Some fans theorize that J. Cole dissed several of his peers in his new collection of freestyles, “Birthday Blizzard ’26.”
Yesterday, J. Cole surprise-released a collection of four freestyles titled Birthday Blizzard ’26. As reactions to the drop continue to pour in, so do theories that the hitmaker took shots at a few of his peers. On “99 Build Freestyle,” for example, he calls out rappers who use beef to sell records.
“Rays from the flows, radiate the globe, meltin’ snow on this frozen tundra / Known as the rap game, that’s been overcome / With loads of marketin’ plans / Based on randomly dissin’ and hatin’ on the next man,” he raps. “Drama enhances the attention brought to the fans / On popular channels, so you wanna hop on the band / Wagon of battle rappin’, and throwin’ shots in a jam / I had my chance, but I dropped it, which means my only option’s / To do the opposite then (Lead with the skill, n***a).”
Of course, this led to plenty of speculation about who exactly he could have been targeting. Many, for example, theorize that this is a response to Joey Bada$$.
For those who don’t recall, Joey Bada$$ is rumored to have dissed Cole on “Sorry Not Sorry,” a song he dropped last January. He appeared to reference his decision to back out of his beef with Kendrick Lamar, in particular. “I’m bigging up my city, that’s something I had to do,” he spat. “Might delete later, I know damn sure that Joey won’t, f*ck it, I want all the smoke.”
The release of Birthday Blizzard ’26 comes just a few days before J. Cole is set to drop his long-awaited seventh studio album, The Fall-Off. The album is slated for release on February 6, 2026. According to him, it’s been a long time in the making, and was “hand crafted with one intention: a personal challenge to myself to create my best work.”