{"id":360424,"date":"2026-03-27T04:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T04:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/360424\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T04:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T04:58:16","slug":"j-cole-confirms-drake-kendrick-lamar-were-originally-on-the-fall-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/360424\/","title":{"rendered":"J. Cole Confirms Drake & Kendrick Lamar Were Originally On ‘The Fall-Off’"},"content":{"rendered":"

J. Cole<\/a> has confirmed rumors that Drake<\/a> and Kendrick Lamar<\/a> were supposed to appear on The Fall-Off<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During a lengthy interview with Cam\u2019ron<\/a> (which puts to bed their bizarre legal battle<\/a>), the Dreamville founder explained that both Dot and Drizzy were orginally featured on his latest album until their 2024 rap battle, as well as a leak of his project, forced him to take them off the tracklist.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Kendrick] was on two joints,\u201d he revealed, certifying a claim made last year by podcaster Mal<\/a> that the pgLang star and OVO hitmaker each had multiple appearances on an early version of The Fall-Off.<\/p>\n

Cole added: \u201cThat was a part of my vision for it, having both of these dudes as a part of this. On my way out, I wanted to celebrate like, \u2018Damn, I\u2019m really grateful to have done it at the same time as these n*ggas.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The North Carolina native also revealed that he had mixed feelings about Kendrick\u2019s verse on Future<\/a> and Metro Boomin<\/a>\u2018s \u201cLike That\u201d \u2014 the song that ignited Kendrick and Drake\u2019s long-simmering beef \u2014 as it inadvertently sabotaged the rollout for The Fall-Off, which Cole was planning to release shortly after his Might Delete Later mixtape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had two reactions,\u201d he shared. \u201cMy first reaction is: that shit is hard. It\u2019s a hard-ass verse, undeniably. The beat is crazy, the song is ill and I\u2019m like, \u2018That shit is tough.\u2019 My second reaction is: not now, n*gga! This is inconvenient for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

J. Cole went on to explain that he only recorded his (since-deleted) Kendrick diss song \u201c7 Minute Drill\u201d<\/a> because he felt pressurized to respond to \u201cLike That\u201d before putting out The Fall-Off.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy phone was blowing up immediately like, \u2018Please, press the button!\u2019 That\u2019s the energy from n*ggas that love me,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIn reality, do I actually feel any sort of [disrespect]. There wasn\u2019t any disrespect in [Kendrick\u2019s verse]! I didn\u2019t listen to that and be like, \u2018Damn, n*gga said what?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cMy feeling was, \u2018Fuck!\u2019 Because now I know this [album] that I\u2019ve been working on for eight years, plus this other [mixtape] that I did as a set-up, n*ggas ain\u2019t gonna never let me put that out until I address this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on \u201c7 Minute Drill,\u201d Cole admitted that he had no ill towards Kendrick when writing the track and simply saw it as friendly sparring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no malice in my heart. There wasn\u2019t even a desire to be like, \u2018Ooh, this n*gga gave me a chance to come demolish him!’\u201d he said. \u201cI love this n*gga \u2026 but I\u2019m worried about what the world is gonna say.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is embarassing to say out loud, but it\u2019s true. Because I\u2019m fearful that this thing that I\u2019ve been working on for so long is gonna go unappreciated if I don\u2019t [respond].<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m like, \u2018Let me say just enough to where it looks like I said something.\u2019 Everything I\u2019m saying, I know and he knows, it\u2019s all survivable. I\u2019m not hitting him with no fatal blows.\u201d<\/p>\n

As his well-documented apology at Dreamville Fest showed, however, Cole instantly regretted the move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe second it comes out, I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, you created a dividing line where you\u2019re forcing the world to pick a side \u2026 and to slander [Kendrick]. And they\u2019re taking some of the shit you said and they giving it gas.\u2019 And then my thought becomes, \u2018I fucked up. I\u2019ve misrepresented myself,’\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old added that his heart was \u201cheavy\u201d when he reflected on the damage that he might have done to his friendship with Kendrick, motivating him to distance himself from \u201c7 Minute Drill\u201d and publicly apologize to his \u201cForbidden Fruit\u201d collaborator.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [idea] came to me an hour before, and I really feel like this was God because of how it lifted me and took the weight off me,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t give a fuck [about the immediate backlash] because I knew in my heart what I did wad right for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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