J. Cole apologizes for Kendrick Lamar diss track

Rapper J. Cole apologized Sunday for releasing a diss song about Kendrick Lamar, saying he felt “terrible” and vowing to update the song or remove it from streaming services.

The apology followed an exchange of verses that began in October, when J. Cole and Drake billed themselves, along with Lamar, as the “Big Three” of hip-hop in the song “First Person Shooter.” In March, Lamar dismissed that comparison in a guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin's song “Like That,” arguing that there are no Big Three, “he's just a Big One.”

In response, J. Cole on Friday released the single “7 Minute Drill” off his surprise new album, “May Be Deleted Later.” It includes the following lines: “I got a phone call, they say somebody's lying / You want some attention, it comes with extensions / Still doing shows but it's gone down like 'The Simpsons'.”

Two days after the song's release, J. Cole apologized for it while on stage at the Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to the videos Posted on social media. During his headline performance, he said that when he saw the response to the song after its release, it didn't “match my soul,” and that he was talking about it at the concert to end the dispute.

He also called Lamar one of the “greatest” people to ever use a microphone, and said he hoped Lamar would forgive him.

“The last couple of days have been terrible,” J. Cole said. “It allowed me to see how well I've slept over the past 10 years.”

As of early Monday afternoon, “7 Minute Drill” was still available on major streaming services.

J. Cole released “Might Be Deleted Later” on his own label Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, owned by Universal Music Group. Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lamar does not appear to have addressed the track or apologized publicly. Lamar's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Drake appeared to respond to Lamar's poetry at a concert in Sunrise, Florida, in late March. According to the complex. He told the crowd that people were asking him how he felt, and that he had his “head held high” and felt as if no one could mess with him.

Lamar, Drake, and J. Cole have worked together in the past and individually have received numerous awards for their music, including several Grammy Awards and nominations. In 2018, Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his album “DAMN.”