J. Cole has been called out by some for what they feel was “ducking” the beef with Kendrick Lamar, but Trae Tha Truth disagrees.
Talking to AllHipHop at the 2024 BET Awards, Trae spoke about Cole’s choice to bow out of the ‘Big 3’ beef with K.Dot after initially dropping (then retracting) a diss – and he felt it was a necessary move.
“One thing, man, I know he probably wouldn’t want me to say, but I’m going to clarify: I watch blogs and I watch headlines make it as if he [Cole] was just trying to get away or duck any type of situation,” Trae said. “And that wasn’t the case. What people have to realize is that’s just not the type of energy bro got. You know what I’m saying? He focused on him, he focused on his kids and just always stayed in his lane.”
He continued: “So everybody wanted to see him rumble and not knowing a lot of us came up together. We partners. So for me, being a real brother to him, you got to respect if somebody like, ‘Man, you know what, bro? I know I’m dope. I’m not questioning myself. I just feel like that’s just not the energy that I’m on.’”
T.I. had a similar sentiment about J. Cole’s decision to apologize to Kendrick Lamar after dissing him on “7 Minute Drill.”
During an interview on Big Boy’s Neighborhood in May, the Atlanta rapper weighed in on the brief battle between K.Dot and Cole, which the latter controversially bowed out of.
“I feel he chose peace and tranquility,” Tip said with a laugh when asked about Cole’s divisive apology. “You gotta have thick skin and really be unfazed and unbothered. 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.”
The Trap Muzik rapper added added: “I think that was quite mature of him.”
Black Thought also recently praised J. Cole for apologizing to Kendrick live on stage at his Dreamville Festival.
Appearing on the This Week in White Supremacy podcast earlier this month, The Roots MC said: “Though I hadn’t heard any of the music, I thought it was a beautiful thing. That was what was unprecedented.
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“What we’ve seen, time and time again since the ’80s, are MCs going back and forth, like battling out. Sometimes they keep it to the record, sometimes it gets physical and it gets crazy.”
He continued: “What we’ve yet to see is somebody nip that in the bud, right? That’s what I felt like he was in effect doing. It just showed humility, nobility and a sense of elevation that you don’t see too often across the board.
“When the plane’s going down, you gotta situate your own oxygen mask first. He’s been on a trajectory of just that, self-revelation, and investing in himself.”
