Rapper, J. Cole, surprised fans with a new single titled “Middle Child” on Wednesday, January 23. This new track has brought more than I expected and has a meaning beyond the name.

Cole uses the title as a symbol to refer that he is in the middle of two generations of rap. “I’m dead in the middle of two generations, I’m little bro and big bro all at once. Just left the lab with young 21 Savage, I’m ‘bout to go and meet Jigga for lunch,” Cole rapped. In this line, Cole is expressing how he is a mentor for new rising rappers, like 21 Savage, and how he is also being mentored by older rappers, like Jay-Z.

Midway through the track, Cole turns on his usual flow and uses autotune. He does this to show how many new generation rappers use autotune and to show that his generation is dying. Although he believes that his generation is fading, Cole still embraces the people that influenced him and states that he is the best in the game. “To the OGs, I’m thankin’ you now, was watchin’ you when you was pavin’ the ground. I copied your cadence, I mirrored your style, I studied the greats, I’m the greatest right now,” Cole stated.

The meaningful lyrics, along with the catchy beat, definitely proves to me that Cole is one of the greatest in the rap industry today. He doesn’t rap about meaningless subjects or have terrible lyrics like many of the new rising rappers. With this track, Cole has proven that he is one of the best lyricists in the game.