J. Cole Debuts Verse From New Song “Chaining Day”

J. Cole stopped by Mike Barber and DJ Spynfo’s Mic Check in New York City Thursday to talk about why he doesn’t share new songs and collaborations on the Internet.

The Grammy-nominated rapper told the audience,

“I ain’t drop nothing in a while because I feel like, man, we in this digital age where s**t moves so fast. N****s got songs every week and you can’t even keep up with this s**t. I’m a fan and I can’t keep up with this s**t so I had to take a step back.” He then said he gets “that itch” to share new music, and a woman in the audience yelled, “You should!” J. Cole obliged and launched into a verse from his new song, “Chaining Day.”

“Let these words be the colors, I’m just painting my heart. I’m knee deep in the game, and it ain’t what I thought,” he raps.

The 27-year-old, who was born Jermaine Lamar Cole, was the first rap artist to be signed to Jay-Z’z Roc Nation label in 2009. He released several mixtapes and appeared as a guest on several tracks for artists such as Wale, Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, and Miguel, in addition to his appearance on Jay-Z’s song “A Star is Born” from The Blueprint 3. His first full-length album, Cole World: The Sideline Story was released in September 2011.

In May 2012, J. Cole announced that he was working on a collaborative album with California rapper Kendrick Lamar, and in June he told XXL Magazine that he had too much material for his sophomore album. He said,

“I got too many songs. I gotta figure out how to put out a project out before the album. I gotta figure that out. I have too many songs.”

You can watch J. Cole’s debut of “Chaining Day” below.