"Fire Squad" is a song by American rapper

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his d ...

, taken from his third album, ''

2014 Forest Hills Drive ''2014 Forest Hills Drive'' is the third studio album by American rapper J. Cole. It was released on December 9, 2014, by ByStorm Entertainment, Columbia Records, Dreamville Records and Roc Nation. Recording sessions took place over the whole yea ...

''. The song samples "Midnight Theme" performed by Manzel and "Long Red" by Mountain and "Heart Breaker" by Aguaturbia, and was produced by J. Cole and Vinylz.

Controversy

Following the release of the album, the song stirred up controversy as it calls out Iggy Azalea,

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

and Macklemore's names. J. Cole explained what inspired the verse in an interview saying it's rooted in capitalism and clarified that it wasn't a diss, but an observation.

Critical reception

"Fire Squad" received positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. Justin Charity of Complex said ""Fire Squad" offers timely premonition: "This year I’ll probably go to the awards

how How may refer to: * How (greeting), a word used in some misrepresentations of Native American/First Nations speech * How, an interrogative word in English grammar Art and entertainment Literature * ''How'' (book), a 2007 book by Dov Seidma ...

dappered down/Watch Iggy win a Grammy as I try to crack a smile." Such rebellious tidbits are sprinkled throughout Forest Hills, mostly in the spirit of black pride and unprecedented manhood, such as in the song G.O.M.D: "'Why every rich black nigga gotta be famous?' 'Why every broke black nigga gotta be brainless?'/ . . . That's a stereotype, driven by some people up in Ariel Heights." These are lyrical preoccupations that rap critics disregard as earnest, unfortunately; Cole's black power theses aren't backed by threats of absurd violence, so Cole's music is allegedly boring."

Certifications

References

2014 songs J. Cole songs Songs written by J. Cole {{2010s-hiphop-song-stub