In The Rotation: “Middle Child” by J. Cole

Welcome to The Sports Fan Journal’s latest series: In The Rotation. Music fans are always trying to find the latest tunes to spin and our editor Mya Melody, a.k.a. the playlist virtuoso, is here to help. Whether you need a weekend turn up anthem or a smooth jam for a kickback, this series will highlight the week’s hottest song to add in your collection. Vibe out and enjoy! #MelodyPutYouOn

2018 shaped up nicely for J. Cole, a.k.a. the man known for going platinum without any features. After releasing his fifth album KOD during the spring and taking the rest of the year to hop on tracks with artists such as JID, Anderson .Paak, 6LACK, and Jay Rock, it was assumed that Cole would keep it lowkey until his next project. Fast forward to earlier this month when he announced on Twitter the recording sessions for the next installment of his Revenge of the Dreamers series was underway. If you’ve been following Jermaine closely, you would notice that he doesn’t use his social media often. So when fans noticed he wiped his Instagram clean a few days ago, they knew Cole was brewing to release something new. And that’s when his latest single “Middle Child” was born.

The title alone is telling. When people think of what a middle child may act like, sometimes they see that child as the one who gets excluded, overlooked, undervalued or even the peacemaker of the family. So when Cole used his social media to post pictures of famous middle children such as Michael Jordan, LiAngelo Ball, Madonna, and Jennifer Lopez—it seemed his new single was an ode to how great they can be. Cole could be categorized as the middle child of rap, he doesn’t cater to the same crowd as someone like Kodak Black, but he also looks up to MCs that came before him like Jay Z. He says “To the OGs, I’m thanking you now / Was watching you when you was paving the ground / I copied your cadence, I married your style / I studied the greats, I’m the greatest now.” Let’s just say Cole knows what it takes to be known as a G.O.A.T. MC, and with over a decade in the music industry, 2019 just might be his best year yet. The real is back, the Ville is back!