J. Cole's Apology to Kendrick Lamar
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Overview
J. Cole's Apology to Kendrick Lamar refers to rapper J. Cole apologizing to fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar at the Dreamville Festival in April 2024, concerning J. Cole's diss track "7 Minute Drill" that was aimed at Kendrick Lamar. The event and viral video inspired numerous reactions and memes on social media in the following week, centering on the beef between the two rappers, including others in the business like Drake and Future.
Background
On October 6th, 2023, J. Cole was featured on Drake's album For All The Dogs on the track "First Person Shooter."[1] In his verse, he said, "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 Muhammad Ali." K-Dot referenced Kendrick Lamar and Aubrey referenced Drake. In the verse, J. Cole suggested that he was the best MC out of all three.[2]
On March 22nd, 2024, Kendrick Lamar was featured on producer Metro Boomin's album WE DON'T TRUST YOU on the track "Like That."[3] In his verse, he responded to J. Cole's claim, saying, among other bars, "Fuck sneak dissin', first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches… Motherfuck the big three, nigga, it's just big me." Lamar was responding to J. Cole, seemingly taking offense to his verse on "First Person Shooter" in which he claimed that he was the best MC.[4]
On April 5th, 2024, J. Cole released his album Might Delete Later which included the song "7 Minute Drill" as the last track on the album.[5] The diss track was aimed at Kendrick Lamar, evident in lyrics like, "I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissin' / You want some attention, it come with extensions," among others.[6]
YouTuber and music reviewer Anthony Fantano posted a video[7] about "7 Minute Drill" on April 5th in which he speculated that Cole didn't want to release the track. Fantano believed that Cole likely wanted to make a public statement addressing Lamar's diss, saying that he didn't want to diss Lamar and meant no offense by his verse on "First Person Shooter," but because of the climate of rap, he felt the need to respond aggressively instead.
On April 7th, 2024, J. Cole was on stage at the Dreamville Festival which was broadcast live on Amazon Music. X[8] user @Glock_Topickz tweeted a video of Cole backtracking on his diss track "7 Minute Drill," saying, among many things, “I just want to come up here and publicly be like, bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest shit."[9] The video received over 1.9 million views and 4,900 likes in a day (shown below).
J.Cole speaks on his response to Kendrick and says it hasn’t felt good or right with his spirit, calling his own response “corny” and telling Kendrick to return his best shot if he feels a way pic.twitter.com/jan2jctfk9
— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) April 8, 2024
The video also went viral when it was posted by other X[10] accounts on April 7th, 2024, furthering its virality online.
Online Reaction
J. Cole's apology inspired numerous viral reactions in the days that followed, such as a post shared by X[11] user @ayeejuju on April 7th, 2024, who said, "j cole already apologized to kendrick LMFAOOOOO," gaining over 69,000 likes in a day (shown below, left).
X[12] user @KdotJohnson_ tweeted a list on April 7th outlining different blights in J. Cole's career, receiving over 31,000 likes in a day (shown below, right).
Discourse also ensued on Reddit on April 7th when Redditor[13] PickMeUpForeIDrown started a thread on /r/fantanoforever about J. Cole's apology, receiving over 580 upvotes in a day. On the same day, Redditor[14] Life_Ad_2218 shared a post about the apology to /r/hiphopheads, gaining over 5,700 upvotes in a day.
TikTokers also joined the conversation, like TikToker[15] @thinkpiecetribe2 on April 7th, 2024, who showed disbelief over J. Cole's apology, gaining over 917,200 plays and 150,600 likes in a day (shown below, left).
Also on April 7th, TikToker[16] @ogmaroo posted a video making fun of J. Cole's apology, using the audio from a Druski sketch, earning over 206,500 plays and 51,100 likes in a day (shown below, right).
@thinkpiecetribe2 CUT THE MUSIC!! DID J COLE JUST APLOGIZE TO KENDRICK???!!!😭😭😭😭😭…#fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Thinkpiece Tribe
@ogmaroo Jcole cant be a part of any big 3 anymore, his time is done😭 #fyp #viral #trending #rap #jcole #kendricklamar #diss ♬ original sound – DRUSKI
Various Reactions
Drake waking up this morning realizing that J.Cole waved the white flag and now he has to face Kendrick all by himself: pic.twitter.com/ydgZTAmGzV
— Cawb (@CAWBBBB) April 8, 2024
j cole during those 2 days https://t.co/IpTpYLEYG0 pic.twitter.com/v0CzD9zSnf
— isaiah✰ (@tlop444) April 8, 2024
@karaithedj As much i am disappointed, i aint mad at what he did🌍 cant stop a man on his walk with God🙏🏾 #fyp #memes #jcoletok #hiphop ♬ original sound – Karai The Curator🎧
@probably_not_chris2 WHAT WAS BRO COOKING????/Twitter: prblynotchris
♬ original sound – Probably_Not_Chris2
Search Interest
Unavailable.
External References
[1] YouTube – First Person Shooter
[2] Genius – First Person Shooter
[5] YouTube – 7 Minute Drill
[6] Genius – 7 Minute Drill
[7] YouTube – J. Cole Responded and It's Bad
[8] X – @Glock_Topickz
[9] Variety – J. Cole Says He Regrets Kendrick Lamar Diss: ‘The Past Two Days Felt Terrible’
[12] X – @KdotJohnson_
[13] Reddit – /r/fantanoforever
[14] Reddit – /r/hiphopheads
[15] TikTok – @thinkpiecetribe2
![Kevin Finnerty @timeimmemorial_ kendrick Subscribe ... j cole Next time you see my face, show some respect. 10:23 AM Apr 8, 2024 • 42K Views [stammering] I'm sorry!](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/790/547/6dd.png "J. Cole's Apology to Kendrick Lamar meme")
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