J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar Went Toe-to-Toe Through Their Music — the Rap Beef Explained

Gen Z may give Millenials the blues about, well, everything, but what they can never take away from us is the nights of partying in our blazers and leggings to 2010-era J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. Along with their fellow "Big Three" member, Drake, they became the voices of Tumblr and Twitter quotes, as well as the soundtrack to anything from heartbreak to needing to know "we gon' be alright."

J. Cole and Kendrick's careers have soared in the last decade, each earning wealth, elite status in the music industry, and two of rap's most admired artists. With their similar trajectories, Cole and Kendrick wouldn't have any issues getting along. Alas, the rappers lyrically duked it out for nearly a year before one finally decided to put his differences aside.

While Kendrick's beef with other rappers, namely Drake, has gone on since 2013, J. Cole stayed on Kendrick's good side until October 2023. On Oct. 6, Drake released his album, For All the Dogs, which featured J.Cole. During their duet, "First Person Shooter," Drake and Cole reflected on being a part of rap's current "Big Three" along with Kendrick. Cole was heard giving Kendrick his props in the song.

“Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K. Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?" Cole said in the song. "We the big three, like we started a league.”

While Cole and Drake felt they were congratulating themselves and Kendrick, their peer didn't feel the same way. In March 2024, Kendrick appeared on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That," where he threw shots at the duo, stating, "Yeah get up with me, f--k sneak dissing / ‘First Person Shooter,’ I hope they came with three switches, Motherf---er the Big Three, n---a, it’s just big me.”

The back-to-back disses caused an online uproar, reviving many "Kendrick vs. J. Cole" debates and deep dives into the rappers' talents. The tension continued in April 2024 when Cole surprised his fans with his project, Might Delete Later. On the final song of the project, "7 Minute Drill," Cole made shady remarks about Kendrick's career, suggesting he "fell off like The Simpsons" and said he was "averagin’ one hard verse like every thirty months or somethin’." Cole also promised to "humble" the Compton native if needed.

“If he wasn’t dissin’, then we wouldn’t be discussin’ him," he said of Kendrick. "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.”

J. Cole's diss towards Kendrick continued fanning the flames of their feud during Might Delete Later's opening weekend. On Sunday, April 7, the "Paper Cuts" rapper addressed the track during his Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, N.C. At the festival, he explained that while he was "so proud" of his project, he wished he hadn't dissed Kendrick and left their issues alone.

"It’s one part of that s--t that makes me feel like, man, that’s the lamest s--t I did in my f----n’ life, right? And I know this is not what a lot of people want to hear.”

J. Cole said he released the diss against Kendrick after feeling "conflicted" about responding to Kendrick for the fans and, admittedly, "I don’t even feel no way" about his rap peer, per Variety. He also claimed he wouldn't have said anything if he didn't feel the rest of the world wanted the feud to happen.

The world wanna see blood," J.Cole said on the stage. "I don’t know if y’all can feel that, but the world wanna see blood.”

J. Cole ended his apology to Kendrick by confirming he loves Kendrick, telling fans, "Dreamville, y’all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I." He then considered his diss track one of the " lamest, goofiest shit" he's done and said it reminded him of his past actions during his rise to fame. J. Cole added he "felt terrible" after seeing the response to his song and encouraged Kendrick to react however he see fit.

"I pray that my n---a really didn’t feel no way and if he did, my n---a, I got my chin out," he said. "Take your best shot, I’ma take that shit on the chin boy, do what you do. All good. It’s love. And I pray that y’all are like, forgive a n—a for the misstep and I can get back to my true path. Because I ain’t gonna lie to y’all. The past two days felt terrible. It let me know how good I’ve been sleeping for the past 10 years.”

Kendrick has yet to share his take on his longtime peer's actions, which may or may not be a good thing. On one hand, K.Dot could be willing to leave Cole alone, but there's a more likely chance he's cooking something up in the studio. Let's hope it's the first option!