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He is thinking about what will happen in the future. He’s pondering to himself, possibly starting to think maybe he wants to be immortal. Then he stops himself, and says he doesn’t want that.

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What is this?

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He doesn’t listen to the haters, and all he does is destroy them. “Fayette-‘nam bombing” is J Cole’s mix between his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina and the country of Vietnam.

“Bombing” is appropriately used here in conjunction with “Vietnam,” as Vietnam was the location of an infamous war.

It should also be noted that Fayetteville is home to Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army base.

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What is this?

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“Team,” “run a play,” and “scoring” are all carrying along a motif of sports. In football, you run a play with your team to score.

This is Cole’s way of saying that he and his boys (sometimes referred to as a “team”) are going to do what they can (a.k.a. “run a play”) and “score” (or have sex with) you girl.

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Cole is comparing himself to God (Jesus). When Jesus was born, the North Star appeared in the sky.

This is an interesting parallel, because J Cole made his debut on the album circuit when he was first featured on Jay-Z’s A Star is Born.

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What is this?

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Talking about someone getting robbed for their ride, their jewelry, and their shoes… damn!

It’s a carjacking, which Cole calls a hijacking, possibly because their niggas are “fly.” He compares it to the 9/11 hijacking in 2001. Too soon, J Cole.

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What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

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Talking about the police coming after Cole and his crew, he accuses them of having an arrest quota, a common accusation that citizens make of their police. In other words, Cole thinks the cops in his city are just out to get him because they get a bonus for arresting him.

This is in parallel with the next line, in which Cole says “you kill a nigga get promoted,” meaning you’ll gain more credibility in the hood if you actually kill an enemy.

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No cash? No smash.

This is a common motif that J Cole revisits in several of his songs, criticizing women who only go after guys with cash.

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You and the crew you run with are unoriginal and/or empty, with no soul.

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Cole is saying that he’s the real deal and you’re just posing, mimicking what you’re seeing.

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Haters provide free advertising and draw attention to him. He’s thanking the haters for flattering him in that way. They hate him so much and have thus provided so much flattery, he considers them true charmers!

This isn’t the first time Cole has talked about hatred being flattery. He dropped a similar line on his song Heavy.

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