In a surprising twist, J. Cole said he regretted dropping his "7 Minute Drill" diss track that he released in response to Kendrick Lamar's fiery "Like That" warning shot.
"I been happy, I've been moving on my own accord... now why am I saying all of that?" Cole said at his Dreamville Festival in North Carolina on Sunday.
"I put out this project on Friday called, Might Delete Later... I don't know how many people checked it out or whatever (a projected 140-160K). And, I swear to God... I'm so proud of that project. Because, I know, one, it's just an EP that leads me to this thing that I've been working on for a long time and I know the work it took to get to a certain type of skill level... that shit mean a lot to me... I'm so proud of that project, except for one part," he added, referencing his diss to Kendrick.
He continued:
"It's one part on that shit that make me feel like, 'Man, that's the lamest shit I ever did in my fucking life, right?' And, I know, this is not what a lot of people want to hear...I can hear my n***as up there right now like...'nahhh, don't do that.' But, I gotta keep it 100 with y'all. I damn near had a relapse, right? Because, y'all heard some shit that happened two-three weeks ago, however long it was. ... Y'all heard that bazooka that was dropped on the motherfucking game."
Cole went on:
"So all this time of me moving on my own accord for the first time, I was tested. Why am I tested? Cause I got the world and I got my n***as like, 'Whatcha gonna do Cole?' Boy, I must have had a thousand missed calls, oh my fucking god. Texts flooded. I couldn't answer my shit. N***a, it's war time. N****s wanna see blood and I was conflicted because one, I know my heart. I know how I feel about my peers, these two n***as that I been blessed to stand beside in this game, let alone chase their greatness. So I felt conflicted 'cause like, bruh, I don't really feel no way but the world wanna see blood. I don't know if y'all can feel that but the world wanna see blood."
Cole then referenced Kendrick directly by name, and labeled his response a "misstep" that he classified as being "lame."
"Y'all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I. So I just wanna come up here and publicly be like bruh, that was the lamest goofiest shit, and I say all that to say it made me feel like 10 years ago when I was moving incorrectly, and I pray that god will line me back up on my purpose and my path, I pray that my n***a didnt feel no way and if he did, my n***a, I got my chin out, 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 will like, forgive a n***a for the misstep and I can get back to my true path, 'cause I ain't gonna lie to y'all, the past two days felt terrible."
Cole then played "Love Yourz" after raising the white flag in his back-and-forth with Kendrick.
Who really knows when the cold war between J. Cole and Drake on one side and Kendrick on the other started but there's been an untold amount of subliminals in the past years. Things kicked up a notch with the release of "First Person Shooter," which featured mentions of the so-called "Big Three" that Mr. Morale took offense to.
On Metro Boomin and Future's We Don't Trust You track "Like That," Kendrick rapped:
Think I won't drop the location? I still got PTSD
Motherfuck the Big 3, n***a, it's just big me
N***a, bum, what? I'm really like that
And your best work is a light pack
N***a, Prince outlived Mike Jack'
N***a, bum, 'fore all your dogs gettin' buried
That's a K with all these nines, he gon' see Pet Sematary
Cole brought out several people during his Dreamville set, including Central Cee, Bas, Omen, Lil Yachty, and others.
![The previously available leaks popped up under the pgLang name on the [untitled] app.](https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2024-04/29/18/campaign_images/aa253167eb79/kendrick-lamar-leaks-cause-commotion-after-fan-ma-5-1530-1714414906-0_16x9.jpg?output-quality=auto&fill=3840:2160;center,top)
