J. Cole has expressed regret for releasing his Kendrick Lamar diss, “7 Minute Drill,” while addressing the crowd during a headlining performance at his Dreamville Festival in North Carolina on Sunday (April 7).
The rapper placed the song last on his surprise new project “Might Delete Later,” which arrived on April 5. On the track, he responded to Lamar’s guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” where Lamar fired shots at Drake and J. Cole for designating him as part of “the big three.”
“I’m so proud of [‘Might Delete Later’], except for one part,” said Cole. “It’s one part of that shit that makes me feel like, man that’s the lamest shit I did in my fuckin’ life, right? And I know this is not what a lot of people want to hear.”
He continued by stating that he felt pressured to publicly respond to Lamar after witnessing the discourse it incited. “I was conflicted because, one I know my heart 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 ’cause I’m like, bruh I don’t even feel no way. But the world wanna see blood. I don’t know if y’all can feel that, but the world wanna see blood.”
Cole explained that releasing the diss “spiritually [felt] bad on me,” and “that shit don’t sit right with my spirit.” “That shit disrupts my fuckin’ peace. So what I want to say right here tonight is in the midst of me doing that and in that shit, trying to find a little angle and downplay this n—a’s fucking catalog and his greatness, I want to say right now tonight, how many people think Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest motherfucker’s to ever touch a fuckin’ microphone? Dreamville, y’all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I.
“So,” he continued, “I just want to come up here and publicly be like, bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest shit. I say all that to say it made me feel like 10 years ago when I was moving incorrectly. And I pray that god will line me back up on my purpose and on my path, I pray that my n—a really didn’t feel no way and if he did, my n—a, I got my chin out. Take your best shot, I’ma take that shit on the chin boy, do what you do. All good. It’s love. And I pray that y’all are like, forgive a n—a for the misstep and I can get back to my true path. Because I ain’t gonna lie to y’all. The past two days felt terrible. It let me know how good I’ve been sleeping for the past 10 years.”
Lamar’s beef with Cole and Drake stems from “First Person Shooter,” a duet between the two included on Drake’s 2023 album “For All the Dogs.” On it, Cole rapped, “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.” On “Like That,” Lamar uncharacteristically fired back, getting right to the point: “Yeah get up with me, fuck sneak dissing / ‘First Person Shooter,’ I hope they came with three switches,” he stated. “Motherfuck the big three, n—a, it’s just big me.”
While Cole may feel some regret over his diss, Drake has only vaguely acknowledged the verse while speaking to a crowd on his current tour. “A lot of people asking me how I’m feeling. The way I’m feeling is the same way I want you to walk out of here feeling tonight about your fucking self,” he said. “Because you know how I’m feeling? I got my head up high, my back straight, I’m 10 fucking toes down, and feeling like anywhere else I go, and I know no matter what, there’s not a n—a on this Earth that can ever fuck with me in my life.”