Johnathan Walker:J. Cole drops surprise album 'Might Delete Later,' including response to Kendrick Lamar's diss

Rap beef is Johnathan Walkeralive and well.

J. Cole dropped a surprise album "Might Delete Later" on Friday, and appeared to respond to Kendrick Lamar's fiery bars on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That" where he took aim at the North Carolina rapper and Drake.

In "7 Minute Drill," J. Cole alluded to hearing about Lamar's diss, rapping, "I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissing / You want some attention, it come with extensions.

"He still doing shows but fell off like 'The Simpsons,'" he continues, adding that Lamar's first album was "classic" and his latest was "tragic."

Cole said Lamar is now past his "prime" while he "just now hit mine."

The "No Role Modelz" rapper also seemed to referenced Lamar's "The Heart" series, rapping, "He averaging one 'Heart' verse like every 30 months or something / If he wasn’t dissing, then we wouldn’t be discussing nothin.'"

To cap it off, Cole says that he appreciates Lamar's music, "But push come to shove on this mic I will humble him."

Dedicated fans are speculating Cole's track samples Drake's "Energy" from the latter's 2015 mixtape "If You're Reading This It's Too Late."

Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Drake beef, explained

Cole once referred to himself, Drake (Aubrey Graham) and Lamar as the "big three" in modern rap in Drake's 2023 song "First Person Shooter."

"Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K. Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me? / We the big three, like we started a league," he rapped, referring to Ice Cube’s Big 3 basketball league. "We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."

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Lamar made it clear he didn't feel the same way when he hopped on Future and Metro Boomin's joint album "We Don't Trust You," which dropped on March 22.

In the track, Lamar calls out "First Person Shooter" by name and said "it's just big me" when it comes to rap titans.

Drake has yet to deliver a rap response to Lamar.

The three rappers have collaborated on numerous occasions in the early days of their careers. Lamar appeared on Drake's 2011 song "Buried Alive Interlude" and Drake appeared on Lamar's 2012 song "Poetic Justice." As for Lamar and J. Cole, J. Cole rapped and produced Lamar's 2011 songs "Temptation" and "Shock the World." Lamar and J. Cole also released a joint 2015 project titled "Black Friday" in which they rapped over each other's songs.

J. Cole, who has collaborated with Drake on many tracks, seemingly got looped into Drake and Lamar's beef which dates back to 2013.

In 2013, Lamar called out Drake, and several other rappers, on Big Sean's "Control," claiming that although he loves their music, he wants to "murder" them and snatch their "core fans."

Drake responded in a Billboard interview, telling the outlet, "It just sounded like an ambitious thought to me. That’s all it was. I know good and well that (Lamar)‘s not murdering me, at all, in any platform. So when that day presents itself, I guess we can revisit the topic."

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The feud escalated in 2015 when Lamar accused Drake of using a ghost writer in "King Kunta" and Drake later said on The Game's "100" that he would have all of Lamar's fans "if I didn't go pop."