“I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissin’.”
Those lyrics kick off the chorus of J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill,” a scathing song off his surprise album “Might Delete Later,” which dropped late Thursday amid his alleged feud with Kendrick Lamar. Taking shots at the Compton native and his reputation, Cole’s “7 Minute Drills” proves that now there’s technically two somebodies doing the dissin’.
In the 3½-minute track, which closes the album, Cole doesn’t directly name the “To Pimp a Butterfly” artist, but drops enough breadcrumbs about his alleged rival’s career — from his notable Grammys haul to his album output — for rap fans to spell it out for themselves. At the beginning of the song, Cole seemingly bashes Lamar’s discography, turned “classic” to “tragic” and overhyped.
“Your third s— was massive and that was your prime / I was trailin’ right behind and I just now hit mine,” Cole says. “Front of the line, with a comfortable lead / How ironic, son as I got it, now he want somethin’ with me.”
The “No Role Modelz” rapper, 39, had burst onto the scene with his debut “Cole World: The Sideline Story” in 2011, but his “2014 Forest Hills Drive” helped take his career to new heights. By 2014, however, Lamar had released several albums including his critically acclaimed, “good kid, m.A.A.d city.”
Cole and Kendrick are both Grammy winners, with two and 17 prizes, respectively. But for the former, the awards shine isn’t all it’s made out to be.
“Funny thing about it, b—, I don’t even want prestige / F— the Grammys ‘cause them crackers ain’t never done nothing for me,” the North Carolina native raps.
“7 Minute Drill” continues with digs at Lamar’s 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 wasn’t dissin’, then we wouldn’t be discussin’ him,” Cole says.
The rappers’ alleged feud can be tracked to another Cole rap — one featured on Drake’s 2023 release, “For All the Dogs.” In the album’s six-track “First Person Shooter,” Cole is a featured artist and muses on who might be “the hardest MC.”
“Is it K. Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?,” he raps, referring Lamar and Drake (born Aubrey Graham). “We the big three, like we started a league.”
Lamar wasn’t a fan of the mention and took his thoughts to Future and Metro Boomin’s “We Don’t Trust You,” which dropped in March. In “Like That,” he joins the duo to diss Cole.
“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… it’s just big me.”
Cole’s “Might Delete Later” might not feature Drake nor Lamar (obviously), but the 12-track release touts a handful of other guest artists. Singer Ari Lennox and rappers Gucci Mane and Young Dro are featured in the album’s first track, “Pricey.”
Rappers Cam’ron, Bas, Central Cee, Daylyt and Ab-Soul also lend their voices to the album.