J. Cole Dodges Beef, Chooses Cheeks on Cash Cobain’s ‘Grippy’
It’s been almost a decade since J. Cole rapped “Dick so big, it’s like a foot is in your mouth” on Jeremih’s “Planez.” Now, on Cash Cobain’s “Grippy,” he’s back with another horny feature for a new generation of fans (and, inevitably, haters).
It’s a playful release for Cole, who was, for a moment, caught in the middle of this spring’s tense rap war between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. A representative of Cash tells Rolling Stone that Cole recorded his verse towards the end of April, making it his first release of material recorded post “7 Minute Drill,” the deleted and apologized-for track where he sent shots back at Kendrick Lamar for his diss “Like That.” (He has a verse on “Red Leather” – a Metro Boomin and Future song on the sequel to the album on which “Like That” was featured that came just two weeks later – but journalist Rob Markman confirmed that Cole recorded it before the Kendrick track dropped.)
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Luckily, it’s basically summer now, and Cash is building a solid reputation for keeping things light and sexy with R&B samples and “things that shouldn’t be said, for real” as a maven of New York’s sexy drill movement. “Grippy” is a remix of his fan favorite, “Dunk Contest,” released in January. On “Dunk Contest,” Cash coolly runs through a list of girls he’d like to have sex with by name and details how he’d like to do it. With a new J. Cole verse pinned to the top of it, the remix was renamed for the elder MC’s opener where he raps, likely about some young woman’s private parts, “Grippy: I call her that ’cause it’s grippy.”
With its lush and laid-back soundscape, mousy-voiced leading men, and explicit subject matter, “Grippy” is immediately reminiscent of “Planez,” which boasts one of the most polarizing features in J. Cole’s discography. People either find his sex raps endearing or incredibly cringe. There’s a video of Cole performing it on X from 2020 with 24,000 reposts and the caption “Planez by Jeremih ft. J Cole will always slap.” There’s also a Houston Press article on it titled “Why This Song Sucks.” But, as with “Planez,” Cole makes “Grippy” less sexy, but even more fun. His verse is good, ol’ fashioned fast-rap, where he impressively flips the same ending syllable a million different ways. And while we miss the begging-for-love-R&B of yesteryear, Cole does provide top-tier tricking: “I’ma send all your kids to Disney,” he says. “I’ma pay a lil’ extra, make sure they meet Mickey.”
There are a few reasons this is a Song You Need to Know. First, because it symbolizes J. Cole neither hiding in shame for dodging a rap beef with an incredibly rare and scrutinized apology, nor basking in the glory of that actually being a good decision (as everyone decided in hindsight). He’s moved on (to cheeks) and hopefully, all who consent to will as well. Secondly, it’s because “Grippy” symbolizes the encroaching reign of Cash as stars like Ice Spice, Cardi B, and now J. Cole take their place in it. Just yesterday, Cash joined Don Toliver and the legendary Charlie Wilson for Toliver’s song “Attitude,” made directly in Cash’s image. As a skilled producer and an outrageous rapper, Cash is creating a sound and dominating it.
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