Two weeks after Kendrick Lamar decided he was done playing nice, J. Cole has answered the Compton rapper’s challenge.
Last night, the North Carolina spitter responded to Kendrick’s “Like That” diss with “7 Minute Drill,” a clapback that marks the first on-wax response to Kung Fu Kenny, who used his verse to scoff at the notion of a rap game Big 3.
“Like That” was explosive, and in the weeks since its release, it’s been ringing off everywhere from your Twitter timeline to the club. This past week, it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, immediately making it one of the most successful diss records ever. Kendrick Lamar blacked out, and everyone knows it. His attack demanded retaliation, and now we’ve received it. But how did J. Cole fair? And who will respond next?
Judging them each based on bars, theatrics, and overall song quality, we break down who won the first round of Kendrick Lamar vs. J. Cole, and predict who will respond next.
The Bars:
Quote as many fart bars as you want, but J. Cole can spit. Since breaking out 15 years ago, he’s regularly justified his reputation as one of rap’s most reliably electric technicians, and for the most part, he lives up to that status with “7 Minute Drill.” He takes a page out of Hov’s rhymebook to snipe Kendrick’scareer trajectory, “Takeover” style: “Your first sh*t was classic, your last sh*t was tragic/Your second sh*t put nigg*s to sleep, but they gassed it.” Elsewhere, he makes fun of Kendrick’s reclusive tendencies while suggesting he’s being a clout-chaser by dropping a diss song: “He averaging one hard verse like every 30 months or somethin’/ If he wasn't dissin', then we wouldn’t be discussing’ him.”
Fans were quick to argue that Jermaine’s catalog doesn’t stack up to Kendrick’s, and they were even quicker to note the hypocrisy of Cole calling anyone boring. But this is battle rap. Facts aren’t as important as audacity, the power of suggestion, and plausibility. And there are actually some layers of truth to what Cole says. TPAB polarized fans after its release, and in recent weeks, plenty of people have spoken out about TPAB being an “Obama Era” LP that was praised more for its premise than any true innovation. Whatever. TPAB was a great album. But the narrative that it’s overhyped continues to permeate the continuum of rap discourse, and Cole played to that idea while re-igniting the discussion.
Similarly, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers was one of Kendrick’s least commercially successful LPs, and he famously only pops out for guest verses once every three millennia—err, few years, as J. Cole says. And before “Like That,” when’s the last time Kendrick was a trending topic? Feel how you want, but Cole’s quips are succinct while being about as accurate as any other diss bar you can find in these sorts of battles. In other words, points were made, and they folded into one another with precise syntax that made them easy to quote.
All of that said, Cole saps some of his own power by repeatedly complimenting Kendrick. Even with his most potent barbs, Cole admits that Kendrick’s got at least one “classic” album, and that he was, at least at one point, “trailing right behind” the Compton rapper. In a battle suited for barbarity, this was a polite suggestion rather than a forceful rebuttal. He was saying, “Could you please try to be a little quieter?” But when fans wanted, “Shut the f*ck up!” Considering the nature of Kendrick’s verse, though, the approach makes some sense, even if it doesn’t exactly help J. Cole’s odds in the battle.
On “Like That,” Kendrick aimed most of his venom at Drake, and whatever quips were directed at Cole felt more like good old fashioned rap competition than anything personal. Whereas Cole operated in specifics, Kendrick dove headfirst into abstractions, extending the metaphor that Cole and Drake began with “First Person Shooter”: If the would-be rap GOATs are bringing out the big guns, they better have “three switches” or risking having all their dogs put in a “pet cemetery.” His verse peaks when he raps, “Motherf*ck the Big 3, nigg*, it’s just big me,” a direct reference to Cole invoking the Big 3 title in “First Person Shooter.”
Ultimately, these two disses serve different functions. Kendrick’s was an announcement, and it was more about intention than surgical takedowns. He didn’t outright say it in the song, but Kendrick’s verse was a warning shot to Cole. While Cole responded with a more exacting approach, he undercut himself by conceding Kendrick’s success and generally being the nice, reasonable guy he usually is. Kendrick’s bars were less specific, but they were also less conflicted. Cole’s bars might have been sharper, and he may have had more of them, but Kendrick’s are more decisive, leaving this one as a stalemate.
Who has the edge here? It's a draw
The Theatrics:
Because Kendrick’s verses are so few and far between, each one becomes an event unto itself, and the songs he pops out for become platforms for grandeur. With a triumphant Three 6 Mafia beat (and Drake's rumored rift with Future and Metro Boomin) as the backdrop, “Like That” is a rap blockbuster in IMAX. Leaning on his ferocity, twitchy tonal inflections, and a dense element of surprise, Kendrick swooped in like an anti-hero who unexpectedly decided to save the day. His guest spot is a showcase for peak battle rap theater.
Kendrick threads his verse with impenetrable conviction. When he dismisses his competitors, his frenzied delivery evokes the indignation of someone who truly can’t believe he’s being mentioned in the same sentence as his opps. There are no qualifiers here: “Motherf*ck the big 3, nigg*, it’s just big me.” Kendrick’s saying the loud part louder. He’s saying it with his chest, his soul, and maybe something else, too.
While Cole came correct with the bars, his delivery left something to be desired. His tone isn’t very fiery, which is disappointing considering the passion he raps with on all the other songs on Might Delete Later. The lethargy sounds non-committal rather than icily dismissive. In a moment where the colosseum calls for blood, Cole sounds almost conciliatory, like he’s decided he’s above a brutal beheading for the mob’s entertainment. Spectators wanted an epic climax, but they were left with a cliffhanger that carried all the dampened anticipation of Invincible Season 2, Part 2. After a two-week build-up, J. Cole’s diss has all the conviction of something he really might delete later.
Who has the edge here? Kendrick Lamar
The Song:
For years, Drake has been praised for making catchy diss songs like "Stay Schemin" and "Back to Back" that his opps are forced to hear when they hit the clubs. Now Kendrick has used the same approach to get at the 6ix God (and J. Cole)
“Like That” would be a pantheon Metro and Future slap even without Kendrick’s incendiary verse. Metro snapped by pairing a classic Rodney O and Joe Cooley sample with vocals from Eazy-E’s “Eazy-Duz-It,” and Future’s verses are coated in extravagant imagery. The hook is framed as a question, and it combines a symbolic phrase that doubles as a challenge and an assertion of dominance: “Is you like that?” Regardless of context, in most situations, everybody wants to be like that. And with its propulsive instrumental, Future’s authoritative bars, and a poerful hook, “Like That” can make anyone feel like they are. Then you mix in a fiery Kendrick verse you never saw coming, and you’ve got yourself all the ingredients for an explosive hit. In this case, the end result was a No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And of course, it’s ringing off in the club, too.
Conversely, “7 Minute Drill” is an adequate diss song, and nothing more. The first half of the beat features some of the most uninspired sounds you could ever conjure, and the second half isn’t much better. Swirled with Cole’s lackluster vocal performance, his actual bars are the only reason worth giving it a listen.
Who has the edge here? Kendrick Lamar
Who Won?
With two wins and one draw, Kendrick Lamar emerges as the decisive winner of the first round. Cole came with some raps and he served them up in a timely enough manner, but with Kendrick’s mix of showmanship and vocal delivery (and the quality of “Like That” itself), K.Dot did a lot more than just supply bars. He re-awakened a dormant rap conversation, only to put it back to sleep. He injected hip-hop with some inspiredfor-the-love-of-the-game competitiveness, while creating what should be a timeless moment. On top of all that, he earned his third No. 1 single.
Winner: Kendrick Lamar
Who Responds Next?
Toward the beginning of Drake’s second Meek Mill diss track, “Back to Back,” he chastises the Philadelphia rapper for being late for his own execution: “I waited four days, nigg* where y’all at?” Indeed, Drizzy had supplied two Meek diss tracks before Meek could even drop one. These days, though, Drake’s breaking his own rules of battle rap etiquette.
Indeed, at press time, it’s been more than two weeks since Future and Metro dropped “Like That,” and all Drake’s been able to do is post cryptic Instagram captions and conduct mid-concert rants. Echoing his own sentiments from years ago, I have to ask: “Where y’all at?” Specifically speaking, Drake is on tour, and it’s entirely reasonable for him to take his time crafting a proper response. After his loss to Pusha-T, he should tread carefully, as Kendrick Lamar is an artist with an even higher profile, and, like Push, Kendrick is a spitter.
Thus far, there haven’t been a lot of signs about when Drake will respond, but there have been reports that Drizzy removed his verse from BFB Da Packman’s “OLYMPIC SH*T TALKING” because he was putting everything on hold until he responded to Kendrick. Or maybe he pulled it because you can’t be an Olympic sh*t talker if you won’t even clap back at your nemesis. The clock is ticking, so if Drizzy doesn’t respond soon, it could very well be Kendrick’s turn to go back-to-back.
Kendrick could respond at any moment, too, although we’ve yet to see him fully engage in an overt rap beef for any extended period of time. With Drake on tour, and Cole having just responded with the last song on his new project, it feels like Kendrick would be the most likely to dispense a clapback next. Then again, considering Cole himself said his own Kendrick diss was a warning shot, maybe he’s already prepping to let off again. Either way, it should be a fun summer.
