Friendship timeline explored as latter appears to react to Rapper’s latest track addressing Kendrick Lamar feud

J. Cole and Drake have been friends since their early careers and have a mutual relationship and trust. Recently, J. Cole has been part of Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud. Cole, however, dropped out shortly after the release of his song 7 minute exercise in April 2024.

Now, the rapper has explained why he left the feud in a new song, Port Antonioreleased on October 9, 2024. The singer rapped on the song:

“Protecting legacies, so the lines were crossed, maybe sadly/My friends went to war, I left with all the blood on me. Now some will discredit me, try to erase my pedigree/But please , find a ni**a who raps amazingly.”

The singer continues in the song:

“I pulled the plug ’cause I saw where it had to go / They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to grow their pockets. / They see this fire in my pen, they think I’m dodging the smoke / I wouldn’t have done it. I’ve lost a battle , love, I would have lost a brother/And all for what?”

The song continues:

“Just to get some old props from strangers who have no idea what I’ve been aiming for since I was 14 / Jermaine ain’t king if it means I have to dig up dirt and pay a whole team of algorithms. nor ** like just to influence everything on social media/”

The song continues:

“Competing for your favorable memes. Hey Drake, you’ll always be my ni**a/I’m not ashamed to say you’ve done a lot for me, my ni**a/F**k all narratives/ Play again your magic pen is the essential”

Cole posted the release of the song on his official Instagram page on October 9, 2024. Drake reacted to the post by liking it. Drake’s take on Cole’s post has since gone viral, with many publications taking note, as exemplified by the tweet embedded below:

Timeline of J. Cole and Drake’s friendship: Details of musical collaborations

2010: Cole and Drake started their friendship right after he started his career. The two collaborated on J Cole’s song in the morning, released on November 12, 2010. The two later performed the song together live at a concert in New York City in December 2010.

2013: J. Cole name-dropped Drake on the song Cole Summerreleased as part of the EP Truly Yourz 2. Subsequently, Drake bought all copies of Cole’s album born sinner

Later in the year, Drake collaborated with Cole on his single Jodeci Freestylewhat Bink! produced The song’s reference to autism caused controversy, and later both rappers had to issue apologies.

2014: Drake allowed J.Cole to use his instrumental track for the song Mo Moneyreleased as part of the album born sinner. This information was revealed by JakeOne in 2014.

2015-2016: In October 2015, Drake brought Cole to the Austin City Limits festival. Drake then brought Cole on the Summer City Tour in 2016. Cole performed a medley 2014 Forest Hill Drive.

2019: Drake brought Cole back during live concerts during his Assassination tour. The duo also confirmed that they were collaborating on new music.

2021-2022: J. Cole borrowed Drake’s song Pipe Down for his song Heaven’s EPreleased on the 2022 mixtape titled Day D: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape. The track remains the duo’s latest collaboration to date.