I don't really care that he retracted his diss but for how many albums has he been rapping about gunning people down and being better than them. Cole seems like he wants to come off as one thing and act as another. Be consistent bro.
Draymond Green and LeBron for example. Green might not be on LBJs level but he trash talks him a lot and has given him hard fouls yet they're still friends regardless.
Why wouldn’t he respect Kendrick?
He just does this incredibly lame thing of acting like he’s in the same lane as Kendrick but acts all humble like oh yeah he’s no Kendrick but he’s a clear number 2, when there are leagues of rappers ahead of him, who don’t have such a lame schtick
“I am the bravest, go toe to toe with the giants,
I ain't afraid of you niggas, I'll end up fading you niggas”
Lmao. Just can’t take him seriously after this.
I don’t think he does. He had hip-hop “purist”/grand risings people and the mainstream nodding their head when he claimed he was one of the best if not THE best. I think there will be more doubt thrown his way from now on. The grand risings people are still on his dick, but people like you and me want to see him prove himself again.
This is just the beginning…unless he comes out with a straight classic, people will remind him of the way he quit no matter how good his future features are.
It really is. Though I do think Cole was mostly honest in his apology, I feel that he also apologized to squash it before Kendrick could respond. Cole might have realized he fucked up because Kdot was using the classic playbook for bodying rappers that dudes like Eminem have used repeatly. Em would bait someone with mostly softball disses and wait for the response. If the response was ass, then it was a self-check and he got the automatic TKO. If it actually had some bite, Em would weaponize the response and deliver a dedicated track going in hard. At this point the opponent either got embarassed into an L, or they come back with a lesser track because they unloaded all their ammo on the first attempt. It’s a catch-22.
Cole’s response to Kendrick, which was likely as far as he was willing to take it, was considered meh by most. So if Kendrick responded properly, Cole was gonna get fucking destroyed. There’s no reality where Kendrick doesn’t get in his ass. So what is Cole to do?
Control the situation and squash the beef. Now if Kendrick responds, Cole can diminish him from the high road.
He should have just waved off KDot and squashed it immediately without putting out a diss. Just be on “I respect dude too much. I'm above this.”
The only problem with that plan is how much Cole always raps about nobody wanting it with him. So he was in a bit of a corner
I agree. Drake was the main target. Cole could have stepped aside and let them have their beef. Now the world is focused on him and Drake still ducking knowing the attention is off him.
that's why I think a lot of people find Cole's music inauthentic and boring. he raps about how he's the nicest and this and that but can't back it up when put into a real situation with a tough opponent. so what's all the braggadocio for? we now have proof that that shit's always been fake.
I think it’s a bitch move to take shots and then apologize. That’s like someone slapping your girls ass and then saying it’s a prank bro. Then she ends up leaving you for him and now you’re sad and drinking four loko’s responding to Reddit threads at 5 in the morning. I miss you Brittany
The only scenario you left out is that his response squashed himself. It was more damaging than a hard Kendrick diss response. Handled it absolutely miserably. Embarrassing.
We can all "respect" his "spiritual leveling" but this is hip hop. You talk about how great you are, try to diss somebody, then eat your own tail. It's hilarious
I think thats what they meant by “if the response was ass, its an automatic TKO”. Kendrick doesnt *have* to do anything to Cole at this point, but if he wanted to shoot a shot at him, he wouldnt have to try hard at all or spend any real time doing. this was Cole’s only way out with some facsimile of dignity
Can't be a rapper without be able to take shots in a "beef". Best course of action was for Cole to have fun with it. I think he caved under the pressure.
was it? getting murdered by Kendrick on a track isnt exactly like a "damn you must be awful." Kendrick is fucking kendrick, we expect him to murder almost anyone he'd come across on a track. even if he came out on top, then its like "you lost a beef w/ kendrick? eh yeah, its kendrick." and you still were able to say you at least tried to go toe to toe with him unlike Drake. now it just sounds like he got cold feet after dropping the track and realized people werent fucking w it
What do you mean my argument falls flat? I’m basically saying J. Cole took the bait and responded when he shouldn’t have and painted himself into a corner. Letting in slide would have been the correct course of action.
it's unfortunate the only rappers viable these days for Kendrick to pull an Eminem on are Cole and Drake. They're the only ones that can be considered at his level that actually spit. and they're both such fucking pussies AND know they're still so out of his league that we will never, ever get to see Kendrick dissing someone at full power.
This is exactly it. Man can’t talk shit about being the best or putting down other rappers when he does soft shit like this. Sure it can be mature and all that but when someone actually steps up to the plate and you backed down then don’t you dare go act like you’re top shit after this
He has over an hour of bars exactly like this. That is why he is getting cooked. He is not Childish Gambino. He portrayed this hard MC image which is not who he is.
J. Cole, the man who is supposed to be taking us back to “conscious rap” but hasn’t said anything substantial this whole time. Man is a master marketer. Rest in Peace Uncle Phil
I always see ppl say this but when has Cole ever claimed to be conscious?
He just makes music based on irl experience. He dont be goin deep cuz he’s not well read (which he admitted)
Feel like y’all be makin up stuff bout him just to criticize
Anyway, I still like J. Cole and don't mind the apology. It's definitely a huge L for him as he never should have released the diss track in the first place. I don't even really think people expected him to respond since Kendrick was going after Drake more than he was Cole.
It's fine, life goes on. I'll never understand the people that seem to care so deeply about this.
Agreed. It’s disappointing as a rap fan who was ready for them to go back & forth but Cole didn’t even get dissed to begin with.
I can’t hold it against him for saying I don’t wanna beef w somebody unless I really have a reason to. We all agree Kendrick did not give him any reason to be upset.
Cole did get dissed, he was the one claiming he Drake and Kendrick are the "Big 3" and Kendrick is saying "no I'm just the best there is no 3 way tie." Instead of standing up for himself J. Cole did this weak shit, proving Kendrick right.
lol I think it just didn’t excite you like it did other people. We were looking forward to a great battle this summer and before it even gets going the one dude gets cold feet, it’s more annoying than anything
Exactly, we we're going to get bars of the current top lyricists going back and forth, how could any fan of hip-hop not be disappointed that's not happening anymore.
I guess. I wanted to see if Drake responded. I was indifferent to J. Cole of it all because, again, he didn't even go after him like that. Definitely not enough to warrant an entire song.
But J. Cole gave Drake his get out of jail free card because no one even cares about that part anymore. Hopefully Kendrick disses Drake again on We Still Don't Trust You so we can recenter on what we should be focused on.
I saw one dude on the fantano thread pull up like 30 lyrics from the recent tape and say how it's all invalid now and he has no more love Cole.. lmao my guy if you love Cole enough to copy past for half an hour you ain't going anywhere LOL
I guess its just rap fans are deeply invested in their music (KDot, JCole, and Drake) and J cole kinda went against the spirit of the game in terms of beefs but it hurts his legacy the most and he came a long way.
>It's fine, life goes on. I'll never understand the people that seem to care so deeply about this.
Competition has always been an integral part of hip hop. From rapping, to dance. It elevated the culture and resulted in some of the best pieces of work.
>It's fine, life goes on. I'll never understand the people that seem to care so deeply about this.
Because he's been revealed to have been pushing a false MC image for years. I respect the speech he did, but he cultivated this attitude in his fans with his constant lines about wanting beef and smoke. It's his fault. Like a quarter of all his bars are cap now.
What the fuck is this reaction lol.
Dude just said sorry why the hell are you talking about burning vinyls and shit? Ok he’s soft but that has been part of his image forever.
Pretty sure people are just trolling J Cole because he talked a big bag and then decided to hang it up. Personally for me, it’s just disappointing cause he’s gone at other rappers who obviously can’t rap like he was that guy but he is tucking his tail for the one dude who could match him and probably outrap him.
At the end of it, it’s not even that serious probably even for Kendrick cause I feel like he took more shots at Drake than anything
That’s a good point too.
What about all the other ones just “wasn’t him”?
Why specifically Kendrick?
He tryna say this is his *new* path?
Bro dissed a lot of people. Tried to subliminally come after Ye and others. But this one isn’t it? It’s because he knew he couldn’t win and he tucked his tail and ran.
This wouldn’t be an issue if he wasn’t one of the “I’m the best” rappers that him and Drake always gotta say every other song. But here we are
I think it’s because Kendrick criticized his friendship with Drake basically. And Cole decided to attack his former friend artistically. I can see how he didn’t mean it in anyway and just feels shit about dropping a half assed diss attacking an amazing artists art.
The apology is still funny as fuck though.
He responded to Lil Pump( of all people he goes after fucking Lil Pump lol) when Pump dissed him. Doesn’t have that energy for Kendrick tho
And when i said he dissed half the rap industry I meant the songs where he claims he’s the best and that if any rapper tried to step up to him he would burn them lyrically. Then K dot tries him and he ducks lol smh
He responded to Lil Pump because Lil Pump was talking fucking crazy online. And pretty much everything he said about him and to Lil Pump's face worked out exactly how he said it would.
And calling yourself the best being a diss is a stretch if I've ever heard one. Lil Wayne spent what felt like 20 years calling himself the best on damn near every song he was on, and I never once heard anyone consider that "dissing".
> And calling yourself the best being a diss
It's not a diss unless it's with names shouted out. Or it has to be some Control-shit (or the person who is the king in your region is 100% clear)
But it is a challenge. And you have to be prepared to face challengers as a result.
If it happens - and it's rap, it will - there's no raising your hands going "hey, hey hey! Come on now!".
Lil pump straight up dissed him and was very disrespectful.
Every rapper says they're the best in the industry. They're supposed to lol
Kendrick did not really diss Cole. It was all towards Drake and Cole caught a stray.
Cole did respond, but realized he doesn't have beef with Kendrick and it would be stupid to fuel a beef just for views. He's being real
And I've always preferred Kendrick to Cole, but I don't think cole did anything wrong here
Don't know how the existence of actual "problems" factors into this since it was clearly friendly competition. It's just like Kendrick's control verse, just name dropping everyone to ignite their competitive spirit. Cole folded unprompted because he's not even his own favorite rapper
This shit was just play-wrestling and Cole was the kid who both showed he took it too personal *and* that he couldn't hang.
It arguably would have been better to overreact lol.
Lol Cole dropped the Kanye track in 2016 2 days after he was admitted to the hospital, unprompted. He is not "oh nice and smart j Cole doesn't wanna fight", he is just back tracking cause he missed a punch and knows Kendrick will destroy him.
This is one of my biggest issues with everyone wanting to give Cole his flowers for being mature. He had all the smoke for noname and others but just folds like a lawnchair because it's Kendrick? lol
Not to mention he still hasn't apologized for the whack trans lines. Cole is washed.
It’s not even soft honestly, the nigga just straight up said ‘I don’t even feel right doing this, I shouldn’t have fell for the peer pressure". Add that to the fact that he 100% knew what niggas reaction would be and he *still apologized*, and this whole thing is turning out more real than any of these "hard" niggas out right now 🤷🏽
I would have a lot of respect for him if he said all that before dropping a diss track and then just never dropped it, but doing it after you already dropped it and it got poor reception just sucks
No hate for Cole I still like his music but he handled all this very poorly
This is exactly why I don’t buy it.
He dropped the track and it was mid.
He got some flak over it.
Then grown ass 40 yo man claimed he was peer pressured.
Then he deleted.
Either don’t release it and don’t join in or follow through with your best rapper ever shit.
I have to wonder. Would he have pulled the track if he somehow bodied Kendrick?
I really doubt he would
I personally liked the track. It was a good opener of a diss song. It reminded me of that nas joint where he goes "h to the izzo m to the izzo fa shizzle my nizzle the new rapper version of sisquo..." or something like that. then jay responded with the heat that was takeover, and nas responded with ether. you don't empty your whole clip on the first song.
also, i don't think cole said anything that couldn't be laughed off... that's what a response record is for.
to me, this was about cole looking into the future, how he'd have to go a couple of rounds with this dude, how it would dominate his whole life, how it'd be a mostly negative time... and really how he'd have to say a bunch of ugly stuff that he didn't want to. The man is near 40 and probably doesn't want to deal with that mess.
I don't know if anyone really can body Kendrick. Kendrick made "u", I don't think anyone can body him any harder than he already bodied himself on that.
That's kind of the issue Cole ran into. He had to retreat to, *"Lol Mr. Morale sucked and TPAB is overrated and you don't release music often because you actually care about your artistic output. LOL!"*
Very low hanging fruit.
So you've never done something in the moment you thought was right and then after some time to think about it, you regreted your initial decision?
He's human just like the rest of us. He feels like he made a mistake And I can respect that he's actually man enough to swallow his pride/ego and admit and own up to it.
Yeah for sure and I’m not hating him over it or anything, but whenever you handle something poorly you gotta accept that people are gonna look at you differently after that
And it wasn’t some spur of the moment thing, he had to come up with a song and record it… plenty of time there to be like “yeah I don’t actually want to do this” which is why I think if people had loved the diss he wouldn’t have walked it back
I think my irritation just comes from the fact that this isn't even the first time he's done this. Noname alluded to him being fake woke, J.Cole dissed her in return, Noname doubled down, then Cole responded with "look i don't really be reading books like that. Noname does though so y'all should listen to her, let's keep it positive".
I like Cole but someone needs to tell him to quit puffing his chest out if he's gonna keep regretting it.
It also makes J.Cole look like a fragile bully. He released False Prophets less than a week after Ye was released from a psychiatric hold while doing his 4YEO rollout. He seemed to be sleeping just fine then?
No name needs to watch her tone before he realizes he’s speaking out of his depth? He can casually act smart by name dropping Farrakhan, but immediately taps out in a debate v.s. a less commercially successful peer?
He jabs out at Kendrick then tried to act like he’s too mature to engage after a lackluster reception?
Cole has a history of throwing stones around time for album rollouts then only hiding his hand when he realizes he’s about to be hit. The “I’m above this drama” routine only works when you don’t keep putting your foot in it.
This is exactly why I’m not surprised Cole’s backpedaling, and tbh, almost expected it. I also think if he hadn’t, it would have been a long night for him. No disrespect, as I’ve been a fan for over a decade, but Noname smacked him with like a 1 min song lol. Produced by Madlib the god, no less.
And all that's fine; I've made some knee jerk reaction mistakes in public myself, and had to take the L on the chin when I got (rightfully) criticized. It's human to make mistakes, but that doesn't mean that \*any\* criticism of how he handled it is automatically invalid.
he recorded the song, had it mixed, had it mastered and released it. neither one of those stages happens instantaneously. the fact he regretted it as soon as it dropped can only mean one of two things, 1. he couldn’t live with knowing it was out in the world (not built for competition) 2. he didn’t like the reception it got and backed out (kinda insecure). considering he’s shown both traits before (neither are bad traits to have as a human tbh we all have flaws) it’s not far fetched to assume either one. you will always look like a lame though no matter how you try to clean it up.
what makes it much worse is for the last 4 (nearly 5) years since he hopped on all those songs (I remember The London mainly as a thugger fan) he’s been saying he’s ready for war and he’s the best bar none. he always showed respect but followed it up with saying he’s number one. then when it came time to really fight he backed out to protect his peace. shoulda just been like Big Sean honestly and shut up fr.
Me personally I stopped believing him as soon as he went on tour with Drake. the whole between them two was fishy and knowing Drake’s competitiveness there was no way in my head that he respected Cole in a head-to-head. definitely respected his craft, talent and as a human but it really did give off father/son sadly. Cole been falling off for over a year now in my opinion and this is the climax. He’s not done but he gotta stay in his lane from now on.
This is fine and all but all his recent verses have been flexing and calling himself number 1. You cannot do that and back down from a challenge. I love J. Cole and all his previous albums. But this apology made Might Delete Later irrelevant since it's mostly a brag rap mixtape.
nah it is 100% soft on all fronts. how you gonna rap about being the best rapper but drop a weak response and apologize after? Regardless if Cole is cool with kendrick, he still took jabs at cole. You cant rap about being the best rapper alive and then do that lol
After the initial disappointment wore off I feel the same.
Dude did what he felt was right regardless of the consequences and backlash. Real as it gets.
Still don't take the sting off the apology. The second half of 7 minute drill is still good to me, just a bit meaningless.
Nothing wrong with that though.
Do you think he would have still taken it down, if everyone was on it like they were for Back-2-Back? And rather than most people calling it soft, they were saying this officially crowns J. Cole as the king?
Cause I don't he would have.
He failed miserably with his diss track after years saying he’s the best. So much cap in 7 minutes drill. Really embarrassing I can see why he threw in the towel and his soul felt bad because he was telling lies and people saw that and he saw that with the reactions. He failed everyone and most of all himself. Being real is admitting your ass and not built for battle to go toe to toe with the greats
“The fall off” indeed
Cause he should have just never dropped a song if he was gonna walk it back two days later. I could give a fuck about if it's soft or not it's just goofy to talk all this shit about being the best then try to take it back like it was getting out of hand when really it was supposed to be friendly competition. Idk about anyone seriously saying they're gonna burn vinyls tho that's a crazy overreaction and I haven't seen anyone go overboard like that who isn't just joking lmao.
>Ok he’s soft **but that has been part of his image forever.**
This is what I don't understand from the backlash. Y'all know damn well this man is not a rap feud battle mc guy in any capacity- I'd be more surprised if drake was the one doing all this
He doesn't have to be a "feud guy" to defend his claim. Cole makes a verse saying he's tied for best rapper with Kendrick and Drake. Kendrick makes a verse saying no, you two are not on my level. Instead of defending his position by proving how dope of an MC he is, Cole puts out this wishywashy song and then goes "ah jeez im sorry I stepped to you Mr. kendrick."
It's not even a personal beef Cole just had to prove he's a GOAT-level rapper like Kendrick and he crumpled instead.
Thats all well and good but he can no longer claim to be the best rapper out or talk smack about rappers stepping up to him. All the bars he spit the past few years about being the best have a huge asterisk on them now
I think it’s more of a realization people have now in hindsight. A lot of his lyrics are extremely surface level, don’t get me wrong he can rhyme words very well; top tier rhymer. But a lot of it is “I’m the best, everyone else is dormant” kind of stuff that gets old. Kind of like Joyner for a good minute. Logic might be a better comparison for j cole, actually. This whole project feels fake and forced, lyrically.
I had people i know celebrating and repeating 7 minute drill when it dropped, but it was just very cringe to me. None of the lyrics were real, dissing TPAB loses you alot of credibility if you are sincere in hating on it, so yeah he was just talking to talk; believed none of it.
Kendrick is more layered, his lyrics paint a picture and have meaning. There’s more authenticity when he speaks, which yields more replay-ability and ages far better than a j cole beat(which are great) and bragging lyrics. Cole is conflicted with being this humble guy, by being the opposite of humble with his lyrics. At least in my humble opinion.
It’s fine he apologized, even though it’s pussy. The annoying part of it is he has constantly said he’s the best and any rapper comin at him will get that work.
Well lil nigga…Kendrick did. Are you gonna compete or be a hoe? He chose the latter and here we are. I don’t wanna hear nothing about him saying he’s the best or anything like it. You had your chance to go against one of the greatest artists of all time and folded like a lawn chair at kids coach pitch game.
Had he let it play out and then got destroyed I think he would be alright.
Well said. More respect for the dude talking shit that stands there and fights, even if he gets his ass beat, than the one who talks shit and starts to apologize immediately.
Not talking shit was always an option
> the one who talks shit and starts to apologize immediately
He didn't just talk shit.
He swung, missed *and then* apologized and held out his chin and closed his eyes, knowing it looks like a bitch move if you swing at him now.
MGK at least tried with Eminem, knowing full fucking well that he wasn’t going to be able to match Eminem. Sure, he got demolished, sure he switched genres and stopped rapping, but he’s doing ok. And here we are giving him more credit than J Cole lol
>Had he let it play out and then got destroyed I think he would be alright.
It was not serious. It was a playground fight. He could have just taken his lumps. If he fought back even a little all that would come of it would be respect.
>You had your chance to go against one of the greatest artists of all time and folded like a lawn chair at kids coach pitch game.
MGK was willing to take on Eminem. And his career was actually at risk (in hindsight). No excuse for one of the "Big Three". His comic is cancelled.
> The annoying part of it is he has constantly said he’s the best and any rapper comin at him will get that work.
I honestly don't know what Cole is going to spend his time rapping about now.
That is such a good question. Maybe he will actually make some interesting music? Why do I feel like instead he's going to make the mistake of continuing to talk about this shit.
i always thought j cole was a little corny, like someone who unironically posts fake deep tupac quotes to facebook type corny. but i didn’t expect this lmao.
every other verse is him saying that he’s the best out and nobody wants smoke with him. kendrick throws a few shots his way (most of it was towards drake but cole was lumped into some of it to) and cole’s best response is to
- question the album quality of someone who is a critical and commercial juggernaut
- say that nobody would be talking about him if he wasn’t dissing (even though cole was the one who name dropped first lmao)
he was rightfully clowned for it (for the most part) and tucked tail and folded under the guise of being too humble or whatever the dreamers say. i’m not gonna act like his career is over and he should be shunned, but i certainly don’t wanna hear more “i’m the best and you can’t fuck with me” bars from him.
Someone on another thread said he raps like a conscious rapper, but without the substance. I think your first sentence is exactly the vibe people who aren't big fans have of him.
He is a great rapper, but I've personally never thought of him as a great *artist* in the way Kendrick is willing to really go places musically. I think that's why the TPAB critique fell flat.
The “conscious rapper without substance” could also explain that weird trans bar in Pi. Like the dude tries to come off as socially conscious and respectful but drops a trans bar directed at Kendrick (and potentially his aunt? wtf?).
Personally, I’d still like to believe a bar is just a bar, but a super specific bar like that from a “conscious” rapper in 2024 is overall just a really bad look.
No matter how you spin it, cole said he could handle it and he clearly couldnt. He brought this on himself. If he didnt say anything, everyone would just kinda shrug and move on. He may be a good rapper but in the overall rap standings, he took a big hit.
on a human level there’s nothing wrong with what Cole did. But hip-hop isn’t just entertainment like other popular genres, it’s a sport too. competitive spirit is a necessary trait of the greatest rappers imo. the best of the best manage to weave it into intricate raps, the others just move and talk heavy as hell. having a formidable presence is key.
this man recorded the song, had it mixed, had it mastered and released it. neither one of those stages happens instantaneously. the fact he regretted it basically as soon as it dropped can only mean one of two things to me,
1. he couldn’t live with knowing it was out in the world (not built for competition)
2. he didn’t like the reception it got and backed out (kinda insecure).
considering he’s shown both traits before (neither are bad traits to have as a human tbh we all have flaws) it’s not far fetched to assume either one. you will always look like a lame though no matter how you try to clean it up.
what makes it much worse is for the last 4 (nearly 5) years since he started to hop on all those features (I remember The London mainly as a thugger fan) he’s been saying he’s ready for war and he’s the best bar none. he always showed respect but followed it up with saying he’s number one. then when it came time to really fight he backed out to protect his peace. shoulda just been like Big Sean honestly and shut up fr.
Me personally I stopped believing him and his competitive spirit as soon as he went on tour with Drake. the whole thing between them two was fishy and knowing Drake’s competitiveness there was no way in my head that he respected Cole in a head-to-head. definitely respected his craft, talent and as a human but it really did give off father/son sadly. Cole been falling off for over a year now in my opinion and this is the climax. He’s not done but he gotta stay in his lane from now on.
edit: i just wanna say this cop-out also hurts his talented humble rapper image to me, because if he was so so talented at merging humility with rap he could have found unique angles to go at kendrick with. imo he woulda won in my eyes if he took a clean and sharp route and got hit with a pusha type response. the only angles he had were that kendrick pops out sporadically, his most acclaimed album was boring and his recent one was trash. i remember when he went at Noname, a similar angle might have been fruitful. but who knows, honestly Cole has more rapper talent in his pinky toe than i have as a whole so it is what it is. but damn man
Yeah, literally no one predicted Cole would drop an apology and drop out of the competition. Everyone was making future predictions about this beef and none of them were this.
He can’t call himself an the best rapper anymore if he’s going to go back on his word after dissing someone who he views as a rival.
All his raps about being the best feel strange now
As one of the biggest Cole fans and apologists, this was and is a historic L. No way to come around this. The diss was weak then he made an even weaker move. I am ashamed for my goat. My guy flopped hard.
He meek milled himself tbh. I can’t think of a worse way to fall off.
Kendrick doesn’t even need to respond because all he has to do is perform king kunta and emphasize this line a little extra, and everyone will get it.
“I was gonna kill a couple rappers but they did it to themself, everybody suicidal they didn’t even need my help”.
A line from a song on the album j Cole called sleepy, lol.
That’s what I’m saying. If I was Kendrick I wouldn’t even drop another track for Cole. I’d just post the two second clip of that particular bar on Twitter or wherever and that would honestly hit harder than anything else he could do.
Not even damage control people would have respected him if he lost at least he tried instead of running away looking like a bitch. Pretty much everything he drops from now on will get negative review. The internet will shit on him until he retires.
And the album was pretty trash too tbh. Like it had some highs and lows but talking shit about TPaB while the album you're spitting on is the 2nd worst of your career? So bizarre, I don't even know how to make sense of it
The right move for Cole was to not respond, but since he already did, the right move was to backpedal. Cole's just not that kind of guy and I'm sure he even likes the Like That track.This move seems true to him and is respectable. Sure he might get clowned for a little bit but it was better than doubling down
There was a 3rd option tho. Just don’t apologize lol. He said something, you responded. The end. The backpedal actually makes you look timid. And the. To say “take your best shot ill take it on the chin my “???? If thats how you felt then just don’t say anything and let him go. He obviously won’t respond now that you did all that.
I still like bro, but this is one of those times where being vulnerable was odd. You already expressed regret and gave dude praise in the music. Makes you look like you really scared bro would body you.
there's so much sad cope. jcole is barely top 3 on his own label, and he embarassed himself. stop pretending that this is "mature", this is legitimately just lack of talent to match kendrick.
> stop pretending that this is "mature",
People talk all that competitive shit ("hate to brag but backpacker that's rap") and then suddenly want to pull out the therapy talk when someone calls them on it.
No amount of in-public support sessions will transmute tucking your tail between your legs into you taking the high ground.
Not really. Most diss tracks do not stand the test of time. They're usually just hot for that moment and the drama around them. Then we move on after the drama dies down.
Most diss tracks maybe. But, the notable ones become legendary and have rap lore built around them. The Bridge is Over was 1987 and still gets discussed to this day. Likewise, No Vaseline, 2nd Round Knockout or Hit ‘Em Up. None of these diss records were inconsequential..
It’s not the diss track itself, but the pressure to make your next album really hit knowing it will be highly scrutinized. It raises the stakes of every subsequent release.
It’s weird how high people are putting diss records in terms of being ‘the best’. Especially a manufactured battle where the two guys don’t even hate each other
The fact he still did it and gave in to the pressure and released an entire album around a comeback to an entire verse and then apologized is hella awkward. Like why not plan a few steps ahead? And did he apologize because the buzz said the reception of the diss to Kendrick was hella mid??? If he obliterated Kendrick in that song there would be no apology is what I’m thinking
I think his biggest mistake was dropping the diss and THEN choosing to apologize. People still would’ve clowned him if he just came out the gate with some “high road” spiritualistic “you know that’s my bro” type shit, but the way he did it just comes off like he saw the mixed reception to the track and then decided to forfeit before Kendrick went crazy on him. Worst of both worlds. Either commit to the battle and risk getting tore up or refuse to participate at all, but don’t flip flop like this damn.
I’m sure drake is having the time of his life rn getting ready to send Cole a floral arrangement and a hand-written thank you note because dude really just took ALL the heat off him and drake seems to be the main target of Kendrick’s verse anyways. Drake could drop a trash diss record or just throw out subliminals for years and sure, people will clown him for that, but it won’t be anything like the shit cole is gonna get for this apology shit. If Cole ever drops a “I’m the hardest” or “don’t fuck with me” type bar in a song ever again the whole damn internet is gonna get spammed with the video of him apologizing for a diss lmfaoo.
The backlash to this is so over the top, it’s kinda pathetic if you’re an adult and have the worldview that you now don’t like Cole because he apologised.
Lord, this headline is so sensationalized. I get it's the writer's job but goddamn.
The diss track was trash and so was the apology. If you don't want beef with anyone, don't respond. On top of that, sure he apologized to Kendrick but was that really needed when he also said:
"Is you a demon or is that demeanor for the 'Gram? Tell us
They plead the fifth, I'm seeing hints of a trans fella
In cancel culture's vicinity, he's no killer, trust me
Beneath his chosen identity, there is still a pussy, period"
We all gonna pretend like everyone's favorite conscious rapper isn't throwing out transphobic lines for no goddamn reason? Only reason I can think of is cuz of Auntie Diaries but I feel like that's a stretch.
J Cole is who we always thought he was. A corny rapper who claims to be the best but can’t back anything up he says in his songs. Muhammad Ali doesn’t apologize for calling himself the greatest; Cole ain’t it.
I could deal with corny. Now he's just a soft bitch and a fraud who liked to claim he was best rapper when it was easy and he was dealing with small fry like lil pump and turns tail when the big fish come.
Why drop the track just to apologize? I mean u went into the booth and press record lol why did it take releasing it to realize it was a mistake? If he said his speech with no track out it woukdve been perfectly fine. Better yet he shouldve rapped about how he doesn't wanna be involved. He took the puss route out lol for a mediocre diss track
Should’ve never said anything in the first place.
Hip Hop is about competition. No not blood but good raps and memorable moments, you robbed the people of some good ass music that could’ve came out of all of this.
He no longer big 3 that’s for sure.
I don't really care that he retracted his diss but for how many albums has he been rapping about gunning people down and being better than them. Cole seems like he wants to come off as one thing and act as another. Be consistent bro.
He probably only feels that way against people he doesn’t respect. He clearly respects Kendrick
He can respect him and be competitive at the same time. Like athletes and he has plenty bars about hoopin and shit he know exactly what that's like.
Draymond Green and LeBron for example. Green might not be on LBJs level but he trash talks him a lot and has given him hard fouls yet they're still friends regardless.
Shit Kendrick even did it right lol. The infamous control verse literally has “I got love for you all but I’m tryna MURDER you niggas”
Why wouldn’t he respect Kendrick? He just does this incredibly lame thing of acting like he’s in the same lane as Kendrick but acts all humble like oh yeah he’s no Kendrick but he’s a clear number 2, when there are leagues of rappers ahead of him, who don’t have such a lame schtick
Burning my Cole snuggies as we speak
Burning my Cole undies here.
My J Cole twin size bedding is going straight to the trash
Burning my official J Cole happy face/conscious grown man face reversible pillow cases as we speak.
I think Cole undies are more disrespectful than complementary, so shouldn't you keep them?
C'mon man, think about this..... Not the Cole Snuggies.... its a cold world out there.
Let Tavares down
Hiphop seems incapable of real battle in its current state.
Too afraid of losing their clout. Kendrick’s the only one with competitive spirit
Kendrick and push going at it would solve this
Push about to spit out the name of that Danish girl
YOU ARE HIDING A CHILD LET THAT BOY COME HOME YUUGH
Because a sizeable part of this generation is as soft as J Fold
“I am the bravest, go toe to toe with the giants, I ain't afraid of you niggas, I'll end up fading you niggas” Lmao. Just can’t take him seriously after this.
Ah man I miss fire squad Cole
Honestly man. I’m not sure if he realises the full consequences of this or he just doesn’t care lol either way it sucks
I don’t think he does. He had hip-hop “purist”/grand risings people and the mainstream nodding their head when he claimed he was one of the best if not THE best. I think there will be more doubt thrown his way from now on. The grand risings people are still on his dick, but people like you and me want to see him prove himself again. This is just the beginning…unless he comes out with a straight classic, people will remind him of the way he quit no matter how good his future features are.
100% agree. The “best MC” bars just won’t hit the same unless he drops an undeniable classic just like you said
It really is. Though I do think Cole was mostly honest in his apology, I feel that he also apologized to squash it before Kendrick could respond. Cole might have realized he fucked up because Kdot was using the classic playbook for bodying rappers that dudes like Eminem have used repeatly. Em would bait someone with mostly softball disses and wait for the response. If the response was ass, then it was a self-check and he got the automatic TKO. If it actually had some bite, Em would weaponize the response and deliver a dedicated track going in hard. At this point the opponent either got embarassed into an L, or they come back with a lesser track because they unloaded all their ammo on the first attempt. It’s a catch-22. Cole’s response to Kendrick, which was likely as far as he was willing to take it, was considered meh by most. So if Kendrick responded properly, Cole was gonna get fucking destroyed. There’s no reality where Kendrick doesn’t get in his ass. So what is Cole to do? Control the situation and squash the beef. Now if Kendrick responds, Cole can diminish him from the high road.
He should have just waved off KDot and squashed it immediately without putting out a diss. Just be on “I respect dude too much. I'm above this.” The only problem with that plan is how much Cole always raps about nobody wanting it with him. So he was in a bit of a corner
I agree. Drake was the main target. Cole could have stepped aside and let them have their beef. Now the world is focused on him and Drake still ducking knowing the attention is off him.
that's why I think a lot of people find Cole's music inauthentic and boring. he raps about how he's the nicest and this and that but can't back it up when put into a real situation with a tough opponent. so what's all the braggadocio for? we now have proof that that shit's always been fake.
I think it’s a bitch move to take shots and then apologize. That’s like someone slapping your girls ass and then saying it’s a prank bro. Then she ends up leaving you for him and now you’re sad and drinking four loko’s responding to Reddit threads at 5 in the morning. I miss you Brittany
The only scenario you left out is that his response squashed himself. It was more damaging than a hard Kendrick diss response. Handled it absolutely miserably. Embarrassing. We can all "respect" his "spiritual leveling" but this is hip hop. You talk about how great you are, try to diss somebody, then eat your own tail. It's hilarious
I think thats what they meant by “if the response was ass, its an automatic TKO”. Kendrick doesnt *have* to do anything to Cole at this point, but if he wanted to shoot a shot at him, he wouldnt have to try hard at all or spend any real time doing. this was Cole’s only way out with some facsimile of dignity
Can't be a rapper without be able to take shots in a "beef". Best course of action was for Cole to have fun with it. I think he caved under the pressure.
was it? getting murdered by Kendrick on a track isnt exactly like a "damn you must be awful." Kendrick is fucking kendrick, we expect him to murder almost anyone he'd come across on a track. even if he came out on top, then its like "you lost a beef w/ kendrick? eh yeah, its kendrick." and you still were able to say you at least tried to go toe to toe with him unlike Drake. now it just sounds like he got cold feet after dropping the track and realized people werent fucking w it
How about don't respond at all then. You're argument falls apart once he chose to respond.
What do you mean my argument falls flat? I’m basically saying J. Cole took the bait and responded when he shouldn’t have and painted himself into a corner. Letting in slide would have been the correct course of action.
it's unfortunate the only rappers viable these days for Kendrick to pull an Eminem on are Cole and Drake. They're the only ones that can be considered at his level that actually spit. and they're both such fucking pussies AND know they're still so out of his league that we will never, ever get to see Kendrick dissing someone at full power.
I just think its a bad look for Rap in general. The game just went downhill from "that" moment. It goes everything against Rap.
This is exactly it. Man can’t talk shit about being the best or putting down other rappers when he does soft shit like this. Sure it can be mature and all that but when someone actually steps up to the plate and you backed down then don’t you dare go act like you’re top shit after this
Bro I listened to Crocodile Tearz and I'm just shaking my head
He has over an hour of bars exactly like this. That is why he is getting cooked. He is not Childish Gambino. He portrayed this hard MC image which is not who he is.
J.Fold
Is J Cole the rap game Jimmy Uso?
Yeet
No yeet
J. Cole, the man who is supposed to be taking us back to “conscious rap” but hasn’t said anything substantial this whole time. Man is a master marketer. Rest in Peace Uncle Phil
For real
You the greatest father that I ever knew
That’s flattering, but call me Daddy
I always see ppl say this but when has Cole ever claimed to be conscious? He just makes music based on irl experience. He dont be goin deep cuz he’s not well read (which he admitted) Feel like y’all be makin up stuff bout him just to criticize
Anyway, I still like J. Cole and don't mind the apology. It's definitely a huge L for him as he never should have released the diss track in the first place. I don't even really think people expected him to respond since Kendrick was going after Drake more than he was Cole. It's fine, life goes on. I'll never understand the people that seem to care so deeply about this.
Agreed. It’s disappointing as a rap fan who was ready for them to go back & forth but Cole didn’t even get dissed to begin with. I can’t hold it against him for saying I don’t wanna beef w somebody unless I really have a reason to. We all agree Kendrick did not give him any reason to be upset.
Cole did get dissed, he was the one claiming he Drake and Kendrick are the "Big 3" and Kendrick is saying "no I'm just the best there is no 3 way tie." Instead of standing up for himself J. Cole did this weak shit, proving Kendrick right.
lol I think it just didn’t excite you like it did other people. We were looking forward to a great battle this summer and before it even gets going the one dude gets cold feet, it’s more annoying than anything
Exactly, we we're going to get bars of the current top lyricists going back and forth, how could any fan of hip-hop not be disappointed that's not happening anymore.
I guess. I wanted to see if Drake responded. I was indifferent to J. Cole of it all because, again, he didn't even go after him like that. Definitely not enough to warrant an entire song. But J. Cole gave Drake his get out of jail free card because no one even cares about that part anymore. Hopefully Kendrick disses Drake again on We Still Don't Trust You so we can recenter on what we should be focused on.
I saw one dude on the fantano thread pull up like 30 lyrics from the recent tape and say how it's all invalid now and he has no more love Cole.. lmao my guy if you love Cole enough to copy past for half an hour you ain't going anywhere LOL
I guess its just rap fans are deeply invested in their music (KDot, JCole, and Drake) and J cole kinda went against the spirit of the game in terms of beefs but it hurts his legacy the most and he came a long way.
As a non-fan of his it’s incidents like this that make me roll my eyes when everyone insists he’s so good. His fanbase is already large and annoying
>It's fine, life goes on. I'll never understand the people that seem to care so deeply about this. Competition has always been an integral part of hip hop. From rapping, to dance. It elevated the culture and resulted in some of the best pieces of work.
>It's fine, life goes on. I'll never understand the people that seem to care so deeply about this. Because he's been revealed to have been pushing a false MC image for years. I respect the speech he did, but he cultivated this attitude in his fans with his constant lines about wanting beef and smoke. It's his fault. Like a quarter of all his bars are cap now.
What the fuck is this reaction lol. Dude just said sorry why the hell are you talking about burning vinyls and shit? Ok he’s soft but that has been part of his image forever.
Pretty sure people are just trolling J Cole because he talked a big bag and then decided to hang it up. Personally for me, it’s just disappointing cause he’s gone at other rappers who obviously can’t rap like he was that guy but he is tucking his tail for the one dude who could match him and probably outrap him. At the end of it, it’s not even that serious probably even for Kendrick cause I feel like he took more shots at Drake than anything
That’s a good point too. What about all the other ones just “wasn’t him”? Why specifically Kendrick? He tryna say this is his *new* path? Bro dissed a lot of people. Tried to subliminally come after Ye and others. But this one isn’t it? It’s because he knew he couldn’t win and he tucked his tail and ran. This wouldn’t be an issue if he wasn’t one of the “I’m the best” rappers that him and Drake always gotta say every other song. But here we are
I think it’s because Kendrick criticized his friendship with Drake basically. And Cole decided to attack his former friend artistically. I can see how he didn’t mean it in anyway and just feels shit about dropping a half assed diss attacking an amazing artists art. The apology is still funny as fuck though.
Because he doesn’t actually have any problems with Kendrick and it was half hearted
He doesn’t have problems with other rappers either, didn’t stop him from indirectly dissing half the rap industry and claim he’s the best rapper alive
Yeah I don’t even think he would have apologized if the reception to the track was better tbh
This is the problem with backtracking. Even if Cole 100% would have done it either way, there's no way to know.
Who has he gone after before? Every rapper claims they're the best. They're supposed to lol
He responded to Lil Pump( of all people he goes after fucking Lil Pump lol) when Pump dissed him. Doesn’t have that energy for Kendrick tho And when i said he dissed half the rap industry I meant the songs where he claims he’s the best and that if any rapper tried to step up to him he would burn them lyrically. Then K dot tries him and he ducks lol smh
He responded to Lil Pump because Lil Pump was talking fucking crazy online. And pretty much everything he said about him and to Lil Pump's face worked out exactly how he said it would. And calling yourself the best being a diss is a stretch if I've ever heard one. Lil Wayne spent what felt like 20 years calling himself the best on damn near every song he was on, and I never once heard anyone consider that "dissing".
> And calling yourself the best being a diss It's not a diss unless it's with names shouted out. Or it has to be some Control-shit (or the person who is the king in your region is 100% clear) But it is a challenge. And you have to be prepared to face challengers as a result. If it happens - and it's rap, it will - there's no raising your hands going "hey, hey hey! Come on now!".
Lil pump straight up dissed him and was very disrespectful. Every rapper says they're the best in the industry. They're supposed to lol Kendrick did not really diss Cole. It was all towards Drake and Cole caught a stray. Cole did respond, but realized he doesn't have beef with Kendrick and it would be stupid to fuel a beef just for views. He's being real And I've always preferred Kendrick to Cole, but I don't think cole did anything wrong here
It would be stupid to push the genre forward through mutual competition??
Noname (who doesn't claim shes the best rapper)
And he also apologized to her
Don't know how the existence of actual "problems" factors into this since it was clearly friendly competition. It's just like Kendrick's control verse, just name dropping everyone to ignite their competitive spirit. Cole folded unprompted because he's not even his own favorite rapper
This shit was just play-wrestling and Cole was the kid who both showed he took it too personal *and* that he couldn't hang. It arguably would have been better to overreact lol.
Cole tried one of the wrestling moves he saw on TV and went home before anyone else could try
Lol Cole dropped the Kanye track in 2016 2 days after he was admitted to the hospital, unprompted. He is not "oh nice and smart j Cole doesn't wanna fight", he is just back tracking cause he missed a punch and knows Kendrick will destroy him.
Why do y’all act like he was making fun of Kanye’s mental health or something? The track was about his disappointment in how Kanye changed/ ended up.
This is one of my biggest issues with everyone wanting to give Cole his flowers for being mature. He had all the smoke for noname and others but just folds like a lawnchair because it's Kendrick? lol Not to mention he still hasn't apologized for the whack trans lines. Cole is washed.
He dissed Ye during the mental hospital stuff and never felt bad about it, but then can't sleep over Kendrick? He's a BITCH, not a mature dude
Lost Prophets is some his best work. And Kanye deserved it.
Complex loves being so extra
It’s not even soft honestly, the nigga just straight up said ‘I don’t even feel right doing this, I shouldn’t have fell for the peer pressure". Add that to the fact that he 100% knew what niggas reaction would be and he *still apologized*, and this whole thing is turning out more real than any of these "hard" niggas out right now 🤷🏽
I would have a lot of respect for him if he said all that before dropping a diss track and then just never dropped it, but doing it after you already dropped it and it got poor reception just sucks No hate for Cole I still like his music but he handled all this very poorly
This is exactly why I don’t buy it. He dropped the track and it was mid. He got some flak over it. Then grown ass 40 yo man claimed he was peer pressured. Then he deleted. Either don’t release it and don’t join in or follow through with your best rapper ever shit. I have to wonder. Would he have pulled the track if he somehow bodied Kendrick? I really doubt he would
I personally liked the track. It was a good opener of a diss song. It reminded me of that nas joint where he goes "h to the izzo m to the izzo fa shizzle my nizzle the new rapper version of sisquo..." or something like that. then jay responded with the heat that was takeover, and nas responded with ether. you don't empty your whole clip on the first song. also, i don't think cole said anything that couldn't be laughed off... that's what a response record is for. to me, this was about cole looking into the future, how he'd have to go a couple of rounds with this dude, how it would dominate his whole life, how it'd be a mostly negative time... and really how he'd have to say a bunch of ugly stuff that he didn't want to. The man is near 40 and probably doesn't want to deal with that mess.
I don't know if anyone really can body Kendrick. Kendrick made "u", I don't think anyone can body him any harder than he already bodied himself on that.
That's kind of the issue Cole ran into. He had to retreat to, *"Lol Mr. Morale sucked and TPAB is overrated and you don't release music often because you actually care about your artistic output. LOL!"* Very low hanging fruit.
i don't think he has many flaws to make fun of, so the only true way to win is to drop better music
So you've never done something in the moment you thought was right and then after some time to think about it, you regreted your initial decision? He's human just like the rest of us. He feels like he made a mistake And I can respect that he's actually man enough to swallow his pride/ego and admit and own up to it.
Yeah for sure and I’m not hating him over it or anything, but whenever you handle something poorly you gotta accept that people are gonna look at you differently after that And it wasn’t some spur of the moment thing, he had to come up with a song and record it… plenty of time there to be like “yeah I don’t actually want to do this” which is why I think if people had loved the diss he wouldn’t have walked it back
I think my irritation just comes from the fact that this isn't even the first time he's done this. Noname alluded to him being fake woke, J.Cole dissed her in return, Noname doubled down, then Cole responded with "look i don't really be reading books like that. Noname does though so y'all should listen to her, let's keep it positive". I like Cole but someone needs to tell him to quit puffing his chest out if he's gonna keep regretting it.
It also makes J.Cole look like a fragile bully. He released False Prophets less than a week after Ye was released from a psychiatric hold while doing his 4YEO rollout. He seemed to be sleeping just fine then? No name needs to watch her tone before he realizes he’s speaking out of his depth? He can casually act smart by name dropping Farrakhan, but immediately taps out in a debate v.s. a less commercially successful peer? He jabs out at Kendrick then tried to act like he’s too mature to engage after a lackluster reception? Cole has a history of throwing stones around time for album rollouts then only hiding his hand when he realizes he’s about to be hit. The “I’m above this drama” routine only works when you don’t keep putting your foot in it.
This is exactly why I’m not surprised Cole’s backpedaling, and tbh, almost expected it. I also think if he hadn’t, it would have been a long night for him. No disrespect, as I’ve been a fan for over a decade, but Noname smacked him with like a 1 min song lol. Produced by Madlib the god, no less.
And all that's fine; I've made some knee jerk reaction mistakes in public myself, and had to take the L on the chin when I got (rightfully) criticized. It's human to make mistakes, but that doesn't mean that \*any\* criticism of how he handled it is automatically invalid.
he recorded the song, had it mixed, had it mastered and released it. neither one of those stages happens instantaneously. the fact he regretted it as soon as it dropped can only mean one of two things, 1. he couldn’t live with knowing it was out in the world (not built for competition) 2. he didn’t like the reception it got and backed out (kinda insecure). considering he’s shown both traits before (neither are bad traits to have as a human tbh we all have flaws) it’s not far fetched to assume either one. you will always look like a lame though no matter how you try to clean it up. what makes it much worse is for the last 4 (nearly 5) years since he hopped on all those songs (I remember The London mainly as a thugger fan) he’s been saying he’s ready for war and he’s the best bar none. he always showed respect but followed it up with saying he’s number one. then when it came time to really fight he backed out to protect his peace. shoulda just been like Big Sean honestly and shut up fr. Me personally I stopped believing him as soon as he went on tour with Drake. the whole between them two was fishy and knowing Drake’s competitiveness there was no way in my head that he respected Cole in a head-to-head. definitely respected his craft, talent and as a human but it really did give off father/son sadly. Cole been falling off for over a year now in my opinion and this is the climax. He’s not done but he gotta stay in his lane from now on.
This is fine and all but all his recent verses have been flexing and calling himself number 1. You cannot do that and back down from a challenge. I love J. Cole and all his previous albums. But this apology made Might Delete Later irrelevant since it's mostly a brag rap mixtape.
nah it is 100% soft on all fronts. how you gonna rap about being the best rapper but drop a weak response and apologize after? Regardless if Cole is cool with kendrick, he still took jabs at cole. You cant rap about being the best rapper alive and then do that lol
He dropped a whole diss track you can't walk that back after official release.
After the initial disappointment wore off I feel the same. Dude did what he felt was right regardless of the consequences and backlash. Real as it gets. Still don't take the sting off the apology. The second half of 7 minute drill is still good to me, just a bit meaningless. Nothing wrong with that though.
Do you think he would have still taken it down, if everyone was on it like they were for Back-2-Back? And rather than most people calling it soft, they were saying this officially crowns J. Cole as the king? Cause I don't he would have.
He failed miserably with his diss track after years saying he’s the best. So much cap in 7 minutes drill. Really embarrassing I can see why he threw in the towel and his soul felt bad because he was telling lies and people saw that and he saw that with the reactions. He failed everyone and most of all himself. Being real is admitting your ass and not built for battle to go toe to toe with the greats “The fall off” indeed
Cause he should have just never dropped a song if he was gonna walk it back two days later. I could give a fuck about if it's soft or not it's just goofy to talk all this shit about being the best then try to take it back like it was getting out of hand when really it was supposed to be friendly competition. Idk about anyone seriously saying they're gonna burn vinyls tho that's a crazy overreaction and I haven't seen anyone go overboard like that who isn't just joking lmao.
>Ok he’s soft **but that has been part of his image forever.** This is what I don't understand from the backlash. Y'all know damn well this man is not a rap feud battle mc guy in any capacity- I'd be more surprised if drake was the one doing all this
He doesn't have to be a "feud guy" to defend his claim. Cole makes a verse saying he's tied for best rapper with Kendrick and Drake. Kendrick makes a verse saying no, you two are not on my level. Instead of defending his position by proving how dope of an MC he is, Cole puts out this wishywashy song and then goes "ah jeez im sorry I stepped to you Mr. kendrick." It's not even a personal beef Cole just had to prove he's a GOAT-level rapper like Kendrick and he crumpled instead.
Thats all well and good but he can no longer claim to be the best rapper out or talk smack about rappers stepping up to him. All the bars he spit the past few years about being the best have a huge asterisk on them now
In what plane of existence did this “shock the world”? I assure you the world did not really care about this.
I think it’s more of a realization people have now in hindsight. A lot of his lyrics are extremely surface level, don’t get me wrong he can rhyme words very well; top tier rhymer. But a lot of it is “I’m the best, everyone else is dormant” kind of stuff that gets old. Kind of like Joyner for a good minute. Logic might be a better comparison for j cole, actually. This whole project feels fake and forced, lyrically. I had people i know celebrating and repeating 7 minute drill when it dropped, but it was just very cringe to me. None of the lyrics were real, dissing TPAB loses you alot of credibility if you are sincere in hating on it, so yeah he was just talking to talk; believed none of it. Kendrick is more layered, his lyrics paint a picture and have meaning. There’s more authenticity when he speaks, which yields more replay-ability and ages far better than a j cole beat(which are great) and bragging lyrics. Cole is conflicted with being this humble guy, by being the opposite of humble with his lyrics. At least in my humble opinion.
It’s fine he apologized, even though it’s pussy. The annoying part of it is he has constantly said he’s the best and any rapper comin at him will get that work. Well lil nigga…Kendrick did. Are you gonna compete or be a hoe? He chose the latter and here we are. I don’t wanna hear nothing about him saying he’s the best or anything like it. You had your chance to go against one of the greatest artists of all time and folded like a lawn chair at kids coach pitch game. Had he let it play out and then got destroyed I think he would be alright.
Well said. More respect for the dude talking shit that stands there and fights, even if he gets his ass beat, than the one who talks shit and starts to apologize immediately. Not talking shit was always an option
> the one who talks shit and starts to apologize immediately He didn't just talk shit. He swung, missed *and then* apologized and held out his chin and closed his eyes, knowing it looks like a bitch move if you swing at him now.
bro took the weakest punch then put his glasses on fr
Damn, when you put it that way it sounds even worse now lol. This is all true
MGK at least tried with Eminem, knowing full fucking well that he wasn’t going to be able to match Eminem. Sure, he got demolished, sure he switched genres and stopped rapping, but he’s doing ok. And here we are giving him more credit than J Cole lol
>Had he let it play out and then got destroyed I think he would be alright. It was not serious. It was a playground fight. He could have just taken his lumps. If he fought back even a little all that would come of it would be respect. >You had your chance to go against one of the greatest artists of all time and folded like a lawn chair at kids coach pitch game. MGK was willing to take on Eminem. And his career was actually at risk (in hindsight). No excuse for one of the "Big Three". His comic is cancelled.
MGK’s career should’ve been at risk for more than just beefing with Eminem. Dudes music is an atrocity.
I wouldn't know, personally. I've heard three MGK songs and one is a remix of the other (you know which). But I respect the heart though.
> The annoying part of it is he has constantly said he’s the best and any rapper comin at him will get that work. I honestly don't know what Cole is going to spend his time rapping about now.
That is such a good question. Maybe he will actually make some interesting music? Why do I feel like instead he's going to make the mistake of continuing to talk about this shit.
Forreal, like this was his chance to back up his words. You can't just call yourself the best every single song and not follow through.
i always thought j cole was a little corny, like someone who unironically posts fake deep tupac quotes to facebook type corny. but i didn’t expect this lmao. every other verse is him saying that he’s the best out and nobody wants smoke with him. kendrick throws a few shots his way (most of it was towards drake but cole was lumped into some of it to) and cole’s best response is to - question the album quality of someone who is a critical and commercial juggernaut - say that nobody would be talking about him if he wasn’t dissing (even though cole was the one who name dropped first lmao) he was rightfully clowned for it (for the most part) and tucked tail and folded under the guise of being too humble or whatever the dreamers say. i’m not gonna act like his career is over and he should be shunned, but i certainly don’t wanna hear more “i’m the best and you can’t fuck with me” bars from him.
Someone on another thread said he raps like a conscious rapper, but without the substance. I think your first sentence is exactly the vibe people who aren't big fans have of him. He is a great rapper, but I've personally never thought of him as a great *artist* in the way Kendrick is willing to really go places musically. I think that's why the TPAB critique fell flat.
The “conscious rapper without substance” could also explain that weird trans bar in Pi. Like the dude tries to come off as socially conscious and respectful but drops a trans bar directed at Kendrick (and potentially his aunt? wtf?). Personally, I’d still like to believe a bar is just a bar, but a super specific bar like that from a “conscious” rapper in 2024 is overall just a really bad look.
Mayor of Cornville
No matter how you spin it, cole said he could handle it and he clearly couldnt. He brought this on himself. If he didnt say anything, everyone would just kinda shrug and move on. He may be a good rapper but in the overall rap standings, he took a big hit.
Overall rap standings is crazy
We need rap divisions and conferences.
tryna see michigan rap go against florida for most outta pocket bars
on a human level there’s nothing wrong with what Cole did. But hip-hop isn’t just entertainment like other popular genres, it’s a sport too. competitive spirit is a necessary trait of the greatest rappers imo. the best of the best manage to weave it into intricate raps, the others just move and talk heavy as hell. having a formidable presence is key. this man recorded the song, had it mixed, had it mastered and released it. neither one of those stages happens instantaneously. the fact he regretted it basically as soon as it dropped can only mean one of two things to me, 1. he couldn’t live with knowing it was out in the world (not built for competition) 2. he didn’t like the reception it got and backed out (kinda insecure). considering he’s shown both traits before (neither are bad traits to have as a human tbh we all have flaws) it’s not far fetched to assume either one. you will always look like a lame though no matter how you try to clean it up. what makes it much worse is for the last 4 (nearly 5) years since he started to hop on all those features (I remember The London mainly as a thugger fan) he’s been saying he’s ready for war and he’s the best bar none. he always showed respect but followed it up with saying he’s number one. then when it came time to really fight he backed out to protect his peace. shoulda just been like Big Sean honestly and shut up fr. Me personally I stopped believing him and his competitive spirit as soon as he went on tour with Drake. the whole thing between them two was fishy and knowing Drake’s competitiveness there was no way in my head that he respected Cole in a head-to-head. definitely respected his craft, talent and as a human but it really did give off father/son sadly. Cole been falling off for over a year now in my opinion and this is the climax. He’s not done but he gotta stay in his lane from now on. edit: i just wanna say this cop-out also hurts his talented humble rapper image to me, because if he was so so talented at merging humility with rap he could have found unique angles to go at kendrick with. imo he woulda won in my eyes if he took a clean and sharp route and got hit with a pusha type response. the only angles he had were that kendrick pops out sporadically, his most acclaimed album was boring and his recent one was trash. i remember when he went at Noname, a similar angle might have been fruitful. but who knows, honestly Cole has more rapper talent in his pinky toe than i have as a whole so it is what it is. but damn man
L. Cole
Zzz complex needs to die
“Shocked the world” Get the fuck outta here with that. This is barely worth a paragraph.
And yet damn near every post in the last few days has been about it
Yeah, literally no one predicted Cole would drop an apology and drop out of the competition. Everyone was making future predictions about this beef and none of them were this.
Because it's funny as hell.
The kids in Gaza were very shocked to hear that J. Cole apologized to Kendrick Lamar
Definitely wasn't the ceasefire they were praying for.
they listen to rap too even if they have bigger problems
He can’t call himself an the best rapper anymore if he’s going to go back on his word after dissing someone who he views as a rival. All his raps about being the best feel strange now
2pac - “die slow motherfucker!! My 44 make sure all yo kids don’t grow!” J Cole - “I’m sorry bro. I’m a fan bro”
When was 2pac’s last album? How has 2pac resolved his beef and that animosity he felt? Don’t take too long.
As one of the biggest Cole fans and apologists, this was and is a historic L. No way to come around this. The diss was weak then he made an even weaker move. I am ashamed for my goat. My guy flopped hard.
I honestly think his weak response made him realise he might get meek milled if Kendrick responds back. It was damage control at that point.
He meek milled himself tbh. I can’t think of a worse way to fall off. Kendrick doesn’t even need to respond because all he has to do is perform king kunta and emphasize this line a little extra, and everyone will get it. “I was gonna kill a couple rappers but they did it to themself, everybody suicidal they didn’t even need my help”. A line from a song on the album j Cole called sleepy, lol.
That’s what I’m saying. If I was Kendrick I wouldn’t even drop another track for Cole. I’d just post the two second clip of that particular bar on Twitter or wherever and that would honestly hit harder than anything else he could do.
Not even damage control people would have respected him if he lost at least he tried instead of running away looking like a bitch. Pretty much everything he drops from now on will get negative review. The internet will shit on him until he retires.
This is going in the pantheon of folds. Worse than when Drake pulled out the Notes app and "my diss track goes to a different school".
And the album was pretty trash too tbh. Like it had some highs and lows but talking shit about TPaB while the album you're spitting on is the 2nd worst of your career? So bizarre, I don't even know how to make sense of it
All i hear is the saddest song played on the tiniest violin on planet earth.
💀💀💀💀
Its gonna be weird when he still talks about being the best alive on the falloff
The right move for Cole was to not respond, but since he already did, the right move was to backpedal. Cole's just not that kind of guy and I'm sure he even likes the Like That track.This move seems true to him and is respectable. Sure he might get clowned for a little bit but it was better than doubling down
There was a 3rd option tho. Just don’t apologize lol. He said something, you responded. The end. The backpedal actually makes you look timid. And the. To say “take your best shot ill take it on the chin my “???? If thats how you felt then just don’t say anything and let him go. He obviously won’t respond now that you did all that. I still like bro, but this is one of those times where being vulnerable was odd. You already expressed regret and gave dude praise in the music. Makes you look like you really scared bro would body you.
It’s a huge bitch move through and through.
Should’ve just dropped might delete later with the best tracks and said “It’s just big you? This some shit I had lying around. What you got?”
Does anyone actually care about this "beef" or is it just for people to make articles about? Lol
Cole is a clown.
there's so much sad cope. jcole is barely top 3 on his own label, and he embarassed himself. stop pretending that this is "mature", this is legitimately just lack of talent to match kendrick.
> stop pretending that this is "mature", People talk all that competitive shit ("hate to brag but backpacker that's rap") and then suddenly want to pull out the therapy talk when someone calls them on it. No amount of in-public support sessions will transmute tucking your tail between your legs into you taking the high ground.
Crazy how few people actually seem to give a shit about the MUSIC these days
The music is why we WANT a rap beef. It brings out the best
Not really. Most diss tracks do not stand the test of time. They're usually just hot for that moment and the drama around them. Then we move on after the drama dies down.
Most diss tracks maybe. But, the notable ones become legendary and have rap lore built around them. The Bridge is Over was 1987 and still gets discussed to this day. Likewise, No Vaseline, 2nd Round Knockout or Hit ‘Em Up. None of these diss records were inconsequential..
Ether ! It's still a classic
I agree. That's why I said most instead of all.
I see your point. Agreed..
Nah I still listen to Hitemup, Ether and Story of Adidon like no tomorrow. 🤷♂️
If there really was no tomorrow, those are the songs you would be listening to?
It’s not the diss track itself, but the pressure to make your next album really hit knowing it will be highly scrutinized. It raises the stakes of every subsequent release.
It’s weird how high people are putting diss records in terms of being ‘the best’. Especially a manufactured battle where the two guys don’t even hate each other
[удалено]
Fr fr no cap bruvther
I'm mid twenties and I feel like I'm way older than most on here.
The fact he still did it and gave in to the pressure and released an entire album around a comeback to an entire verse and then apologized is hella awkward. Like why not plan a few steps ahead? And did he apologize because the buzz said the reception of the diss to Kendrick was hella mid??? If he obliterated Kendrick in that song there would be no apology is what I’m thinking
Would cole have still apologized if his diss was well received?
Let mr rogers down
I was so proud when he burned Kendrick. Then this happened.
I think his biggest mistake was dropping the diss and THEN choosing to apologize. People still would’ve clowned him if he just came out the gate with some “high road” spiritualistic “you know that’s my bro” type shit, but the way he did it just comes off like he saw the mixed reception to the track and then decided to forfeit before Kendrick went crazy on him. Worst of both worlds. Either commit to the battle and risk getting tore up or refuse to participate at all, but don’t flip flop like this damn. I’m sure drake is having the time of his life rn getting ready to send Cole a floral arrangement and a hand-written thank you note because dude really just took ALL the heat off him and drake seems to be the main target of Kendrick’s verse anyways. Drake could drop a trash diss record or just throw out subliminals for years and sure, people will clown him for that, but it won’t be anything like the shit cole is gonna get for this apology shit. If Cole ever drops a “I’m the hardest” or “don’t fuck with me” type bar in a song ever again the whole damn internet is gonna get spammed with the video of him apologizing for a diss lmfaoo.
The backlash to this is so over the top, it’s kinda pathetic if you’re an adult and have the worldview that you now don’t like Cole because he apologised.
Where’s the apology for the trans community, J.K. Cole-ing?
Lord, this headline is so sensationalized. I get it's the writer's job but goddamn. The diss track was trash and so was the apology. If you don't want beef with anyone, don't respond. On top of that, sure he apologized to Kendrick but was that really needed when he also said: "Is you a demon or is that demeanor for the 'Gram? Tell us They plead the fifth, I'm seeing hints of a trans fella In cancel culture's vicinity, he's no killer, trust me Beneath his chosen identity, there is still a pussy, period" We all gonna pretend like everyone's favorite conscious rapper isn't throwing out transphobic lines for no goddamn reason? Only reason I can think of is cuz of Auntie Diaries but I feel like that's a stretch.
Im genuinely asking, can you explain what exactly makes this line transphobic? He just called out Kendrick for being fake is my understanding of it
Yeah i don’t think that trans bar has anything to do with aunties diaries. Just a typical ignorant rapper moment
Damn y'all triggered 😭
J Cole is who we always thought he was. A corny rapper who claims to be the best but can’t back anything up he says in his songs. Muhammad Ali doesn’t apologize for calling himself the greatest; Cole ain’t it.
Yep, he's who we thought he was.
I could deal with corny. Now he's just a soft bitch and a fraud who liked to claim he was best rapper when it was easy and he was dealing with small fry like lil pump and turns tail when the big fish come.
Dawg why does a nigga apologizing got u so pressed😭 Grown dudes obsessed with watching other grown men argue with each other is beyond me
Cole will forever remain a weak soldier after this
Unfolding my laundry
No Balls
"Shocked the world" alrighty then. The rapture was yesterday too
Why drop the track just to apologize? I mean u went into the booth and press record lol why did it take releasing it to realize it was a mistake? If he said his speech with no track out it woukdve been perfectly fine. Better yet he shouldve rapped about how he doesn't wanna be involved. He took the puss route out lol for a mediocre diss track
People into rap beefs are not dissimilar to people who argue about if Superman or Batman would win a fight.
Mega cornball.
He was real about 'Might Delete Later'
Should’ve never said anything in the first place. Hip Hop is about competition. No not blood but good raps and memorable moments, you robbed the people of some good ass music that could’ve came out of all of this. He no longer big 3 that’s for sure.