J. Cole Looks Back on His Kendrick Lamar Apology: ‘Birthday Blizzard ‘26’
J. Cole is revisiting one of the most talked-about moments of his career, and this time he is doing it through music instead of speeches. On a new freestyle from…
J. Cole is revisiting one of the most talked-about moments of his career, and this time he is doing it through music instead of speeches. On a new freestyle from his surprise release Birthday Blizzard ‘26, Cole reflects on apologizing to Kendrick Lamar after briefly entering the 2024 rap battle that later centered on Drake.
Addressing the Aftermath
On the track, Cole acknowledges that the apology hurt his image with some fans, but says doubt has always pushed him to improve.
"I used to be top, see, the apology dropped me way out of the top 3/ No problem, I’m probably my best when they doubt me."
He expands on that idea by explaining that chasing status was not as rewarding as he once believed.
“The top ain’t really what I thought it would be, so I jumped off and landed back at the bottom and restarted at a level where I wasn’t regarded as much, just to climb past them again and tell them all to keep up,” Cole continued.
How It Started
The freestyle points back to “7 Minute Drill,” a diss track Cole released toward Lamar before Kendrick became involved in his highly publicized feud with Drake in 2024. Rather than launching a full attack, Cole focused on criticizing Lamar’s music, calling it boring.
Days later, Cole decided to publicly walk back the record.
The Dreamville Festival Moment
At Dreamville Festival in North Carolina, Cole addressed the crowd and explained why he felt the diss was a mistake, even while standing by the rest of his work.
"I put out this project on Friday called, Might Delete Later... I don't know how many people checked it out or whatever,” he rapped. “And, I swear to God... I'm so proud of that project. Because, I know, one, it's just an EP that leads me to this thing that I've been working on for a long time and I know the work it took to get to a certain type of skill level... that shit mean a lot to me... I'm so proud of that project, except for one part.”
He then made it clear that he respects Lamar.
"Y'all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I,” Cole said.
“So I just wanna come up here and publicly be like bruh, that was the lamest goofiest s---, and I say all that to say it made me feel like 10 years ago when I was moving incorrectly, and I pray that god will line me back up on my purpose and my path, I pray that my na didn't feel no way,” Cole added. “And if he did, my na, I got my chin out, take your best shot, I'ma take that shit on the chin, boy. Do what you do. all good. It's love. And I pray that y'all will like, forgive a n---- for the misstep and I can get back to my true path, 'cause I ain't gonna lie to y'all, the past two days felt terrible."
Looking Ahead
Cole is expected to revisit the situation on his next album, The Fall Off, which is scheduled to arrive on Feb. 6. For now, his latest freestyle frames the apology not as a loss, but as a reset that allowed him to refocus on his long term goals.
