'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUI/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAM5Si3//xAAfEAACAgIBBQAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEAAUSEUFCgdH/2gAIAQEAAT8A1opijsK08BksTFFgthyBCFJZxx8uS9MMA7Tp7DfM/8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH/2gAIAQIBAT8Aj//EABQRAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/2gAIAQMBAT8Af//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
J. Cole released his new track Port Antonio on Wednesday, October 9. The musician unexpectedly addressed the recent Kendrick Lamar and Drake rap feud and why he backed out from the same.
In the song, J. Cole claimed he did not want to be a part of the rap battle as he believed the two singers involved were simply financially benefiting from it. He also sang about not wanting to be remembered for ragging those who he considers his peers, or making other people’s personal lives public after knowing them for years.
Shockingly, he also mentioned Drake by name and encouraged him to create new music. The lyrics in Port Antonio read:
Trending
“Ayy Drake, you’ll always be my n**ga/ I ain’t ashamed to say you did a lot for me, my n**ga/ F**k all the narratives/ tapping back into your magic pen is what’s imperative.”
Following the song’s release, Drake took to Instagram and liked J. Cole’s promotional post for the track.
Many have since taken to social media to share their mixed reactions about J. Cole and Drake. One X user stated that the duo was "better than Kendrick." The comment read:
"Cause they both better than Kendrick."
Other fans applauded the duo for seemingly ending the rap feud, while some hoped for a future collaboration between them.
“Drake and Cole still cool tho,” one X user said.
“Collab?” another user commented.
“Lol they back together,” another netizen said.
Meanwhile, others dissed the duo, claiming they had lost the rap beef.
“Didn’t even mention Dots name but crying about how drake “did alot for you” Yeah cole finna go out sad,” an X user said.
“Weak sauce lol,” another netizen commented.
“They deserve eachother. They make a nice couple,” a user stated.
It is worth noting that Kendrick Lamar was not mentioned explicitly, unlike Drake, in Port Antonio. Furthermore, other reactions read:
“Drake won this battle,” an X user said.
“They not like us,” another user remarked.
“We need a collab,” a fan commented.
J. Cole's Port Antonio lyrics explored, as song goes viral following Kendrick Lamar and Drake's beef
J. Cole mentioned Drake in Port Antonio as Kendrick took shots at him and Drake in his collaboration track Like That, created alongside Future and Metro Boomin. In response to Like That, Cole dissed K. Dot in his song 7 Minute Drill, released in April 2024. All this came after Drake and J. Cole claimed in their 2023 track First Person Shooter that they, alongside Lamar, were the “big three” in the rap scene.
Addressing why he exited the rap beef, Cole sang in Port Antonio:
“I pulled the plug because I see where that was about to go/ They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make they pockets grow/ They see this fire in my pen and think I'm dodgin' smoke/ I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro, I woulda gained a foe."
In his track, Jermaine Lamarr Cole further sang about why he wouldn't get involved in such a feud:
“Since the age of fourteen, Jermaine is no king/ If that means I gotta dig up first and pay the whole team/ Of algorithm-bot n**gas just to sway the whole thing/ On social media, competin' for your favorable means.”
Kendrick Lamar has not yet commented on Cole's latest track at the time of writing this article.
