Two years after one of the biggest lyrical wars in hip-hop history, J. Cole is finally sharing his side of the story.
For a new interview with Apple Music’s Nadeska Alexis, the North Carolina rapper returned to his childhood home at 2014 Forest Hills Drive. During the talk, he got honest about the fallout from the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar and why he decided to bow out early.
Cole made it clear that despite the tension fans saw online, he still holds a lot of respect for both artists. “I admire these dudes, I got genuine love for these dudes,” he said. “I hate to see the world s**t on either one of them in defense of the other. Even saying it out loud is a little silly.
The conversation also touched on the moment that changed everything, his public apology to Kendrick Lamar at the 2024 Dreamville Fest. That move came right after Cole dropped “7 Minute Drill,” a track aimed at Kendrick after his verse on “Like That.” While fans were waiting for a back-and-forth, Cole realized his heart wasn’t in it.
“It hit me an hour before [his set],” he told Nadeska. “Before that, I was stressing the fk out. The moment the idea came to me, I lifted. And I got light, and I got so excited because two or three days before that, it was… This is terrible. I felt like I misrepresented myself. I’m giving life to division and to negative storylines and negative perceptions on somebody that I fk with and got love for, somebody that I care about… We know why that happened in the first place.”
Cole described the days leading up to that festival as a low point for him. “That s**t had me feeling terrible… I can’t really say it made sense,” he added. “But in a moment when I wasn’t clear, I chose to go this way… I felt miserable about it… An hour before, I was like, ‘Aha.’ […] [His wife] saw how it was weighing on me… I felt even better than I felt knowing I was going to [apologize].”
With his latest album The Fall-Off now officially out as of February, Cole seems more focused on keeping his peace than fighting for a spot at the top through negativity.
J. Cole says he still has “genuine love” for both Drake and Kendrick Lamar 🚨
“I got genuine love for these dudes… I hate to see the world sh*t on either one of them in defense of the other.” (via Apple Music) pic.twitter.com/keCyJLljnZ
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) March 20, 2026
J Cole gives very detailed breakdown on the day to what lead to his apology to Kendrick Lamar at Dreamville Festival:
“It hit me an hour before Okay, but before that I was stressing the fuck out for for uh, but in the moment that the idea came to me like via god It’s like oh… pic.twitter.com/OtFwXetqmn
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) March 20, 2026
