lamar, Black Milk, Eminem, Lute, Jeezy, Wiz Khalifa, Statik Selektah, Brent Faiyaz, Freddie Gibbs, G Perico, CyHi The Prynce, Scarface, Rapsody, Sylvan LaCue, Evidence, Fabolous, Jadakiss, Big K.R.I.T., Nipsey Hussle, and a host of others.

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