J. Cole Says Dissing Kendrick Lamar Is 'Lamest' Thing He's Done

J. Cole says dissing Kendrick Lamar is the “lamest” thing he’s ever done during his closing set at the 2024 Dreamville Festival in North Carolina.

J. Cole Says Dissing Kendrick Lamar Is Lame

On Sunday (April 7), J. Cole ran through a few of his biggest hits during his headlining performance at the 2024 Dreamville Festival. Before his closing song, the rapper also took a moment to address the speculation surrounding his Kendrick Lamar diss track “7 Minute Drill.”

Before diving into his 2014 Forest Hills Drive track “Love Yourz,” Cole said there was “one part” of his new project, Might Delete Later, that didn’t sit right with him.

“I been following my dream and heading to The Fall Off in the way I wanted to do it,” Cole said. “I put out this project on Friday called Might Delete Later. I don’t know how many people checked it out or whatever. I swear to God, I’m so proud of that project because I know one: it’s just a lead up. It’s just the EP that leads me up to this thing that I’ve been working on for a long time and I know the work it took to get to a certain type of skill level and I love this s**t so that s**t mean a lot to me, right?”

He continued, “So, I’m so proud of that project except for one part. There’s one part of that s**t that make me feel like, ‘Man, that’s the lamest s**t I ever did in my f***ing life,’ right? And I know this is not what a lot of people wanna hear. I can hear my n***as up there being like, ‘Nah, don’t do that.’ But I gotta keep it a hunnid with y’all.”

Cole went on to call “7 Minute Drill” a “relapse” from his “peace.” The MC admits he has nothing but love for Kendrick Lamar.

“I was conflicted because I know my heart and I know how I feel about my peers,” Cole shared. “These two n***as [Kendrick Lamar and Drake] that I’ve been blessed to stand beside in the game, let alone chase they greatness. So, I felt conflicted, because I know I really don’t feel no 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’m not even gonna lie to y’all, I moved in a way that I feel spiritually feel bad on. Like, I tried to jab my n***a back and I tried to keep it friendly.”

Cole added, “But at the end of the day, when I listen to it…and I see the talk, that s**t don’t sit right with my spirit. That s**t disrupts my f***ing peace…in the midst of me doing that…and trying to find a little angle and downplay this n***a’s f***ing catalog and his greatness. I wanna say right now tonight, how many people think Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest muthaf**kas that ever touched a f***ing microphone? Dreamville, y’all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I.”

“So, I just want to come up here and be like, publicly be like, bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest s**t…,” he expressed.

Cole concluded by asking that people pray to “forgive a n***a for a misstep” and said the “past two days felt terrible” before closing out his show.

J. Cole Disses Kendrick Lamar on “7 Minute Drill”

J. Cole shocked everyone when he returned with his new project, Might Delete Later, last week. The 12-song release closed out with the song “7 Minute Drill,” which many people believed is a response to Kendrick Lamar’s incendiary bars on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” from their We Don’t Trust You album.

Kendrick Lamar had called out Drake and Cole, denouncing their rap talent and declaring himself as the game’s top dog. Cole fired back and dissed K-Dot’s entire catalog on “7 Minute Drill” as well as Kendrick’s performances. Drake has yet to respond to Kung Fu Kenny’s bars, but he made some cryptic Instagram posts dedicated to his opps last week.