The Climb Back

Album: Lewis Street (2020)
Charted: 25
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Songfacts®:

  • Here, J Cole the rapper addresses the ups and downs of life and how he's persevered through critical periods to get ahead in the rap game. He's saying those traumatic times don't last forever and the good times will inevitably return.

    Everything come back around full circle
    Why do lies sound pleasant but the truth hurtful?
    Everybody gotta cry once in a while
    But how long will it take 'fore you smile?


    Cole might have in mind the criticism he received for his previous single, "Snow On Tha Bluff." He was lambasted on social media for calling out the rapper and poet Noname on the song.
  • During the outro, Cole suggests a phone number to call whenever someone has an urge to kill. You know, along the lines of the suicide prevention hotlines.
  • Cole released this along with the song "Lion King On Ice." They were packaged together as an EP titled Lewis Street, named after a street in Fayetteville where Cole grew up.
  • Cole took on production duties for "The Climb Back" himself. His previous album, Revenge of the Dreamers III, featured beats from a variety of record producers with the rapper only co-producing one track. However, Cole handled most of the instrumentation for his preceding record KOD.
  • J. Cole later included the song on his 2021 album The Off-Season.

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