Drake and J. Cole's beef with Kendrick Lamar explained as '7 Minute Drill' rapper apologizes

• J. Cole apologized to Kendrick Lamar on Sunday over his diss track, "7 Minute Drill."

• It came after Lamar dissed J. Cole and Drake on Future and Metro Boomin's song "Like That."

• It all ties into a long-running beef between Lamar and Drake.

J. Cole has apologized as the beef between himself, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake — who hip-hop is now calling the "Big 3" — rages on.

Late last month, Kendrick Lamar dissed Drake and Cole on Future and Metro Boomin's track "Like That" from their latest collaborative album, "We Don't Trust You." In his verse, Lamar referenced Drake's latest album, "For All the Dogs," specifically the track "First Person Shooter," which features Cole. (It's a song that Lamar was rumored to be featured on too, but apparently never materialized.)

In "First Person Shooter," Cole and Drake brag about being the "Big 3" rappers in hip-hop alongside Lamar. But Lamar distances himself from the other two in "Like That."

"Motherfuck the big three, n****, it's just big me," Lamar rapped.

The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart last week amid the drama.

Cole fired back on Friday with the song "7 Minute Drill" from his 12-track EP "Might Delete Later," which features Gucci Mane, Ari Lennox, and others. In the song, Cole mocks Lamar's waning popularity with his latest album, "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers," and his "second shit," which could refer to Lamar's second album, "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City," but fans believe is about "To Pimp A Butterfly," as most people don't count 2011's "Section.80" as his first.

Two days after the song was released, Cole apologized to Lamar during his performance at the Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. It came after hip-hop's loudest voices, namely Joe Budden, expected Cole to continue the beef onstage. Instead, he shocked the hip-hop world and apologized.

"I just want to come up here and publicly be like, bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest shit," Cole said. "And I pray that y'all are like, forgive a n**** for the misstep and I can get back to my true path. Because I ain't gonna lie to y'all. The past two days felt terrible."

Here's what to know about the feud between Drake, Cole, and Lamar.

Drake and Lamar have been throwing digs at each other since 2013.

Lamar and Drake started out as friends, with Lamar opening for Drake's "Club Paradise" tour in 2012. The pair's feud began when Lamar rapped that he was better than all the rising rap stars, including Drake and Cole, when he featured on Big Sean's 2013 song "Control."

"And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big K.R.I.T., Wale, Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller / I got love for you all, but I'm tryna murder you n*****," he rapped.

Drake appeared to respond on the track "The Language" from his 2013 album, "Nothing Was the Same," rapping: "I don't know why they been lyin' but your shit is not that inspirin'/ Bank account statement just look like I'm ready for early retirement / Fuck any n**** that's talking that shit just to get a reaction."

The two rappers last featured on the same song in 2013 and, since then, have made small digs at each other in their tracks and in interviews.

In 2015, many fans believe that Lamar accused Drake of using a ghostwriter, pointing to Lamar's 2015 track "King Kunta," where he raps, "I can dig rappin', but a rapper with a ghostwriter? / What the fuck happened?"

Lamar hasn't confirmed if the "King Kunta" lyric is about Drake.

Later that year, Meek Mill also accused Drake of using a ghostwriter in a since-deleted post on X, which Drake denied in a 2019 interview with Rap Radar.

The pair have also taken different paths artistically, with Lamar earning critical acclaim, including winning a Pulitzer prize for "Damn" in 2018 and 17 Grammys. Drake is more commercially successful, with 15 songs with over a billion streams on Spotify compared to Kendrick's five.

Cole entered the beef after appearing on "For All The Dogs."

Drake's 2023 track "First Person Shooter," featuring Cole, is all about the two being the greatest rappers ever. Cole, who is friends with Lamar, references him in the song

"Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?" Cole raps, referring to Lamar's nickname, "K-Dot," and Drake's birth name Aubrey. "We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."

Drake ends the song by comparing his success to that of the late Michael Jackson, who is the sixth best-selling artist of all time. In October 2023, Drake scored his 13th Billboard Hot 100 No.1, tying with Jackson.

Lamar's verse in "Like That" alludes to these lyrics, the song title, "First Person Shooter," and Drake's 2023 album title, "For All the Dogs."

"Fuck sneak dissin', first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches," Lamar raps.

"N****, Prince outlived Mike Jack'," Lamar raps later, referencing a 2017 song, "Mask Off (Remix)," where he compares himself to Prince. Prince and Jackson also had a long-standing beef when they were alive.

Lamar ends the verse referencing Drake's latest album: "'Fore all your dogs gettin' buried /That's a K with all these nines, he gon' see Pet Sematary (Yeah)."

A week after the song dropped last month, Drake appeared to respond to Lamar during a concert in Florida as part of his "It's All A Blur Tour: Big As In What?" with Cole.

"A lot of people ask me how I'm feeling. I'mma let you know I'm feeling," Drake said in a video shared on X. "I got my fucking head up high, my back straight, I'm 10 fucking toes down in Florida and anywhere else I go. And I know that no matter what, it's not a n**** on this earth that could ever fuck with me in my life!"

Cole fired back at Lamar and then apologized two days later.

Cole did not comment publicly on Lamar's "Like That" verse until last week when he released "Might Delete Later."

The first verse of the final track, "7 Minute Drill," appears to be a direct response to Lamar, who Cole implies is losing popularity. Rolling Stone's Andre Gee wrote that the title refers to a military drill where officers have to explain how to respond to an enemy attack.

"He still doin' shows, but fell off like the Simpsons / Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic / Your second shit put n***** to sleep, but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailin' right behind and I just now hit mine," Cole raps.

Fans think Cole's bar about Lamar's second album references the critically-acclaimed "To Pimp a Butterfly," which some music fans have described as boring. Rolling Stone's Gee and Pitchfork's Alphonse Pierre panned Cole's track for not being aggressive enough.

"He doesn't have the heart for the lying, disrespect, and animosity it requires to make an effective diss track," Pierre wrote.

Two days later, Cole walked back the comments at his Dreamville Festival, saying the only reason he responded was because he felt pressured by his fans and his friends to respond.

"I was conflicted because, one I know my heart and I know how I feel about my peers, these two n***** that I just been blessed to even stand beside in this game, let alone chase they greatness," Cole said in a video shared on X. "So I felt conflicted 'cause I'm like, bruh I don't even feel no way. But the world wanna see blood."

Cole said his diss verse, and the discourse surrounding it, didn't "sit right with my spirit," adding that he hoped Lamar, who he describes as "one of the greatest motherfucker's to ever touch a fuckin' microphone," wasn't hurt by his words.

"If he did, my n****, 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," he said.

Representatives for Lamar, Cole, and Drake did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

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