J. Cole has been haunted by his apology to Kendrick Lamar for the past couple of years. All of this stemmed from Kendrick taking exception to the ‘Big 3’ label in 2024. When Cole and Drake embraced it on “First Person Shooter”, it unraveled a decade-plus-long cold war. The North Carolina rapper found himself squarely in the middle of it all. Initially, he released “7 Minute Drill,” littered with some particularly mild shots towards Kendrick. However, not long afterwards, he took his Dreamville Festival stage to plead for forgiveness. Afterwards, the yearlong flogging of Drake took place.
Fans found all of this especially lame and ridiculous in the aftermath. They couldn’t fathom a top-tier rapper tucking his tail when there was room for beef. Two years later, J. Cole finally responded with a fresh set of raps.
With the release of an EP of freestyles titled Birthday Blizzard ’26, he admitted that the infamous apology led him to be promptly removed from ‘Big 3’ consideration. However, Cole looked at all of this as a chance for redemption. He cheekily gestures towards The Fall-Off and how he needed to hit a low in order to surge again.
J. Cole Finally Addresses Kendrick Lamar Apology In New Freestyle
“I used to be top, see, the apology dropped me way out of the top 3. No problem, I’m probably my best when they doubt me,” Cole raps. “The top ain’t really what I thought it would be, so I jumped off and landed back at the bottom and restarted at a level where I wasn’t regarded as much, just to climb past them again and tell them all to keep up.”
All of this amped up the excitement for what might potentially be the final J. Cole album. But this doesn’t mean he didn’t still have his fair share of critics along the way. Fat Joe questioned Cole’s legitimacy and real stake towards top-tier status after the debacle. Ultimately, he just shrugged to fellow legend and his podcast co-host Jadakiss, “he didn’t come outside, Jada.”
Meanwhile, Lil Pump certainly had a lot less to say, calling it “some soft a** s***.” Then, he compared it to his own past to claim J. Cole has a history of being a “f***ing p****.” “And then he kept going after that. “I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m 17 years old and you 40-something,” Pump said. “And then you let in a 17-year-old get under your skin? That means I’m doing something right with you.”
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