If you think those "*insert rapper here* type beat" videos don't have an audience, J. Cole is here to prove you wrong.
The Dreamville founder experiences creative slumps like the rest of us. He decided to hop into the YouTube wormhole and came across a video by bvtman titled "J. Cole Type Beat," and the North Carolina rapper got to work over the punchy percussion and warm, warbly guitars.
"Myself and that listener diggin' for quotes, hеllo/ I don't even know if somebody gon' hеar this/ Got so many songs that get lost in the endless/ Folders of the hard drive, I wish I was more fearless," Cole raps. However, he refused to let the song remain in the digital abyss, Realizing the opportunity he had to change a producer's life, he sent the song, aptly titled "procrastination (broke)," to bvtman.
In a message sent to the producer, Cole wrote:
"This song should live on your channel and serve as a thank you to you and every producer out there cooking up and sharing their work with the world," the message from Cole reads. "It’s a million artists out there right now just like me, hungry and searching every day for something to spark a word, a melody, a hook, a verse, a punchline, a way to vent, or a way to cut through.
On a day when I couldn’t find much motivation, I was looking for anything to inspire me. Out of curiosity, I typed in ‘J. Cole type beat’ into YouTube. Yours was the first I saw. I pressed play, focused, and wrote this.
This is some shit that would normally stay in the vault, but I don’t want to hold onto the music like that no more. This is for you and whoever else need to hear it. God bless bro and keep doing what you do!"
Cole has remained relatively quiet save for 2022's D. Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape featuring the rest of his Dreamville roster and “90 Proof,” a collaboration with Chicago rapper Smino.
This unexpected collaboration proves one thing: never stop making art. You never know whose hands it will end up in.
Below, listen to "procrastination (broke)" by J. Cole, produced by bvtman.
Photo courtesy of Marco Bahler/BFA