J. Cole Appears to Target Kendrick Lamar on '7 Minute Drill': Listen

J. Cole rocked the rap world with his surprise release It may be deleted later project on Friday (April 5).

The mixtape hit streaming services without warning, and fans quickly took note of the powerful “7 Minute Drill,” which appears to find Cole responding to Kendrick Lamar's takes on Future and Metro Boomin's “Like That.”

“I got a call, they say somebody's in denial/ You want attention, it's coming with extensions,” Cole initially teased.

He then starts taking shots at K. Dot's discography, disparaging specific albums like 2022's calling Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers “tragic” and claims that the Grammy Award winner To Pimp A Butterfly had listeners blinking.

“He's still putting on a show, but he fell like The Simpsons/ Your first shit was classic, your last was tragic/ Your second shit put you to sleep but they put it on gas/ Your third shit was huge and that was your first moment/ Then right behind and just now it hit mine/ Now I'm in front of the line with a comfortable lead/ How ironic, I just got it, now he wants something with me,” says the Dreamville CEO.

J. Cole informs Kendrick that this is just a “warning shot” and the gloves could totally come off for more if the West Coast legend wants to go there.

'He average' a hard verse like every thirty months or something'/ If he wasn't hesitant then we wouldn't be talkin' 'em/ Lord don't make me smoke this n—a 'cause I'm pushing with him/ But push, come screw, on that mic, I'm gonna humiliate him,” Cole promises.

The North Carolina native continues to tap Lamar for his lack of production. “Four albums in 12 years, n—a, I can divide,” he quips in a verse that seems to mimic Jay-Z's bars. Nas diss “Takeover”.

The second part of “7 Minute Drill” features a beat switch with conductor Williams taking the reins from T-Minus behind the boards and fans are speculating that the ominous production of Drake's samples If you're reading this, it's too late stand out “Energy.”

For those wondering about the inspiration for “7 Minute Drill” as a song title, J. Cole's manager Ibrahim Hamad explained last year during an appearance on Say Less podcast that Cole will rap for seven minutes straight over a few different beats as an exercise in breaking writer's block.

“He's doing these seven-minute drills that Cozz had him do… He'll just say, 'You've got seven minutes.' It's basically his way of escaping from overthinking,” said the Dreamville co-founder. “Like you're not even thinking about it. Start a verse – what are we gonna talk about? He'll say, “Coz, write a verse about pizza.” They had seven minutes and they started the timer.”

It may be deleted later kicks off a busy weekend for J. Cole, who will headline the fourth annual Dreamville Fest in Raleigh, NC on Sunday (April 7).

Listen to “7 Minute Drill” below.