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  1. Tracks
  2. J. Cole
  3. KOD
  4. BRACKETS
BRACKETS by J. Cole

TRACK

J. Cole

BRACKETS

Release date: 18th April 2018

From KOD
Track 8
5:16
Hip-Hop/RapMusicDirty SouthRap
Spotify Apple Music More on J. Cole

About This Track

'BRACKETS' closes the KOD album with J. Cole tracing his climb through the tax system, the track framed around a confrontation with the IRS. The intro samples Richard Pryor recounting his father's disbelief at show-business money, setting up a meditation on wealth, resentment, and the state's claim on earnings. Cole raps about watching his paper stack and the fraction that disappears to federal coffers, the skit structure letting him voice both the pride of a first million-dollar cheque and the shock at how much of it goes to Uncle Sam.

The song argues for taxpayer agency over how government revenue gets spent, the frustration less about paying than about the lack of control. Cole has cited these as his favourite lyrics on the album, the writing turning a practical grievance into a broader question about power and accountability. The hook loops a searching refrain about filling a void, the spiritual emptiness sitting oddly alongside the material complaint, as if the money solved nothing and the tax bill only clarified the distance between success and satisfaction.

"BRACKETS" is a track by J. Cole, from the album KOD, released 18th April 2018. The track is 5:16 long. It's filed under Hip-Hop/Rap. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 2 articles about J. Cole.

About the Artist

J. Cole

J. Cole

Lyrics

BRACKETS

Lotta shit happens, like, being in show business
A lot of shit happens, like, like, I make a lot of money, you know
And I'm really happy about it
And I'm not bragging, I just wanna say something
I make a so fuck, it's ridiculous
But wait, wait a minute, wait a minute

Hey, if my father was alive today, I would go home and say
Dad, I wanna tell you how much money I made
You know what he'd say? You's a lying motherfucker
Joe Louis didn't make that much money
Come in here, get your ass out the house
Coming here with that bullshit, hah

Niggas hating on me, I ain't used to that
Know a couple people wanna shoot for that
I say, no, no, no, chill, it ain't no need for that
Them niggas tryna blow and they don't need me for that
And if it work for them, well shit, I'm cool with that
'Cause how they feel, I ain't got shit to do with that
I just sit back on cool and watch my paper stack
And trip off how much bread them crackers take from that

(Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
(Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
(Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
(Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

It's been a long time since I have felt this way
About something but now, but now
I'm controlling my mind, the days are warm
The nights are cold, the lost is found, I'm found
Lord knows I need something to fill this void
Lord knows I need something to fill this void
Lord knows I need something to fill this void
Lord knows I need something to fill this void

Hell yeah boy, I'm a goddamn millionaire now
Hell yeah, nigga, they can't tell me shit now, bro, hell no, fuck that
Bitch, got my first motherfuckin' million dollar check nigga
I'm goddamn lit boy, you crazy as hell
Hold up, it's my phone real quick, it's my Unc'
Uncle Sam and shit

What's up Unc'? Yup, hey, I told you that check was coming in
I gotchu when it came in, goddamn, I'm a man of my word, goddamn
I told you I'ma have it, and goddamn, I'ma have it for you, Hell
Shit, damn right, but, how much was it though? Uh huh, huh? Half?
Half nigga? You crazy, boy, you crazy
Bitch you crazy as fuck, bitch, bitch, you better suck half my dick!

Yeah, I pay taxes, so much taxes, shit don't make sense
Where do my dollars go? You see lately, I ain't been convinced
I guess they say my dollars supposed to build roads and schools
But my niggas barely graduate, they ain't got the tools
Maybe 'cause the tax dollars that I make sure I send
Get spent hirin' some teachers that don't look like them
And the curriculum be tricking them, them dollars I spend
Got us learning about the heroes with the whitest of skin

One thing about the men that's controlling the pen
That write history, they always seem to white-out they sins
Maybe we'll never see a black man in the White House again
I'll write a check to the IRS, my pockets get slim
Damn, do I even have a say 'bout where it's goin'?
Some older nigga told me to start votin'
I said, democracy is too fuckin' slow

If I'm givin' y'all this hard-earned bread, I wanna know
Better yet, let me decide, bitch, it's 2018
Let me pick the things I'm funding from an app on my screen
Better that than letting wack congressman I've never seen
Dictate where my money goes
Straight into the palms of some money-hungry company that make guns
That circulate the country and then
Wind up in my hood, making bloody clothes

Stray bullet hit a young boy with a snotty nose
From the concrete, he was prolly rose
Now his body froze and nobody knows what to tell his mother
He did good at the white man schools unlike his brother
Who was lost in the streets all day, not using rubbers
So right now, he got two on the way
Still sleep on covers in his mama house
She can't take this shit no more, she want him out
On the morning of the funeral, just as she's walking out
Wiping tears away, grabbing her keys and sunglasses
She remember that she gotta file her taxes, damn

(Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
(Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
(Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
(Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From KOD

5:162018
Listen
Album
KOD
KOD
J. Cole
19th April 2018
Track number
8
Release year
2018
  1. 1Intro
    1:47
  2. 2KOD
    3:11
  3. 3Photograph
    3:38
  4. 4The Cut Off (feat. kiLL edward)
    3:57

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2024
Might Delete Later
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The Off-Season
The Off-Season
2021
KOD
KOD
2018

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  • 5ATM
    3:37
  • 6Motiv8
    2:14
  • 7Kevin's Heart
    3:20
  • 8BRACKETS
    5:16
  • 9Once an Addict (Interlude)
    3:18
  • 10FRIENDS (feat. kiLL edward)
    4:18
  • 11Window Pain (Outro)
    4:47
  • 121985 (Intro to "The Fall Off")
    3:10
  • —1985
  • —FRIENDS
  • —Intro (KOD)
  • —The Cut Off
  • —1985 - Intro to “The Fall Off”
    3:10
  • —Photograph
    3:39
  • —Kevin’s Heart
    3:20
  • —The Cut Off (feat. kiLL edward)
    3:57
  • —ATM
    3:37
  • —KOD
    3:11
  • Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    Alan Bergman, J. Cole, Marilyn Bergman, Quincy Jones, Richard Pryor
    Lyricist
    J. Cole
    Producer
    J. Cole
    Vocals
    J. Cole, Kaye Foxx, kiLL edward
    Arranger
    Elite
    Assistant Engineer
    Andrew Grossman, Sean Klein, Todd Hurt, YÁNG TAN
    Mixing Engineer
    Juro “Mez” Davis
    Recording Engineer
    J. Cole, Juro “Mez” Davis
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    READ MORE ABOUT J. COLEREAD MORE ABOUT J. COLEREAD MORE ABOUT J. COLEREAD MORE ABOUT J. COLE
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