When J. Cole recently found himself in a writing slump, he went onto YouTube and began exploring the trend of “Type Beats.” The concept consists of producers creating beats that sound similar to the beats their favorite rappers enjoy spitting over. Cole found a “Type Beat” modeled after his work, and turned it into a new single titled “Procrastination (Broke).”
Cole found the beat from producer bvtman, and the YouTube video includes a screenshot of a message Cole sent to the beat maker. It reads, “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. 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!”
J. Cole and his Dreamville team recently announced the return of his celebrated Dreamville Festival. With a continued emphasis on community, diversity, and inclusivity, this year’s festival will once again offer fans from across the globe a weekend celebration curated by Cole himself and featuring a variety of local vendors, food trucks, artisans, and community organizations from the greater Triangle area.