J. Cole delivers new song “Middle Child”: Stream

Lake Schatz

Updated Thu, January 24, 2019 at 2:06 AM UTC

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Right on cue, J. Cole has released “Middle Child”. The track was produced by T-Minus, who previously worked on “Kevin’s Heart” from Cole’s most recent album, 2018’s acclaimed KOD.

On the offering, he name-drops NBA all-star LeBron James, gives a shout-out to Drake, and talks about being a “middle child” MC in between different generations of rappers (“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”).

Take a listen below.

The 33-year-old Cole previously teased “Middle Child” by stripping his Instagram account clean with the exception of posts referencing notable Black artists Bob Marley, novelist and social critic James Baldwin, and ’70s soul group First Choice.

Half an hour prior to releasing the track, Cole went on a little bit of an amusing Twitter spree by tweeting out pictures of middle children, including some famous faces.

It’s unclear whether “Middle Child” is a standalone single or part of a larger, forthcoming release. Cole is known to be developing several projects at the moment, including a third volume in Dreamville Records’ Revenge of the Dreamers compilation series as well as a previously announced solo album called The Fall Off.

Cole will present his inaugural Dreamville Festival this April.