J. Cole places rapper plush heads on his coat in "Middle Child" – Rolling Stone

J. Cole must know a good taxidermist. Who else would cut three SoundCloud rapper heads and mount them on a wall with gold plaques labeled "Your favorite rapper," "It could be you" and "Ask for a feature film?". A fool in the surreal world of the "Middle Child", that is who.

Led by Mez, "Middle Child" is a monument to the Dreamville rapper's bold proclamation, "I am the greatest at the moment". The strange visual describes a journey through dark woods filled with corpses and a white woman buying a black woman's face. at the supermarket. Each place is endowed with explicit and subtle symbols relating to the current state of rap, race and capitalism.

"Middle Child" talks about stasis and what happens when one of the most successful rappers in the world recognizes being stuck in his time and between generations. It presents a nuanced portrait of a man who is ready to rid himself of his island habits in the service of something greater than himself as he fights between the generation that preceded him (Jay-Z, Kanye West) and the musical children who were against him (Lil Pump). The song produced by T-Minus has an impact on Cole's fans, quickly becoming his most successful single of the genre. Display panel Hot 100 to number four.