J. Cole addresses why he “walked away” from the Kendrick Lamar and Drake rap beef in his new song, “Port Antonio.”
“I pulled the plug because I’ve seen where that was ‘bout to go / They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make they pockets grow,” Cole raps in the track, which dropped late Wednesday.
“They see this fire in my pen and think I’m dodgin’ smoke / I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro / I woulda gained a foe, and all for what? Just to attain some mo’.”
The “No Role Modelz” rapper, 39, continues, “Props from strangers that don’t got a clue what I been aimin’ for? / Since the age of 14, Jermaine is no king / If that means I gotta dig up dirt and pay the whole team / Of algorithm-bot n–as just to sway the whole thing / On social media, competin’ for your favorable means.”
Cole then says he understood why Lamar and Drake, both 37, continued their feud, but he hopes fans realize why he chose to bow out gracefully.
“I understand the thirst of being first that made ‘em both swing / Protecting legacies, so lines got crossed, perhaps regrettably,” he raps.
“My friends went to war, I walked away with all they blood on me / Now some will discredit me, try wipe away my pedigree / But please find a n–a out that’s rappin’ this incredibly.”
The “Nobody’s Perfect” emcee concludes his song with words of encouragement for Drake, whom he acknowledges “did a lot” for him and tells to get back to making great music.
“They say I’m pickin’ sides, aye, don’t you lie on me, my n–a / Then start another war, aye, Drake, you’ll always be my n–a,” he says.
“I ain’t ashamed to say you did a lot for me, my n–a / F–k all the narratives / Tappin’ back into your magic pen is what’s imperative / Remindin’ these folks why we do it, it’s not for beefin’ / It’s for speakin’ our thoughts, pushin’ ourselves, reachin’ the charts.”
Drake subtly reacted to his “First Person Shooter” collaborator’s new song by simply “liking” his Instagram post about its release.
In April, Cole decided to drop out of the rap beef, saying at his annual Dreamville Festival that he felt “lame” and “conflicted” for dropping a diss track aimed at Lamar.
“I don’t really feel no way, but the world wanna see blood. I don’t know if y’all can feel that, but the world wanna see blood,” he said in a clip.
Cole also removed the song from streaming services.
However, Champagne Papi and the Compton emcee continued throwing shots at each other, releasing several diss tracks with wild accusations.
On the hit song “Not Like Us,” Lamar accused Drake of having a secret daughter and liking underage girls — both of which the Toronto native quickly denied.
On “Family Matters,” Drake accused Lamar of not being the father of his son and claimed he was cheating and physically abusing his fiancée, Whitney Alford.
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