J. Cole’s recent diss track apology to Kendrick Lamar has stirred up excitement in the hip-hop industry. On April 5, Cole released his surprise new project, “Might Delete Later,” which included a song titled “7 Minute Drill.” The diss track was Cole’s response to Lamar’s verse on the hit single “Like That,” where Lamar took shots at Drake and J. Cole for considering themselves part of “the big three” and claimed his dominance in the rap game, saying, “Motherf**k the big three, n!gga, it’s just big me.”. In retaliation, Cole dissed Lamar by saying he had “fallen off like the Simpsons” and called his latest album “tragic.”
During the Dreamville Fest on Sunday, J. Cole apologized for his “lame” and “goofy” response to a particular phrase in his song. He expressed pride in the song but admitted to feeling embarrassed about a part of it. Cole stated that this part is the “lamest shit” he has ever done in his life and vowed to remove the song from streaming services.
Past Kendrick Lamar Beefs and Apologies
Big Sean vs Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar and Big Sean’s feud began after Lamar dissed several rappers, including Sean, in a track called ‘Control’, leading to indirect insults between the two. In 2020, Sean revealed he had attempted to contact K. Dot but had the wrong number. He has been wanting to address the situation publicly, expressing mutual respect. The situation arose because Kendrick believed people around him were telling him something, but it turned out not to be. After talking, they had a good reconciliation and mutual respect.
Lupe Fiasco vs Kendrick
Lupe Fiasco answered a fan’s Twitter question in January 2018, arguing that Kendrick Lamar is not a top-tier lyricist. He went on to say, “K. Dot is not a top-tier lyricist to me and my standards when it comes to punchlines and bars.” Lupe stated that while Kendrick’s overall words and storylines are fantastic, he does not perceive his punchlines as poetic.
However, Lupe eventually backtracked on that evaluation and apologized. He apologized in an Instagram video for discussing the careers of other musicians, stating that his statement was in response to Kendrick’s “Control” verse, which prompted him to critique. “I mean, you put yourself out there like that. So, you opened yourself up to critique…I apologize for even engaging and talking about n***as careers; I’ll never do that shit again.” the rapper said.
Controversially so, Lupe has now come back to social media, stating that he, in fact, wasn’t apologizing to Kendrick.
Lupe tweeted on Monday, “Keep my name clean…I fear no rapper of any kind, at any time.” “K dot solid, but you guys need to chill, lol.”. Fiasco has said that this time around, he hasn’t heard Kendrick’s verse on the Hot 100 chart-topping “Like That” or J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill,” aside from “accidental little things scrolling through social media and seeing samples of the lyrics typed on memes.” He chose to stay away because he “had a moment of clarity that we care too much about things that don’t mean anything..with all due respect.”
Recent events have reignited the argument amongst the “Big 3” rappers Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Drake, forcing fans and critics to ask who genuinely deserves to be voted into the hip-hop Hall of Fame.
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