J Cole, the US rapper, has apologised for recording a diss track aimed at Kendrick Lamar, his colleague.
Last year, Cole, on the song ‘First Person Shooter’, had suggested that he, Drake and Lamar were the current “big three” names in hip-hop.
Lamar, however, disagreed with Cole. In his verse on the song ‘Like That’, he said there was “no big three — it’s just big me”.
He also called Cole’s best verses “insubstantial” and claimed he was the “Prince to Drake’s Michael Jackson”.
In response to Lamar, Cole released a song titled ‘7 Minute Drill’, saying Lamar has “fallen off like The Simpsons”.
In the track, he also described Lamar’s latest album ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ as “tragic”.
Speaking on Sunday at the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina, Cole apologised for his “lame” and “goofy” response.
He said he had gotten “a thousand missed calls” and felt pressured to write a comeback.
Cole said since releasing the song, he has “felt terrible”, nearly had a relapse, and could “no longer sleep well at night”.
He praised Lamar, calling him “one of the greatest”, and hoped he was not offended by the track.
“I’m so proud of my latest project, ‘Might Delete Later,’ except for one part. One part of that made me feel like it is the lamest sh*t I ever did in my life,” he said.
“They said it was wartime and wanted to see blood. I was conflicted because I know my heart and how I feel about these two nig**s that I’ve been blessed to even stand beside in this game.
“In trying to get this music out, I moved in a way that made me feel spiritually bad. That sh*t doesn’t sit right with my spirit. That sh*t disrupts my peace.
“How many people think Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest ever to pick up a microphone? You all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I.
“I want to publicly say that was the lamest and goofiest sh*t I’ve ever done. I pray that Lamar didn’t feel any kind of way. And if he did, I got my chin out. Take your best shot, I’ll take that on the chin.”
The trio have dominated the rap genre since the 2010s, with Lamar winning 17 Grammys, Drake five, and Cole two.
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