J. Cole speaks about his Kendrick Lamar apology in a new freestyle. The 41-year-old rapper has tackled his often-discussed apology to Kendrick Lamar following his 2024 diss in a new freestyle, Birthday Blizzard ’26. Fans are reading between the lines and are certain that the “Grippy” rapper is talking about his past apology to Lamar.
J. Cole gets candid about Kendrick Lamar apology in new freestyle
J. Cole addresses his past apology to Kendrick Lamar in a new “Birthday Blizzard 26” freestyle. He raps in the surprise-dropped track, “I used to be top, see, the apology dropped me way out of the top 3, no problem, I’m probably my best when they doubt me. The top ain’t really what I thought it would be, so I jumped off and landed back at the bottom and restarted at a level where I wasn’t regarded as much, just to climb past them again and tell them all to keep up.”
Notably, Cole’s verse referenced the “7 Minute Drill” diss track that he dedicated to Lamar. Interestingly, this was before Lamar’s highly publicized rap beef with Drake in 2024. But unlike Drake and Lamar’s intense public feud, this one was milder in nature. Cole reportedly called the “Euphoria” rapper’s music boring and uninspiring. (via Complex).
However, soon after that, Cole took to the stage at his Dreamville Festival in North Carolina, where he sincerely apologized to Lamar. He had revealed then that he was “so proud” of his project Might Delete Later, except for one part.
The 41-year-old rapper said, “Y’all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I.” Cole continued by saying, “So I just wanna come up here and publicly be like bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest s**t, and I say all that to say it made me feel like 10 years ago when I was moving incorrectly, and I pray that God will line me back up on my purpose and my path. I pray that my n***a didn’t feel no way.”
The 41-year-old detailed how he had been feeling “terrible” and sincerely begged for forgiveness. Cole said, “Do what you do. All good. It’s love. And I pray that y’all will, like, forgive a n***a for the misstep so I can get back to my true path, because I ain’t gonna lie to y’all, the past two days felt terrible.”
