J. Cole has released two singles titled, Lion King on Ice and The Climb Back on July 22, 2020.
He also shared the name of an upcoming album The Fall Off and has released some of the producers of the project Lewis Street.
"The Climb Back - produced by me" he stated on Instagram. Moreover he stated, "Lion King on Ice - produced by J. Cole, T - Minus, and Jetson. First 2 songs from The Fall Off...No date of the album yet, taking my time, still finishing ". Cole followed the message with a heart emoji at the end.
There are some interesting facts to consider. According to Genius, "On July 20, 2020, J. Cole published an essay titled, 'The Audacity' on the Players' Tribune, in which he discussed several critical periods of his life and his current mentality. On the next day, he announced the imminent release of these two songs".
From my point of view, the two tracks, Lion King on Ice and The Climb Back are probably talking about the critical periods of his life and his current mentality. For example, on the track Lion King on Ice, he is probably talking about his position in the rap game. Remember his first mixtape, The Come Up? He expressed his dream of becoming a signed artist through the track Simba. He felt like he was 'young Simba' from The Lion King ready for the future and 'cannot wait to be king'.
Moreover, on his second mixtape, The Warm Up, there is a track titled Grown Simba which shows the rise of Cole in the rap game. In this case Cole was finally a signed artist of the record label, Roc Nation. Therefore the words , "Lion King" is a metaphor to express that J. Cole is the king in and he continues to work hard hence probably why on the lyrics he said :
"I got blood on my hands, I ain't goin' lie
I got blood on my shoes, I ain't goin' lie
I got real, real big plans, I ain't goin lie
I got a whole lot to prove, I ain't goin lie"
Where does the title of the project, Lewis Street come from?
According to Genius, it states that, "807 Lewis Street is the address of the home in the artwork. It is located in Fayetteville, NC, Cole's hometown, and is where he and his family lived until they moved to 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which is about a miles away from the Lewis Street home".
The way I see it, the title of the project Lewis Street is interesting in the sense that it's probably another example of Cole mentioning the critical periods of his life. In this case, Lewis Street played an important part in shaping his life. For example, it probably made Cole realise that he should release something based on his past hence he released the album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive which helped Cole to gain a lot of recognition as a rapper. Lewis Street probably played a pivotal role in his career hence why the project is called Lewis Street.
Lewis Street was released during this Covid19 pandemic on 22 July 2020. It's seems to be talking about the critical periods of J. Cole's life especially his recognition in the rap game.
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