J. Cole‘s upcoming collaboration with Tems has sparked fan concern after his much-maligned verse on Cash Cobain’s “Grippy”.

It was revealed on Thursday (May 30) that the North Carolina rap star and Nigerian songstress will be hooking up on a track called “Free Fall,” taken from the latter’s new album Born in the Wild (out June 7).

Excitement for the international collaboration was tempered with worry from fans given Cole’s divisive guest appearance on “Grippy.”

One person wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “have a good verse have a good verse have a good verse have a good verse,” as if pleading to a higher power.

Another cautiously asked: “He ain’t gona mess this one up. Right?”

A third user used some of Cole’s own lyrics to describe their feelings towards the upcoming collaboration: “This shit can go one of two ways/ This shit can go up, it can go down.”

 

 

 

Others were more positive in their outlook, with one saying: “It’s funny how many people counted J. Cole out after 1 bad feature, when he delivered us a whole catalog of incredible features. This feels like it’ll be on the sound of a ‘Pretty Little Fears’/’Sacrifices’/’Audio Hug’ and I can’t wait for it.”

Another added: “Thank god, grippy verse redemption.”

J. Cole received a lot of negative feedback from his verse on “Grippy” which was heavy on the sex bars, something the Dreamville founder is not known for.

He rapped on the track: “Grippy, I call her that ’cause it’s grippy/ She thinkin’ it hip, she a hippie/ And she thinkin’ of lips, she gon’ lick me/ And she sendin’ a flick when she hit me/ With a kissin’ emoji, she miss me/ When she see me, she say she gon’ strip me.”

One fan was very blunt about not liking Cole’s verse on the track, writing on social media: “J Cole’s verse on that Cash Cobain song was fucking atrocious.”

Another added: “Y’all know how J. Cole has been teasing ‘The Fall Off’ dropping? What if bro was talking about himself the whole time?”

One listener even posted a video on TikTok in which they said: “This message is for Jermaine Cole. Please take the ‘Grippy’ song back like you took ‘Seven Minute Drill’ back. It’s not too late.”

Cole has also caught flak in recent months for dissing Kendrick Lamar on “7 Minute Drill,” only to apologize days later and remove the song from streaming services.