What J. Cole is saying in "Fire Squad" wasn't a diss at Eminem, Justin Timberlake or Macklemore though. Although Iggy part, seemed more personal.
Em, JT & Macklemore are in a genre created by black men and women. That's the truth, no way around it. What Cole is saying is while all these rappers and singers are claiming "King," these 3 artists paid it no mind, made music, and took the sound for themselves.
"History repeats itself and that's just how it goes
Same way that these rappers bite each other's flows
Same thing that Elvis did with rock & roll"
He's saying that rap by nature is people copying off each other, and the extent goes back to Elvis, he took an art form that existed before him, and took it to new heights. And his tone is much different than say Chuck D when he spoke on Elvis. But to understand where J. Cole is going you need the next lines.
"Justin Timberlake, Eminem and Macklemore
While silly _ argue over who gone snatch the crown
Look around my __, white people have snatched the sound"
So while people bicker over who is king.... JT, Eminem & Macklemore just made music and made it their own.
My whole interpretation is he's not angry that white people have infiltrated hip hop, I don't think he really even cares. He's also not the guy who would even care anyway, you have to remember J. Cole is half white, and raised by his white mom. He's more so angry that all the people who are claiming King, are only talking about it, and not proving it. To go further, I think J. Cole is saying if all these self-proclaimed "Kings" cared so much about hip hop culture, why is it that the white artists are the only ones who seemed to just worry about the music, and not the ******** of having your chest puffed out
I'm white, since I guess that influences the perspective.
The verse from Letterman & even Knock the Hustle are better than any verse on the album IMO.
