It was one of the wildest weekends in hip-hop history.
Since Friday, Kendrick Lamar and Drake have been dropping songs at each other's expense at a breakneck pace, sparking pro-sports fandom and pushing hip-hop media figures to the limit.The two rappers' long-simmering beef intensified in March when Lamar directly targeted Drake and J. Cole in a guest verse on the song Like That, which is featured on the Future and Metro Boomin album We Don't Trust You.
J, Cole previously said he regretted the song just a few days after its release because he felt “terrible” about a dig aimed at Lamar.
The rapper has said he is proud of his latest mixtape, Might Delete Later (an appropriate name given the circumstances), apart from one track, Seven Minute Drill, which has been taken down on YouTube.
Over three-and-a-half minutes (not the billed seven), J Cole takes aim at Lamar. “He’s still doing shows, but fell off like The Simpsons,” Cole raps, “Your first s*** was classic, your last s*** was tragic.
“He averagin' one hard verse like every thirty months or somethin'”, he continues, “If he wasn't dissin', then we wouldn't be discussin' 'em.”
But J. Cole has now eaten his words and said he might look to pull the track from streaming services, even if it has been immortalised on physical editions.
The closing track of Might Delete Later was aimed at Lamar as part of a long running rivalry – which, like most rap feuds, will take some explaining.
What's the feud with Kendrick Lamar and Drake?
Drake responded in April with two diss recordings – one of which sparked a legal threat by using artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic the voices of Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur – with a complex, six-minute epic titled Euphoria.
Lamar then responded to Drake by labelling him a conman and an absent parent. He then released an Instagram-only single called 6:16 in LA, which is a reference to Drake's timestamp hits (such as 8am in Charlotte).
Taylor Swift's regular producer Jack Antonoff co-produced 6:16 in LA, a satirical reaction to Drake's Taylor Made Freestyle, in which he ridiculed Lamar for working with pop artists such as Swift. In the song, Lamar declares himself prepared for battle, accuses Drake of hiding behind Twitter bots and memes, and even raises questions about Drake's inner circle.
A few hours later, Drake retaliated with Family Matters, a seven-minute song that takes aim at Lamar, Metro Boomin, and the Weeknd, with the Compton rapper receiving the majority of his ire. According to the song, Lamar called Tupac's estate to request that Drake's Taylor Made Freestyle be taken down from all online video stores.
It wasn’t long before Lamar released Meet the Grahams, a song where the rapper addresses Drake, his parents, and his son Adonis directly.
The song featured claims about Drake's alleged connections and family, all over an ominous piano rhythm.
In less than a day, Drake returned with the West Coast hip-hop song Not Like Us, which further denigrated the Canadian rapper by accusing him of paedophilia and accused Drake's group of illegal activity.
As Sunday drew to an end, Drake made the final move (for now) by dropping The Heart Part 6, which was a reference to Lamar's own five-part The Heart song series.
How did the Kendrick Lamar / J Cole feud begin?
In recent years, Lamar (nicknamed K-Dot), J Cole, and Toronto’s finest Drake have emerged as the Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic of the rap world – becoming known as the big three.
Drake, who was born Aubrey Graham, released his album For All the Dogs last year and sixth track First Person Shooter featured a verse from US titan Cole.
Cole rapped: “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.”
But Lamar did not like the comparison and used an opportunity, guesting on the song Like That, with Future and Metro Boomin to hit back.
“Motherf**k the big three, n***a, it’s just big me,” he raps. “N***a, bum, What? I’m really like that / And your best work is a light pack.”
Why did J. Cole apologise?
J. Cole released the mixtape on Friday but, by Sunday, he was apparently regretting it.
He used his performance at Dreamville Festival in North Carolina to apologise to Lamar.
“I’m so proud of [Might Delete Later], except for one part,” Cole said.
“It’s one part of that s*** that makes me feel like, man that’s the lamest, goofiest s*** I did in my f***in’ life, right? And I know this is not what a lot of people want to hear.
“I feel terrible.”
He said that he “damn near had a relapse” over the incident and that he had responded because “the world wanted to see blood”.
Cole added that his actions had “disrupted his peace” and that if Lamar wanted to respond he would “take it on the chin”.
It remains to be seen what, if anything, Lamar will say in response.
