J. Cole says his Kendrick Lamar diss didn’t ‘sit right with my spirit’ in public apology

Alexandra Del Rosario April 8, 2024 J. Cole’

s latest drop “

7 Minute Drill

” unleashed bars of scathing digs at alleged rap rival

Kendrick Lamar

. Days after dropping the diss track, Cole said the song is some of his “lamest, goofiest” work.

The

two-time

Grammy winner real name

Jermaine Lamarr Cole

apologized to Lamar on Sunday evening, during a headlining set

of his own at

Dreamville Festival in North Carolina. Speaking to his audience, Cole said dropping “7 Minute Drill,” the final track on his latest album “

Might Delete Later

,” was a move that he felt was “spiritually bad on me.”

“I tried to jab [Lamar] back, and I try to keep it friendly, but at the end of the day when I listen to it, and when it comes out and I see the talk, that

s

… don’t sit right with my spirit,” he continued. “That

s

.. disrupts my

f

… peace.”

During his aside, which went viral on social media, the

39

-year-old “

No Role Modelz

” rapper said he regrets challenging Lamar’s “catalogue” and his “greatness” and declared the “To Pimp a Butterfly” artist as “one of the greatest [rappers]

was expletive and i’m trying to be mindful!

to touch a…microphone.”

J. Cole repays Kendrick Lamar’s shade with diss on new ‘Might Delete Later’ album

“Dreamville, y’all love Kendrick Lamar, correct?” Cole asks his cheering crowd, before admitting, “as do I.”

Cole released his 3-minute diss track

late

Thursday evening in response to Lamar’s feature on

Future

and

Metro Boomin

s album,

We Dont Trust You

, which dropped in

March

. In

Like That

, the

17

-time Grammy winner Lamar joins the duo to diss Cole for a line in Drake’s “

First Person Shooter.

” Lamar seemingly took issue with a lyric placing Cole,

Drake

and Lamar on the same level.

Yeah get up with me,

f

.. sneak dissing First Person Shooter, I hope they came with three switches, Lamar, 36, raps before adding

m

… the big three… its just big me.

In “7 Minute Drill,” Cole takes shots at Lamar’s career including his release timing (Four albums in 12 years); his height (Your arms might be too short to box with the god); and his relevancy.

If he wasnt dissin, then we wouldnt be discussin him, Cole says in his song.

Drake says he’s taking a break from making music due to the ‘craziest’ health issues with his stomach

On Sunday, Cole explained that the diss came out of pressure from his inner circle and the rap community to respond to Lamar’s shots and that he was conflicted on whether to release the song in the first place. He told his Sunday crowd, bashing Lamar reminded him of “10 years ago when I was moving incorrectly.”

In his apology, Cole also said he hopes that God

will

“align me back on my purpose and on my path.”

“[The] past two days felt terrible. It let me know how good I’ve been sleeping for the past 10 years,” he added, before segueing into a performance of his song “

Love Yourz

.”