A week after Top Dawg Entertainment President Punch Henderson debunked rumors of beef between rappers on his label and J. Cole, TDE’s Ab-Soul has admitted that he was upset with Cole over their collaboration “Pi“… but not for the reason fans might think.
“Pi,” which appeared on Cole’s April mixtape Might Delete Later, raised fans’ antennae for potential beef, as it appeared on the tape with “7 Minute Drill,” Cole’s response to Kendrick’s incendiary verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” After K. Dot called out J. Cole and Drake for supposedly “sneak dissing” him on their collab “First Person Shooter,” Cole was the first to accept the challenge. However, featuring K. Dot’s former labelmate and Black Hippy band member Ab-Soul on “Pi” had some listeners wondering if there was some petty gamesmanship on Cole’s part.
As it turns out, no, there wasn’t. Cole decided his heart wasn’t in it, deleted “7 Minute Drill” from streamers, and moved on eventually addressing things on “Port Antonio” early this month. However, at the same time, Soul dropped his own new song “Squeeze 1st 2,” with lyrics listeners believed were shots at Cole for involving him in the “beef” with Kendrick. However, Punch clarified on Twitter that all the involved verses and songs had been recorded before the “beef,” and that “Squeeze 1st 2” had little to do with “Port Antonio.”
Yesterday, Ab-Soul appeared on DJ Hed’s SiriusXM show, Effective Immediately, and reflected on his real issue with “Pi” — that he wasn’t informed by Daylyt, the third collaborator on the song, about Cole’s involvement until after the fact. “I’m lowkey hot,” he joked. “I’m like, ‘Lyt, bro, this is one of the best rappers in the world… I’m on his head like, ‘Bro, you have to let me know if you’re gonna send this shit off. He ate us up.’” Soul also made absolutely clear that “Cole is the homie, for real,” but that he was only upset because he wanted the North Carolina rapper to appear on his song “F*ck Out My Face [FOMF],” but rather than delivering the 12-bar verse that needed, issued 48 bars on “Pi.”
You can watch the full interview above to get Ab-Soul’s hilarious story.
J. Cole chose his peace over beefing with Kendrick Lamar, leading to a truckload of memes afterward. The J. Cole memes continued as Kendrick and Drake battled each other with diss tracks. As the lyrical warfare continued, fans gradually began to understand why J. Cole didn’t want all that heat. Thus, the J. Cole memes shifted from ridiculing the “Work Out” crooner to more or less applauding his decisions, especially as the Kendrick vs. Drake beef makes its place in hip-hop’s history books.
There are too many aspects of the beef that make it genuinely remarkable. From J. Cole’s decision to quit to Kendrick and Drake going against each other diss track after track and not to forget Metro Boomin’s “BBL Drizzy” diss beat. However, the hilarious J. Cole memes also added color and humor to the beef and have come to stay. Let’s explore the best J. Cole memes that broke the internet while Drake and Kendrick Lamar feuded.
On Oct. 31, 2023, Drake released the single “First Person Shooter” from his eighth studio album For All The Dogs. The track featured J. Cole, who delivered the famous bars, “Love when they argue the hardest MC, is it K-Dot, is it Aubrey or me? /We the big three like we started a league/but right now, I feel like Muhammed Ali/Huh, yeah, yeah, huh-huh, yeah, Muhammed Ali.” With those lines, J. Cole appreciated the greatness of himself, Drake, and Kendrick but emphasized his thoughts that he was the best out of the three. Those bars brought back memories of Big Sean’s “Control” featuring Kendrick and Jay Electronica. In the track, Kendrick mentioned many rappers including Drake and J. Cole and said he was “tryna murder you ni**as.” K. Dot also touted himself as the “King of New York” on the track.
Kendrick Responds to J. Cole and Disses Drake
Kendrick responded to J. Cole and Drake‘s “First Person Shooter” via a verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That” from their We Don’t Trust You album. In his verse, Kendrick rapped, “F**k sneak dissin’, first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches.” Later in the verse, he rapped, “Motherfuck the big three, nigga, it’s just big me.” With those bars, K.Dot showed he had come for Drake and J. Cole and duly set the rap scene ablaze, shocking many fans. Fans waited to see what Drake and J. Cole’s response would be. They didn’t have to wait long.
J. Cole was the first to respond to Kendrick’s diss directly. He did so through a song on his surprise mixtape Might Delete Later. In the project’s last song “7 Minute Drill,” J. Cole addressed K. Dot’s diss, rapping, “I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissing / You want some attention, it come with extensions.” The Fayetteville, North Carolina native also rapped, “He still doing shows but fell off like The Simpsons / Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic / Your second shit put n***as to sleep but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine.
Continuing with his response, J. Cole rapped, “He averaging one hard verse like every 30 months or something / If he wasn’t dissing, then we wouldn’t be discussing nothin’ / Blood don’t make me have to smoke this n***a ’cause I f*ck with him / But push come to shove on this mic I will humble him.“
J. Cole’s Apology
After J. Cole dropped his response to Kendrick, many fans were thrilled and applauded him. However, much to their dissatisfaction, he made a U-turn. J. Cole made a public apology to Kendrick during the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina on April 7. In his apology, J. Cole said he was proud of his project, Might Delete Later, except for one part. He said, “There’s one part of that sh*t that makes me feel like, ‘Man, that’s the lamest sh*t I ever did in my f*cking life.’ And, I know this is not what a lot of people wanna hear. I can hear my n***s up there right now like, ‘Nah, don’t do that.’ But, I gotta keep it 100 with y’all. I damn near had a relapse.”
J. Cole further said he was blessed to know Kendrick and Drake. He added, “I felt conflicted ’cause I’m like, bruh I know I don’t really feel a way. But the world wanna see blood… so I say all of that to say, in my spirit of trying to get this music out, I moved in a way that spiritually feels bad on me. I tried to jab my n***a back and I tried to keep it friendly.” J. Cole emphasized that being in a rap beef disrupted his peace. He concluded by praising Kendrick, saying, “I wanna say right here tonight, how many people think Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest muthaf*ckas to ever touch a microphone? Dreamville, y’all love Kendrick Lamar correct? As do I.” J. Cole also promised to remove “7 Minute Drill” from all streaming platforms and kept to his word.
Kendrick Vs. Drake
Two weeks after J. Cole apologized, Drake released “Push Ups,” his first diss track and direct response to Kendrick, sparking their rap beef. He followed that up with the AI-generated “Taylor Made Freestyle.” Kendrick took his time to respond and did so with “Euphoria” and “6:16 In LA.” Drake came back firing with “Family Matters,” but K. Dot shot back almost immediately with “Meet The Grahams.” With Drake and Kendrick going against each other with so much heat and making various unverified allegations against themselves, fans began to see why J. Cole didn’t want to take part in a diss with Kendrick.
Thus, the memes began to change from ridiculing J. Cole to showing him at peace while his colleagues poured dirt on each other. Kendrick followed “Meet The Grahams” with the club banger “Not Like Us,” while Drake responded with “The Heart Part 6,” in which he many took as he was done with the beef. Since then, everything has quietened down but the viral J. Cole memes continue to dominate the internet.
J. Cole’s apology threatened his legacy and social media erupted with dozens of memes expressing disappointment at the rapper. The J. Cole memes changed course as the K. Dot and Drake’s rap beef progressed. After J. Cole apologized, the memes focused on how humiliating it was for him to do that and the damage it could have on his career. The best memes that typified these were from TikTokers, BasikEarth, iitz.samurai, and Karai The Curator.
However, when Drake and Kendrick’s beef heated up so much, no one was blaming J. Cole for bowing out. Instead, the J. Cole memes that went viral were of him having a good time while Drake and K. Dot traded words. The best memes that typified included X user, @Justhugee’s meme from the Spider-Man movie, X user, @@BabuVersus’s meme from “Family Guy,” and X user @timeimmemorial_’s meme from The Sopranos.
After Drake and Kendrick took a break from releasing diss tracks, TiktToker @2kold.fr shared a video that showed the ocean waves. The video then cut to her sitting next to J. Cole on a sandy beach. The rapper looked chilled in the video. He wore a black T-shirt, shorts, white socks, and sneakers and had his head phones connected to a laptop. The TikToker’s video confirmed people’s feelings that J. Cole was relaxing while Drake and Kendrick went for the kill. Eventually, most people agreed that J. Cole probably did the right thing by sitting the beef out. Do you agree?
J Cole’s decision to delete his Kendrick Lamar diss “7 Minute Drill” and issue an enthusiastic apology onstage was controversial, to say the least. At the time, many thought it was a weak move, and wished he would have stuck things out. Since then, of course, the consensus has shifted, as most fans and peers now agree that he did the right thing after seeing how Kendrick’s beef with Drake played out.
During a recent appearance on Big Boy TV, T.I. shared his take on the situation, commending J Cole for knowing when to bow out. According to him, the rapper made a good call and might have saved himself a lot of trouble. “I feel he chose peace and tranquility,” he began.
“You gotta have thick skin and really be unfazed and unbothered,” T.I. continued. “And we don’t know the temperament or the sensitivity of Cole’s dynamic. We’ve never seen Cole upset. We don’t know where that would take him… I think that was quite mature of him.” T.I.’s not alone in thinking that J Cole was right to apologize, as Benny The Butcher had a similar take that he shared earlier this month.
“Honestly, you can see how gossipy and everything that this battle’s turned into,” Benny said at the time. “Do you blame him for not wanting to be a part of this at this moment? Do you blame him? I don’t. I probably would’ve went about it in a different way, but it’s like a gossip battle. It’s not like a rap battle, it’s like a ‘telling each other’s business’ type of thing, so I wouldn’t want to be a part of that.” What do you think of J. Cole deciding to delete his “7 Minute Drill” diss and apologize to Kendrick Lamar? What about T.I.’s take on it? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
When J Cole gracefully removed himself from the Kendrick Lamar and Drake war, people online and in the hip-hop sphere were tearing him down. So many were disappointed that the “7 Minute Drill” rapper would bow out from the competition, especially given his pen. However, since he dropped the diss that was, frankly, half-hearted, the battlefield has become extremely bloody. He even admitted that himself, and since most fans knew that Cole was always more of a lover and not a fighter, the narrative has switched. Now, spectators have become more understanding and giving him grace online.
However, a new and interesting angle has been making the rounds on the web that someone in the know actually influenced Cole to remove himself from the beef. According to articles from Bossip and AllHipHop, TDE teammate ScHoolboy Q was supposedly the one who helped convince him. A writer witnessed the BLUE LIPS and Might Delete Later MCs chatting at Dreamville Fest. Unfortunately, she was not able to make out what exactly was said, but sources informed her that some sort of warning was passed from Q to Cole.
The severity of the warning was not specified, though. “I’m not specifying what kind of warning — whether it was a bullying move, a Deebo-like maneuver or just a friendly heads-up. I don’t think it matters at this point. But based on what Punch (TDE president) said, I think they gave him what he needed to hear to bow out of the battle with as much grace as possible,” the writer said. Now, J Cole or ScHoolboy Q willing to speak about this conversation will certainly be something to monitor going forward.
What are your thoughts on ScHoolboy Q allegedly warning J Cole to drop out of the Kendrick/Drake beef? If this is true did the TDE labelmate do the right thing here, why or why not? Do you think Cole should have entered the battle to begin with? Who do you have on top right now and why? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s beef, J Cole and ScHoolboy Q. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
It’s no secret that Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” verse brought about a great deal of drama, but according to Gillie Da Kid, he hardly scratched the surface. When the song first dropped last month, listeners were quick to note that the Compton-born performer took shots and Drake and J Cole, and were eager to hear how they’d respond. Weeks later, J Cole fired back with a diss track on his surprise album Might Delete Later, “7 Minute Drill.” Ultimately, however, he apologized and removed the song from streaming services. Last week, Drake’s response “Push Ups” leaked, reigniting all the chatter around the feud.
During a recent episode of Shaq’s The Big Podcast, Gillie Da Kid weighed in on the debacle, arguing that Kendrick’s verse wasn’t all that wild. Moreover, he doesn’t even believe it should be considered a diss track at all. He says that in his day, Kendrick’s infamous “big three” line would be deemed “corny” at best.
Gillie Thinks Kendrick & J Cole Were Too “Friendly” In Their Diss Tracks
Gillie Da Kid calls out Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” verse and J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill” song as not being real diss records.
Also, Gillie Da Kid uses Nas’s “Ether” song and 2Pac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” as examples of real diss records, and Wallo agrees with Gillie Da Kid that we are in… pic.twitter.com/0R1RaVZl4d
“Let’s just be honest, bro, that’s not no diss record,” he began. “If that’s a diss record, that’s corny sh*t. The last time I checked, diss records went like this: ‘First off, f*ck your b*tch and the clique you claim….’” Gillie went on to quote other iconic diss tracks, emphasizing how their lyrics were far harsher than both Kendrick and Cole’s. “What is we talking about man? Diss records used to be like, “F*ck you, buddy….’ We’re living in a friendly culture, man.”
While plenty of commenters agree with Gillie’s take, others much prefer this version of rap beef, as it’s less likely to lead to violence. What do you think of Gillie Da Kid’s take on Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole’s diss tracks? Do you agree that they were corny? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
Dame Dash says he’s disappointed in J Cole for apologizing to Kendrick Lamar for his “7 Minute Drill” diss track. He discussed the short-lived feud during an appearance on America Nu Network, explaining that he means no disrespect with his take. However, he feels the feud was tame and couldn’t believe Cole didn’t feel up for it.
“As a fan, I’m disappointed,” he said. “[…] No disrespect to J. Cole but as a fan, it seemed like he threw up the white flag. I think he was smart on a business level to capitalize and put an album out with the retaliation [‘7 Minute Drill’] and that sh*t did well from [what] I saw. So for business, it was smart to put it out.”
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA – APRIL 7: J. Cole performs during the 2024 Dreamville Music Festival at Dorothea Dix Park on April 7, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Prince Williams/FilmMagic)
Dame continued: “Personally, I wouldn’t have gave seven minutes — pause. I didn’t even hear the whole sh*t. I thought Kendrick assassinated them n****s with the lyrics and the beat was vicious. It seemed like it bugged him so much he that gave him seven minutes but it wasn’t a vicious seven minutes. I don’t want to hear The Simpsons and all that in rap […] Him apologizing was him saying, ‘You won, you the best. I can’t f*ck with you.’ I’m not mad at him. It’s great he can take the high road but what high road? They were f*cking battling. Nothing was said that was too disrespectful. I didn’t hear nothing about kids, n****s ain’t talking about wives so it wasn’t a beef. A beef is when n****s gonna kill each other.” Check out his full take below.
Dame Dash Speaks On J Cole & Kendrick Lamar Feud
Dame Dash expresses disappointment in J. Cole for apologizing to Kendrick Lamar and says J. Cole took an L.
While J Cole bowed out of the feud, Drake fired back with the track, “Push Ups,” last week. Fans are still waiting for Lamar to address that diss. For now, Rick Ross is the only artist Drake named to respond with their own song. Be on the lookout for further updates on Dame Dash and the Kendrick Lamar-Drake feud on HotNewHipHop.
J. Cole had everyone hip-hop fan’s phone blowing up when he dropped a new project out of nowhere. Might Delete Lateris now the German-born MC’s first solo tape since The Off-Season and is essentially full of B-sides and leftovers from the vlog series of the same name. Outside of it being a new release from J. Cole it had the community in a stranglehold because of the diss response to Kendrick Lamar called “7 Minute Drill.” While it was heavily discussed, the consensus seems to be that it felt to be a bit of a stretch and the disses were a little flimsy. Regardless, “7 Minute Drill” still did well for itself because it just peaked pretty high on the Billboard Hot 100.
According to Uproxx, Billboard announced the updated top 10 songs on the Hot 100 chart and the track is poised for a number six debut. This is extremely impressive considering our previous points, but also because Cole just removed the song off streaming a few days ago. Fans have been roasting the peaceful rapper for being just that. But if he did not feel comfortable in releasing it to begin with, you have to commend him for sticking to what he believes in and not buying into what the fans wanted.
In terms of other noteworthy tracks on this updated list, “Like That,” the song which started all of this trading of shots, has now gone number one for three consecutive weeks. “Type S***” by Metro Boomin, Future, Travis Scott, and Playboi Carti is also holding its own in the ninth slot. Furthermore, Beyonce and Jack Harlow are still going strong with their overnight hits “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and “Lovin On Me,” respectively. The only question going forward is, how does Cole feel about deleting the song now?
What are your thoughts on J. Cole debuting at number six with “7 Minute Drill” on the Billboard Hot 100 chart? Is this the best song still off of Might Delete Later, why or why not? Or do these stats not help how inauthentic it was for Cole to make this song? Did he make the right decision deleting the song off the project? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding J. Cole and “7 Minute Drill.” Finally, stay with us for everything else going on around the music world.
It’s an annual marquee event for J. Cole to take the Dreamville Festival stage. It happened last weekend, as expected. Unexpectedly, however, the biggest headline from Cole’s set was an … apology?
Did J. Cole Remove ‘7 Minute Drill’ From Streaming Services?
As of Friday afternoon, April 12, it would appear that Cole made good on his promise. On Apple Music and Spotify, “7 Minute Drill” is still listed on the tracklist of Might Delete Later but unavailable to stream. The song has been removed from J. Cole’s YouTube page entirely.
At Dreamville, Cole explained that he was “so proud” of Might Delete Later, “except for one part,” which is “7 Minute Drill.”
“It’s one part of that sh*t that make me feel like, man, that’s the lamest sh*t I ever did in my f*cking life, right?” Cole said, in part, later adding, “I felt conflicted because I’m like, ‘Bruh, I know I don’t really feel no way.’ But the world wanted to see blood. So, I say all of that to say, in my spirit of trying to get this music out — I ain’t gonna lie to y’all — I moved in a way that, spiritually, feels bad on me.”
He meant that — and he really took Might Delete Later literally.
As of Friday afternoon, April 12, “7 Minute Drill” is no longer available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, or YouTube. The song is still listed on the Might Delete Later tracklist, but it’s grayed out with no option to hit play.
“I’m so proud of that project, except for one part,” Cole said on stage at Dreamville, as captured by HipHopDX. “It’s one part of that sh*t that make me feel like, man, that’s the lamest sh*t I ever did in my f*cking life, right?” After acknowledging that a lot of people don’t want to hear an apology or anything to dilute the perception of rap beef, Cole said, “I damn near had a relapse” because of how much it had been weighing on him.
Read more from Cole’s apology below.
“All of this time of me moving on my own accord, for the first time, I was tested. Why am I tested? Because I got the world and I got my n****s like, ‘What you gonna do, Cole?’ Boy, I must have had a thousand missed calls. Oh, my f*cking God. Texts flooded. I couldn’t even answer my sh*t. ‘N****, it’s wartime!’ N****s wanna see blood.
I was conflicted because, one, I know my heart. You know what I mean? And I know how I feel about my peers. These two n****s that I just been blessed to even stand beside in this game, let alone chase they greatness, so I felt conflicted because I’m like, ‘Bruh, I know I don’t really feel no way.’ But the world wanted to see blood. So I say all of that to say, in my spirit of trying to get this music out — I ain’t gonna lie to y’all — I moved in a way that, spiritually, feels bad on me.
I tried to, like, jab my n**** back, and I tried to keep it friendly. But at the end of the day, when I listen to it and when it comes out and I see the talk, that sh*t don’t make me feel right in my spirit. That sh*t disrupts my f*cking peace. So, what I want to say right here tonight is — in the midst of me doing that and trying to find a little angle and downplay this n****’s f*cking catalog and his greatness — I wanna say here tonight, how many people think Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest motherf*ckers to ever touch a f*cking microphone? Dreamville, y’all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I.”
Over the weekend, J. Cole dropped a surprise new mixtape called Might Delete Later. The project is already proving to live up to its name quicker than fans could have possibly imagined. The tape itself was met with a pretty big shrug from fans and critics as many are still anticipating the next fully realized new album from Cole. Most of the discussion surrounding the record focused on the song “7 Minute Drill” where Cole responded to comments Kendrick Lamar made about him and Drake on the Future & Metro Boomin song “Like That.”
The song was roundly rejected by hip-hop fans for its weak disses and it didn’t take long for Cole to try and backtrack. Just a few days after the album dropped he took the opportunity during his Dreamville festival to apologize for the diss track. Now he’s gone another step further and removed it from the mixtape on streaming services. The closing track to the record is now greyed out on Spotify and unavailable on Apple Music. It had been the most-streamed song on the album on both platforms up to this point. Check out the fan reactions to Cole removing the song below.
Future & Metro Boomin just released their second collaborative album of the year, the fittingly titled WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU. Given that Kendrick dissed Cole on their first project, it was a pretty big surprise to hear Cole deliver a feature on the second. He appears on the song “Red Leather.“ On the track he sings some lyrics that had fans thinking he was addressing the Kendrick situation.
Despite the seemingly relevant lyrics it’s unclear specifically when the song was recorded and if it was before or after the situation. What do you think of J. Cole removing “7 Minute Drill” from streaming services? Do you think moving on from the diss as fast as possible was the right move? Let us know in the comment section below.
cant stop a man on his walk with God
(@ClawWRLD) 
America Nu Network/YouTube) 
