J. Cole Confirms His Kill Edward Alter Ego Was Inspired by His Stepfather

J. Cole's latest album, KOD, only includes one guest appearance from a rapper named Kill Edward on two of the project's songs. While fans of the North Carolina MC were quick to discover that Kill Edward is J. Cole's alter ego, the rapper now reveals how the name came to be.

During an interview with Vulture, the "ATM" artist revealed Kill Edward was inspired by his stepfather, Edward. According to Cole, Edward separated from his mother, Kay Cole, in 2013, which led Kay to alcohol and drugs. The alter ego appears on the songs "The Cut Off" and "Friends"—tracks about cutting off people close to you and drug addiction.

Elsewhere during his interview, Cole spoke about the album's popular closing track, "1985 (Intro to the Fall Off)." The song finds Jermaine lecturing the new wave of rappers and while he doesn't name any names, the track has already ruffled a few feathers. Cole calls it a "'shoe fits' situation" and says several people can wear the shoe.

“Why you yelling at your show? You must feel attacked in some kind of way, must feel offended, and if you feel offended, then that means something rings true, something struck a chord," he said. "That’s cool with me. That’s all I ever want to do.”

Since its release on April 20, KOD has already broken Apple Music and Spotify streaming records. The 12-track project broke Apple's 24-hour record with 64.5 million streams and smashed Spotify's first day U.S. album streams record with 36.7 million streams.

In related J. Cole news, the rapper recently released his latest video for the song "Kevin's Heart." Inspired by comedian Kevin Hart's own infidelity, the actor stars as himself in the video as he attempts to fight temptation.

See New Music Releases for April 2018