J.Cole says "Rich Niggaz" was about jealousy and bitterness. (Article + Video)

#AMPtv got the word that Fayetteville rapper J. Cole recently gave a breakdown of his Born Sinner track “Rich Niggaz” during an interview with Hardknock TV and revealed the song as one full of ironies and other contrasting thoughts. Additionally, Cole says the song was also a result of feelings of bitterness and jealousy he held towards those not struggling financially.

 The Roc Nation artist also shed some insight into how he creates his songs, stating that he doesn’t necessarily know the direction a song will go in until he’s a few lines in.

 “Understand that when I start writing I don’t always know where it’s headed maybe until midway through the first verse or something,” said Cole. “So, the first thing I write is ‘I hate rich niggas. God damn it. Cause I ain’t never had a lot, damn it.’ And it’s perfect that that came out because the thought that’s been in my head or was in my head at the time was like—like I told you earlier, I used to have such a problem with like with people with money. It was almost a bitterness and a jealousy. Because my mom gotta work so hard. You know what I mean? And in my eyes, your father’s rich. Your mom don’t even gotta work. You drive a Benz.” 

 Cole later spoke in-depth on the ironies and contrasting thoughts explained on “Rich Niggaz.”

At one point on the song he questions if he is turning into the money hungry rapper he once criticized as he spits, “You ain't crazy, motherfucker, you're just afraid of change/That's new, maybe that's true/But listen here I got a bigger fear/Of one day that I become you.” 

 On “Rich Niggaz,” he also refers to the fact that he’s biracial and the irony of now having money.

 “It was like a real feeling for me, which is kinda weird because there’s people that I used to live around, but now that we moving to a better neighborhood they looking at me like ‘Yo nigga, y’all got two cars and you got your own bedroom now’…It’s ironic cause now I have money,” said Cole. “I’m at that level now. You know what I mean? I’m one of them. My kids are gonna be one of them. So, it’s that battle. The whole song though I just took that approach of ironies. ‘Half cracka, but a nigga too.’ It was a time when my mom was delivering pizzas for just extra income. So, she had to deliver mail, come back home, change her clothes, and go deliver pizzas. And I used to be so scared cause she was delivering…you delivering pizza in the projects at night. I know how niggas do. I know the game.”

See the full interview with Hardknocks Tv