The rapper J. Cole apologized on Sunday for releasing a diss track about Kendrick Lamar, saying he felt “terrible” and vowing to update the song or remove it from streaming services.
The apology followed an exchange of verses that began in October, when J. Cole and Drake ranked themselves, with Lamar, as the “big three” in hip-hop in the song “First Person Shooter.” In March, Lamar dismissed that comparison in a guest verse on the song “Like That” by Future and Metro Boomin, rapping that there was no big three, “it’s just big me.”
In response, J. Cole on Friday released the diss track “7 Minute Drill” on his surprise new album, “Might Delete Later.” It includes the lines: “I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissing / You want some attention, it come with extensions / He still doing shows but fell off like ‘The Simpsons.’”
Two days after the song was released, J. Cole apologized for it while onstage at his Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, N.C., according to videos posted on social media. During his headlining performance, he said that when he saw the response to the song after it came out, it didn’t “sit right with my spirit,” and that he was speaking about it at the concert to end the beef.
He also called Lamar one of the “greatest” to ever use a microphone and said he hoped Lamar would forgive him.
“The past two days felt terrible,” J. Cole said. “It let me know how good I’ve been sleeping for the past 10 years.”
As of early afternoon on Monday, “7 Minute Drill” was still available on major streaming services.
J. Cole released “Might Delete Later” on his Dreamville Records label, an imprint of Interscope Records, which is owned by Universal Music Group. Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lamar does not appear to have addressed the track or the apology publicly. Representatives for Lamar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Drake seemed to respond to Lamar’s verse at a concert in Sunrise, Fla., in late March, according to Complex. He told the crowd that people had been asking him how he was feeling and that he had his “head up high,” and felt as if no one could mess with him.
Lamar, Drake and J. Cole have worked together in the past and have individually received numerous awards for their music, including multiple Grammy Awards and nominations. In 2018, Lamar received the Pulitzer Prize in music for his album “DAMN.”
