J. Cole has shared a new song, “Port Antonio,” that addresses the dormant feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Check it out below.
The song is Cole's first major contribution to the crowded field of diss tracks and spin-offs, after his verse on Drake's “First Person Shooter” declared Cole, Drake and Lamar “the big three” of mainstream rap and his “7 Minute Drill” hesitantly upped the ante with chatter about Lamar's recent music. Lamar, of course, responded with “Like That” – “Motherfuck the big three.… it's just big me” – prompting Drake to respond with “Push Ups”, Cole to apologize for the “7 Minute Drill” and. .. well, you know the rest.
Now, Cole appears to be mediating between the two rappers. “They say I pack ribs, don't lay on me,” he raps on “Port Antonio.” “Drake, you'll forever be my n***a/I'm not ashamed to say you've done a lot for me. imperative.”
Over a flip of Cleo Sol”Know that you are loved,” Cole also alludes to rappers using “algorithm bot n****s” to juice streams and influence public opinion, as well as bemoaning the state of rap controversies and diss tracks more broadly—“in the media social media, compete for your favorable memes to be considered the best.”
“Port Antonio” ultimately plays as an excuse to stay out of the fray: “I pulled the plug cause I saw where it was going/They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make their pockets bigger/They see this fire in my pen and think that I'm avoiding smoke/I wouldn't lose a fight, dog, I'd lose a brother.”
Read Alphonse Pierre's column “Drake and Kendrick's Beef is the most Miserable Spectacle in Rap History.”
from our partners at https://pitchfork.com/news/j-cole-reflects-on-kendrick-lamar-and-drake-feud-on-new-song-port-antonio-listen
