Malcolm-Jamal Warner Says He Had To Stop Listening to J. Cole’s Music Anymore Due To The N-Word

Malcolm-Jamal Warner recently shared why he dislikes the excessive use of explicit words in hip-hop music, using J. Cole as a specific example.

On Monday, Warner premiered the inaugural episode of the Not All Hood podcast alongside his co-hosts Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley. The trio discussed the meaning of the N-word and then shifted gears toward hip-hop music. That’s when the Emmy-nominated actor explained his stance on artists’ overuse of the word b***h and n***a.

“I’m more against it now because it’s used so gratuitously [and] it’s used without regard,” Warner explained. “At this point, for me in hip-hop, I think n***a and b***h should be used as a moratorium on both of those words in hip-hop because it’s low-lying fruit and it’s so easy, everybody is f**king does it to the point it’s corny.”

Warner said there are MCs he appreciates but no longer listens to because of these expletives, with J. Cole being one of them.

“There are MC’s who I love [and] I can’t listen to anymore,” he said. “I love J. Cole, but I had to stop listening to J. Cole [because] I got tired of hearing n***a and b***h every two sentences. He has proven himself to be such an incredible lyricist — as an artist, it feels lazy.”

The clip has since circulated on X, formerly known as Twitter, garnering mixed reactions from social media users.

“Not a fan of the word myself, but J. Cole being used as an example is insane out of all rappers. He’s quite tame compared to others,” one person tweeted.

“Most people don’t even understand how constantly listening to the n word and profanity works negatively against them. Literally we are fighting against principalities and spiritual wickedness in high and low places and one way they enter into our mindset is via words and music,” another wrote.

One social media user sided with Warner and explained why he stopped listening to the Grammy-winning rapper.

“Early on in J. Cole’s career he used ‘nigga’ in almost every other bar. It was extremely annoying and why I stopped listening to him after his first album. When it’s used obsessively it takes away from the music because it shows poor penmanship,” they tweeted.

“J Cole really did say the n word over 200 times literally on just 2014 Forest Hills Drive … so I could def see that,” another person wrote.

“Imagine choosing not to listen to art from a Black man because he chooses to say the word? Listen to what you like but to shut out a whole library of art from Black entertainers because of this seems short sighted,” another tweeted.