J. Cole has unexpectedly addressed the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, as well as his decision to bow out of it, on a new song called “Port Antonio.”
Released by surprise on Wednesday night (October 9), the five-minute track finds the Dreamville rapper defending his decision to step back from his brief battle with longtime friend and occasional collaborator Kendrick.
“I pulled the plug because I seen where that was ’bout to go / They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make they pockets grow / They see this fire in my pen and think I’m dodgin’ smoke / I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro / I woulda gained a foe,” he raps.
Cole then references the salacious accusations made by both Drake and Kendrick on their respective diss songs: “Jermaine is no king if that means I gotta dig up dirt and pay the whole team / Of algorithm bot n-ggas just to sway the whole thing / On social media, competing for your favorable memes to be considered best.”
He also suggests that both rappers went too far in their feud: “I understand the thirst of being first that made ’em both swing / Protecting legacies, so lines got crossed, perhaps regrettably / My friends went to war, I walked away with all they blood on me.”
Cole later addresses his “First Person Shooter” collaborator directly: “They say I’m pickin’ sides, aye, don’t you lie on me, my n-gga / To start another war / Aye, Drake, you’ll always be my n-gga / I ain’t ashamed to say you did a lot for me, my n-gga / Fuck all the narratives / Tapping back into your magic pen is what’s imperative.”
The North Carolina native closes out the song by making a wider plea to Hip Hop: “Reminding these folks why we do it / It’s not for beefing, it’s for speaking our thoughts / Pushing ourselves, reaching the charts / Reaching your minds, deep in your heart / Screaming to find emotions to touch / Somethin’ inside to open you up / Help you cope with the rough times and shit / I’m sending love, ’cause we ain’t promised shit.”
Away from the headline-grabbing bars about his “Big Three” contemporaries, “Port Antonio” samples Lonnie Liston Smith’s “A Garden of Peace,” which rap heads will recognize from JAY-Z‘s “Dead Presidents,” as well as Cleo Sol‘s “Know That You Are Loved,” which was also recently sampled by Big Sean on “Boundaries.”
The song arrives almost exactly a year after J. Cole’s “First Person Shooter” collaboration with Drake ignited Hip Hop’s civil war.
After Kendrick Lamar fired back months later with a blistering verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” Cole engaged the Compton native by dropping the diss song “7 Minute Drill.”
Just days after its release, however, Cole controversially apologized to Kendrick onstage at his Dreamville Festival before removing the track from streaming services.
“That shit disrupts my fucking peace,” he said in part. “That was the lamest, goofiest shit […] I pray that y’all forgive a n-gga for the misstep and I can get back to my true path.”
Setting an example as to how it can be done.
Excuses, excuses. Cole threw stones then hid his hands That’s weak. He should have let his skills do the talking. Instead he called himself the Muhammad Ali of the Big 3 when he wasn’t willing to earn or defend the title.
lol there is no “title” or “king of hip hop.” Either you put out good music or you don’t. If you dig up dirt for the sake of being “crowned king” then you’re just feeding into media frenzy. The best emcees are the ones who keep their nose out of this dumb shit lol, and I’m not even talking about Cole. Just acknowledge that Drake and Kdot beefed for the sake of going viral.
So jcole should’ve thrown away future collabs with one of the best MCs ever to entertain you and defend one of the worst rappers in the history of the industry? Are you 12 or 14 because either way you sound like an angry child who didn’t get the toy they wanted
You want blood with no blame P. You’re too old for that. You too scared to get your image dirty, so you try using naive pawns. It’s corny, and Virginia dudes don’t really move like that. Not a jealous bone in the body either. Stop projecting
He could’ve kept that.
Yada yada yada just keep cole outta that goat discussion from now one stanboys plz n thank you
He should have said this then and he could have come out more on top of both of them. HE didn’t have to sink to their level, but stay engaged and son both of them
I want to bludgeon kendick lame-mar’s face with a phukkin axe!💥🪓
Cole, you would’ve lost the battle. Dot is just different and you flow put dudes ti sleep
Haters # triggered
Haters triggered
Haters triggered
That’s right Cole let’s cock roaches know.
K dot purposely tried to start a war to increase is own album sales.
Drake and J Cole have both out sold K dot. K dot has never out sold drake or J Cole.
K ot got out classed by drake on family matters and he’s mad that both j Cole and drake out sell him.
# dealwithit haters 😎
That’s right Cole let’s cock roaches know.
K dot purposely tried to start a war to increase is own album sales.
Drake and J Cole have both out sold K dot. K dot has never out sold drake or J Cole.
K ot got out classed by drake on family matters and he’s mad that both j Cole and drake out sell him.
# dealwithit haters 😎
Whatever you say Greg
Gay Greg 😂
“If he weren’t dissing we wouldn’t be talking about him” was true still.
This song makes Cole look weak tbh.
Love his line near the end. It’s about telling your story and making good music. All of that battle shit is for the birds. Unless you got real probles with a person that you need to channel the energy into, it’s wack. Two privileged dudes 15 years into their career where they’ve collaborated several times and even toured together is not beef. It’s that watered down shit that this weak generation respects, but I never will. Plus, J. Cole is the only one of the three still making good music consistently while the other two are on auto pilot putting out garbage.