J. Cole’s Kendrick Lamar Diss Explained

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And just like that, hip-hop has what appears to be a heavyweight scuffle on its hands as J. Cole fired back at Kendrick Lamar on "7 Minute Drill" from his surprise project Might Delete Later.

On Friday (April 5), Cole responded to K-Dot's diss from Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That" in stunning fashion. Kendrick had the rap world buzzing after shading J. Cole and Drake a couple weeks ago on the track and shutting down any idea of a Big Three with the now-famous quip, "Muthaf**k the big three, n***a/It's just big me." Some people were calling it cleary the best verse of 2024 and wondered how long it would be before fans got a response from Cole. It looks like the Dreamville head honcho is ready to rumble.

On Cole's T-Minus, Conductor Williams, Al Hug and Elyas-produced track, he drastically slights Kendrick's hype with hard-hitting lines. There's even an Easter Egg from the Jay-Z and Nas battle.

THE LYRICS

Chorus

Light work like it's PWC
It's a cold world, keep the heat under your seat
I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissin'
You want some attention, it come with extensions
My dog like, "Say the word," he on bulls**t, he itchin'
Done put in so much work in these streets, he got pension
I told him chill out, how I look havin' henchman?
If shots get to poppin', I'm the one doin' the clenchin'

Verse 1

I came up in the 'Ville, so I'm good when it's tension
He still doin' shows, but fell off like the Simpsons
Your first shit was classic, your last s**t was tragic
Your second shit put n***as to sleep, but they gassed it
Your third s**t was massive and that was your prime
I was trailin' right behind and I just now hit mine
Now I'm front of the line with a comfortable lead
How ironic, soon as I got it, now he want somethin' with me
Well, he caught me at the perfect time, jump up and see
Boy, I got here off of bars, not no controversy
Funny thing about it, b***h, I don't even want the prestige
F**k the Grammys 'cause them crackers ain't never done nothin' for me, h*e
Slugs took my n***a's soul, drugs took another one
The rap beef ain't realer than the s**t I seen in Cumberland
He averagin' one hard verse like every 30 months or somethin'
If he wasn't dissin', then we wouldn't be discussin' him
Lord, don't make me have to smoke this n***a 'cause I f**k with him
But push come to shove, on this mic, I will humble him
I'm Nino with this thing, this that New Jack City meme
Yeah, I'm aimin' at G-Money, cryin' tears before I bust at him

Verse 2

I got mixed feelings 'bout these fu**in' rap n***as
It's over for that cap, we official cap peelers
Two-six, we don't at n***as, we get at n***as
Shoot a n***a lights out, yeah, my dogs stat fillers
Stat stuffers, triple-double, get your a*s black duffled
Body bag, body bag, body bag
Cole World your instructor for pilates class
Get a n***a stretched if I feel the disrespect, uh
Your arms might be too short to box with the god
Who live his life without the pressures of a constant facade
I pray for peace, but if a n***a cease these positive vibes
A Falcon 9 inside my pocket, b***h, this rocket gon' fly
Now it's poppin' outside like the top of July
My text flooded with the hunger for a toxic reply
I'm hesitant, I love my brother, but I'm not gonna lie
I'm powered up for real, that s**t would feel like swattin' a fly
Four albums in 12 years, n***a, I can divide
S**t, if this is what you want, I'm indulgin' in violence
Put pictures in my home, aim the chrome at your eyelids
Fly pebbles at your dome, we the Stone Temple Pilots
This is merely a warning shot to back n***as down
Back in the town where they whippin' work and traffickin' pounds
My jack jumpin' 'bout a rapper makin' blasphemous sounds
Switchin' sides like the tassel on the cap and the gown
I'm fully loaded, n***a, I can drop two classics right now

The Breakdown of J. Cole's Lyrics

Despite not naming K-Dot, J. Cole leaves no doubt as to who he is talking about. Cole acknowledges Kendrick is still active on the touring circuit, but takes jabs at the rapper's relevance and musical output.

"He still doin' shows, but fell off like the Simpsons/Your first s**t was classic, your last s**t was tragic/Your second s**t put n***as to sleep, but they gassed it/Your third s**t was massive and that was your prime," Cole snaps. He's referencing Kendrick's albums Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN. and Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers.

Cole continues by shading Kendrick's ratio of fire bars and talks about his reluctance to diss Kendrick because they're cool.

"He averagin' one hard verse like every 30 months or somethin'/If he wasn't dissin', then we wouldn't be discussin' him/Lord, don't make me have to smoke this n***a 'cause I f**k with him."

Cole taps into a Hov line from the 2001 song "The Takeover" to prove the same point.

"Four albums in 12 years, n***a, I can divide/S**t, if this is what you want, I'm indulgin' in violence," Cole delivers.

Jay-Z's line from his own track is: "Four albums in 10 years n***a? I can divide/That's one every let's say two, two of them s**ts was due."

The Response From Fans

The fans' responses to J. Cole's scathing diss have been mixed.

"Let’s be real y’all only fw Kendrick Lamar diss because of metro beat, J Cole literally killed this man bar for bar," one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted.

"People saying J Cole washed Kendrick Lamar are the same people that would say Big Foot was better than Hiss," another tweet reads.

"The Kendrick Lamar vs J Cole beef is destroying my marriage," someone else posted

"Diss aside who will win a rap battle between J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar?" someone else questioned.

It's a question some fans have been wondering for a while now. And it looks like everyone is finally about to find out. Get the popcorn ready.

Listen to J. Cole's Kendrick Lamar diss "7 Minute Drill" below.

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