When Future and Metro Boomin dropped their recent collaborative album “We Don’t Trust You” last month, fans were quick to latch onto Kendrick Lamar’s guest verse on “Like That,” where he took shots at Drake and J. Cole for including him as part of the “big three” on their duet “First Person Shooter,” released last year.
While Drake has vaguely referenced Lamar’s diss on his current tour, J. Cole took a direct approach with the surprise release of his new project “Might Delete Later,” responding to the diss on the concluding song “7 Minute Drill.”
On the track, the Fayetteville, NC native opened by addressing Lamar’s diss. “I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissing / You want some attention, it come with extensions,” he raps. “He still doing shows but fell off like ‘The Simpsons’ / Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic / Your second shit put n—s to sleep but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine.”
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He continues by referencing Lamar’s five-part “The Heart” series that he’s rolled out in pieces throughout his career. “He averaging one ‘Heart’ verse like every 30 months or something / If he wasn’t dissing, then we wouldn’t be discussing nothin’ / Blood don’t make me have to smoke this n—a ’cause I fuck with him / But push come to shove on this mic I will humble him.”
Fans have been eagerly awaiting a response from the rappers after Lamar’s cameo on “Like That.” Lamar initially took issue with J. Cole’s bars that put them in the same tier of success: “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.”
Lamar fired back with a pointed response: “Yeah get up with me, fuck sneak dissing / ‘First Person Shooter,’ I hope they came with three switches,” he sneered. “Motherfuck the big three, n—a, it’s just big me.”
While the Lamar response set social media ablaze, some quickly called out lines from another song on “Might Delete Later” for being transphobic. On “Pi,” featuring Daylyt and Ab-Soul, he raps, “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.”
Cole previously came under fire for veiled homophobia on his 2013 song “Villuminati,” where he clumsily attempted to subvert the usage of slurs against gay people.
“Might Delete Later” arrives after his sixth solo album, “The Off-Season,” which released in 2021. The 12-song project features guest appearances from Ari Lennox, Gucci Mane, Bas, Central Cee and Cam’Ron.
