J. Cole Shoots Back At Kendrick Lamar On “7-Minute Drill” Response
J. Cole surprise-dropped a new project and, with it, a Kendrick Lamar diss.
On Friday (April 5), Cole returned with a 12-track project, Might Delete Later, capping off his vlog series of the same name. But it was MDL’s outro, “7-Minute Drill,” that stole the show.
The song featured production from T-Minus, Griselda’s Conductor Williams, Al Hug, and Elyas, and consisted of two beats. Conductor handles the latter half, sampling Drake’s “Energy” for the fiery and (debatably better) verse of the two. For what it’s worth, Cole mentions that his diss is a warm-up (“This is merely a warning shot to back ni**as down”), and he executes with relatively low energy. The rapper also appears remorseful in his delivery at times, with the overall tone of the track almost asking Kendrick, “Are you sure?” Regardless, the bars hit just as hard.
The North Carolina emcee directly responds to K. Dot’s “Like That” verse almost bar-for-bar. He kicks off the verse, telling Lamar that he fell off. Jermaine then combats K. Dot’s notion that his “best work is a light pack,” insisting that it’s the West Coast native who has an inconsistent discography. While Cole praises good kid, m.A.A.d city and DAMN, Cole calls the universally acclaimed album, To Pimp A Butterfly, boring and labels Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers as “tragic.” Very HOT takes.
Cole then argues that he is no longer third place behind Drake and Dot and didn’t need “controversy” to do it. “Controversy” is a double entendre and reference to Lamar’s iconic “Control” verse. The song drummed up controversy, and Cole articulated the bar as “control-verse-y”—super clever.
Cole then rounds out the first verse referencing the famous New Jack City scene featuring a tearful Nino Brown having to shoot his close confidant, G-Money, for switching sides. In the second verse, Cole cleverly responds to Kendrick’s bar: “I hope they came with three switches.”
He employs an acrobatic-like flow, twisting and “switching” in and out of basketball and gun metaphors, letting the West Coast native know they did come with three switches. Cole even says “bodybags” three times to drive the point home. Dreamville’s head honcho later doubles-down on his love for Kendrick Lamar, but asserts “Like That” put the battery in his back—and friend or not, he’s not backing down.
“I came up in the ‘Ville, so I’m good when it’s tension/He still doin’ shows, but fell off like the Simpsons/Your first sh*t was classic, your last sh*t was tragic/Your second sh*t put ni**as to sleep, but they gassed it/Your third sh*t was massive and that was your prime/I was trailin’ right behind and I just now hit mine,” he raps in verse one. “Now I’m front of the line with a comfortable lead/How ironic, soon as I got it, now he want somethin’ with me/Well, he caught me at the perfect time, jump up and see/Boy, I got here off of bars, not no controversy.”
“Get a ni**a stretched if I feel the disrespect/Your arms might be too short to box with the god/Who live his life without the pressures of a constant facade/I pray for peace, but if a ni**a cease these positive vibes/A Falcon 9 inside my pocket, bi**h, this rocket gon’ fly,” he offers in the second verse. “Now it’s poppin’ outside like the top of July/My text flooded with the hunger for a toxic reply/I’m hesitant, I love my brother, but I’m not gonna lie/I’m powered up for real, that sh*t would feel like swattin’ a fly/Four albums in twelve years, ni**a, I can divide/Sh*t, if this is what you want, I’m indulgin’ in violence.”
And if that wasn’t enough, Cole’s Might Delete Later features a contribution from Ab-Soul. Soulo used to be a labelmate with Kendrick Lamar on TDE. Having his mans on the same album he’s getting dissed on is a surprise, 3D Chess move.
And if you’re wondering, no, Drake has not responded outside of his “spicy” Instagram posts and on-stage rants.
Listen to the tracks above.
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