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Mustering his inner Beyoncé, J. Cole threw everyone for a loop Thursday evening and dropped a surprise mixtape, “Might Delete Later,” the appetizer leading up to his much anticipated “The Fall Off” album.

Few of us have had enough time to analyze the full 12-track project because of its final track, “7 Minute Drill,” in which Cole takes headshots directly at Kendrick Lamar.

 

A brief history on the J. Cole-Kendrick squabble: Largely considered two of the three best rappers of their generation (Drake being the third), Cole and K. Dot have appeared on several tracks together, mostly near the nascent parts of their careers in the early 2010s. Cole also produced “HiiPower,” the best track from Kendrick’s first album, 2011’s “Section.80.” Their last official appearance together is on Jeezy’s 2017 track “American Dream.”

If I had to dig up and analyze all the subliminal disses that Cole, Kendrick and Drake have leveled at each other and everyone else, you’d be reading this until June. But, like most respectable lyricists worth their battle rapping salt, Kendrick has never been comfortable being “buddies” with the men with whom he’s compared. We first saw this with his buzzy, shot-taking 2013 guest verse on Big Sean’s “Control.”

Kendrick has been mostly quiet following his highly anticipated yet tepidly received 2022 album “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.” But he woke up a somnambulant Hip-Hop by channeling the spirits of Katt Williams and Stephen A. Smith and talking shit in 2024 on “Like That,” from Future and Metro Boomin’s March 22 album “We Don’t Trust You.”

“Motherf**** the Big Three, n***a, it’s just Big Me,” he rapped.

 

Everyone has been waiting for Drake and Cole to respond; the latter got right to it inside of two weeks.

“He still doing shows but fell off like ‘The Simpsons’ / Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic / Your second shit put n****s to sleep but they gassed it / Your third shit was massive and that was your prime / I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine,” Cole rapped.

“He averaging one ‘Heart’ verse like every 30 months or something / If he wasn’t dissing, then we wouldn’t be discussing nothin’ / Blood don’t make me have to smoke this n***a ’cause I f**k with him / But push come to shove on this mic I will humble him,” he also rapped.

As it’s wont to do, Twitter/X went banoodles over the bars — both men have been trending all day Friday. Because many fans love J. Cole or Kendrick, but not both, divisions are sharp.

Some have a valid complaint about Cole’s non-committal, wishy-washy response in the bloodsport that is Hip-Hop beef.

 

 

 

Some folks are dealing with the realization that we’ll never see that joint Cole/Kendrick album everyone has been waiting for.

Of course, several tweets tied Friday morning’s east coast earthquake to the response that dropped just a few hours prior.

 

So, who wins this “round” of the battle? Cole’s diss won’t likely change anyone’s allegiance to either rapper. The true winners of the battle are the fans: We need a little spice dropped on the genre from time to time, and what better rappers than those in “The Big Three?” But the true loser of the battle…? Drake.