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Just when you thought the biggest beef in rap had gone quiet, J Cole has accused rivals Drake and Kendrick Lamar of chasing clicks and money.
The rapper was one of the “big three” involved in the war of words, but has been quieter than the other two men, who’ve released 10 diss tracks between them.
That changed overnight, when J Cole dropped new single Port Antonio, which is filled with references to the beef.
Neither Drake nor Kendrick has responded to the new track, but Drake liked J Cole’s Instagram post revealing it.
The feud was lit when J Cole collaborated on Drake’s First Person Shooter, saying they made up the “big three” of hip-hop alongside Kendrick.
Animosity between Drake and Kendrick goes back years but the track prompted a new war of words, with Kendrick saying there was no “big three – it’s just big me”.
J Cole, who was born in Germany and raised in North Carolina, initially doubled down after Kendrick’s response but later pulled back.
He apologised for a follow-up track he released promising to “humble” Kendrick, saying it was the “lamest, goofiest” thing he’d recorded and was a “mis-step”.
In Port Antonio, he suggests he “pulled the plug” because he saw where the beef was heading.
“They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make their pockets grow,” he raps.
“I wouldn’t have lost a battle, I would’ve lost a bro, I would’ve gained a foe, and all for what?”
Drake and Kendrick got a lot of attention for their warring songs.
Their diss tracks have been streamed millions of times – Kendrick’s Euphoria was even used in an official TikTok video for US President Joe Biden’s election campaign, before he dropped out.
Getty ImagesDrake and Kendrick’s verses became increasingly personal, with both artists taking swings at each other’s families and appearances as well as their talents.
In June, Kendrick performed Not Like Us, in which he accuses Drake of having relationships with underage women, five times back to back at a concert in Los Angeles.
Drake in turn has accused Kendrick of domestic violence. Both have denied the allegations levelled at them.
Getty ImagesThe beef also spilled over offline and Drake’s OVO store in London was vandalised with graffiti referencing Kendrick’s lyrics.
One of his security guards was also shot outside his Toronto mansion in May, however it’s not clear whether this was as a result of the row.
But neither Drake nor Kendrick have released new diss tracks since.
In his new single, J Cole says the rappers started the beef “because it’s profitable… but singin’ ‘stop the violence’ tunes when dudes in hospital”.
“I understand the thirst of being first that made ’em both swing,” he raps.
“Protecting legacies, so lines got crossed, perhaps regrettably, my friends went to war, I walked away with all they blood on me.”
The hip-hop community was divided between backing Drake or Kendrick and in the end, J Cole confirms his position on Drake’s side.
“I ain’t afraid to say you did a lot for me,” he raps.
Seeming to address the Canadian rapper directly towards the end of the track, J Cole says making music isn’t for “beefing”.
“It’s for speakin’ our thoughts, pushin’ ourselves, reachin’ the charts,” his lyrics say.
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