J. Cole may have removed himself from the equation but, Drake and Kendrick Lamar are apparently ready to escalate their cold war into something much hotter.
So says former rapper and current media personality Joe Budden, who claimed on a recent episode of his eponymous podcast that both rap heavyweights are ready to take things "nuclear" with new diss tracks.
"Taylor Made," which Drake released on Friday, was the latest in a series of back-and-forth diss tracks with Kendrick Lamar.
"Whatever little rappy s--t you thought was going on, it’s not that and something’s coming," Budden said. "I think that J. Cole knows that from either Drake, Kendrick, or both. And it was time to bow out because we are no longer in the first round.
"I have it on good information that both sides went in the booth and came out," he continued. "And what I’m hearing about both sides is that it’s nuclear. It’s up, up. I’m hearing this from people that can rap. So I wanna come in here and say that speculation time is over. Debate time is over.
“I been saying for a few pods that I’ve seen absolutely nothing from Drake to get me excited enough to think that he will be capable of doing what needs to be done against the likes of a Kendrick Lamar,” he added. “I’m here to say there is no longer any need for me to instigate anything. We’re here and apparently he did it and people heard it. I heard it’s bad.”
J. Cole tried to squash the beef over the weekend.
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The long-simmering beef kicked into high gear when Kendrick took shots at both Drake and J. Cole in his guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That."
On Drake and Cole's For All the Dogs collab "First Person Shooter" in October, the latter rapped, "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."
In response, Kendrick declared, "F--k sneak dissing / ‘First Person Shooter,’ I hope they came with three switches ... Motherf--k the big three, n---a, it’s just big me.”
Drake obliquely addressed the conflict during a Florida concert shortly afterwards. "A lot of people asking me how I’m feeling," he said. "The way I’m feeling is the same way I want you to walk out of here feeling tonight about your f--king selves. You know the way I’m feeling? I got my head up high, my back straight, I’m feeling 10 feet f--king high."
Cole fired back at Kendrick more directly via "7 Minute Drill," the closing track on his newly released surprise project Might Delete Later. "He still doin' shows, but fell off like The Simpsons / Your first s--t was classic, your last s--t was tragic," he rapped.
He later apologized and tried to squash the beef while headlining his own Dreamville Festival over the weekend. "Man, that’s the lamest s--t I ever did in my f--king life,' right?" he said during his performance. "And I pray that y’all like, forgive a n---a for the misstep and I can get back to my true path. Because I ain’t gonna lie to y’all. The past two days felt terrible."
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