J. Cole has been explaining the past few years of his career a lot on his recent press run, and there's plenty for fans to dive into. One of the most interesting remarks within his 7PM In Brooklyn podcast appearance with Carmelo Anthony relates to rumors that ScHoolboy Q told him to bow out of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle. Q is one of Lamar's Black Hippy colleagues from TDE.
For those unaware, rumors surfaced repeatedly over the past few years that ScHoolboy's alleged warnings led to J. Cole's apology to Kendrick for dissing him. That apology went down at the 2024 Dreamville Fest. But as it turns out, Cole himself denies that this ever happened.
"That's a complete lie," he said in reference to those rumors, as caught by Kurrco on Twitter. "Ask ScHoolboy Q. That's just Internet, that's a straight lie. There's many of those. Many half-truths, and many way more straight lies. Like, the ScHoolboy Q s**t is a straight lie. Of course, shout out to ScHoolboy Q. He not gon' come out and just say it on his own. But when you get a chance, ask him. It's a straight-up lie."
Why Did J. Cole Apologize To Kendrick Lamar?
For those who subscribed to this theory, a question remains: Why did J. Cole apologize to Kendrick Lamar? The former has been very open in recent interviews about addressing this, speaking to how the "7 Minute Drill" diss he launched did not really motivate him. In fact, he said he felt spiritually disturbed and burdened, and that the apology set him free.
"I'm like, alright, this is what I'll do," Cole told Cam'ron of his Might Delete Later diss on Cam's Talk With Flee show. "Let me say just enough to where it looks like I said something. Everything I'm saying to him, I know and he know it's all survivable. I'm not hitting him with no fatal blows. Mind you, it's a decision made out of non-clarity. But through that non-clarity, it seemed like my best option. The second it comes out, you created a dividing line where you're forcing the world to pick a side. If they f**k with you, they've got to slander him. They're taking what you said and giving it gas and giving it light," he added. "And then my thought becomes, 'Oh f**k, I done f***ed up.'"
