J. Cole issues public apology to Kendrick Lamar for searing diss track ‘7 Minute Drill’

“When I listen to it…that s— don’t sit right with my spirit,” Cole said at Dreamville Festival.

The year’s hottest rap beef just cooled all the way down.

When J. Cole took the stage at the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina over the weekend, he took time out to address his part in the simmering feud between him and Kendrick Lamar, dismissing his diss track against Lamar as “the lamest s— I ever did in my f—ing life.”

The 39-year-old rapper was referring to “7 Minute Drill,” the closing track on his latest album, Might Delete Later. While Cole is “so proud” of the project, he told the Dreamville crowd the diss didn’t sit well with him and that he’s been having trouble sleeping since it dropped a few days ago.

“7 Minute Drill” was a response to Lamar’s feature on “Like That,” from Future and Metro Boomin’s album, We Don’t Trust You, which came out last month. Lamar took issue with being compared to Drake and J. Cole on their collab “First Person Shooter,” on which Cole referred to them as “the big three.”

Lamar rejects the claim, rapping, “Motherf— the big three, n—a, it’s just me,” on “Like That.” While Drake and Lamar have been trading shots for years, Lamar and Cole have been rather cordial, save for a boast from Big Sean’s 2013 song “Control,” on which Lamar says he has love for Drake and Cole but plans to metaphorically “murder” them both.

J. Cole, bowing from pressure from fans and his crew, responded to “Like That” with “7 Minute Drill,” taking aim at Lamar’s career, his height, and his relevancy in hip-hop, with lines like: “He averagin’ one hard verse like every thirty months or somethin’ / If he wasn’t dissin’, then we wouldn’t be discussin’ him.”

Addressing the crowd at Dreamville, Cole expressed regret for “downplaying” Lamar’s “catalogue and his greatness,” asking those assembled, “How many people think Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest motherf—ers to ever touch a f—ing microphone?”

While the audience cheered, Cole continued to apologize, hoping that his fans would forgive him for “the misstep” so that he could “get back to my true path.” And if Lamar wants to fire shots after “7 Minute Drill,” J. Cole has his “chin out.”

He added, “Take your best shot, I’ma take that s— on the chin, boy. Do what you do.”