J. Cole’s No Diss Zone

This week, the rap world was shook by one of the dumbest decisions in an artist’s career, as J. Cole apologized to Kendrick for his new diss track to him “7 Minute Drill”, saying it was “The lamest sh*t I’ve ever done”; which, to be fair, is true. No diss zone — He shoulda known better. Both artists only fired warning shots at each other, and, really, Kendrick was only going for Drake on “Like That”, Cole just got caught in the crossfire. And, the only diss that Cole really delivered to Kendrick was him trying to trash one of the most perfect discographies in music. Also, a common no-no in hip-hop is that you straight forward with another artist. 2Pac said he f**ked Faith Evans to Biggie (“That’s why I f**ked your b***h you fat motherf***er”) and called out Prodigy from Mobb Deep’s sickle cell anemia on “Hit ‘Em Up”.  JAY-Z, tried to tarnish Prodigy and Nas’ “gangsta” images on “Takeover” by showing old pictures of 5-year old Prodigy dressed up like Michael Jackson at his grandmother’s dance studio on Hot 97’s Summer Jam 2001 (fun fact: those pictures were believed to be leaked to Roc-a-fella by Ashanti of Murder Inc) and saying that Nas never saw a Tec-9 in his life until JAY showed him one when he was on tour with Large Professor. LL COOL J compared Cannabis’s fan base size to his own when he dissed him on “The Ripper Strikes Back”. And, the most famous example was Nas’s “Ether”, where he pulled an UNO reverse card on JAY-Z, and almost destroyed almost every sense of credibility that he had in the rap game. All of this just to say, why didn’t Cole do the same? He has studied the greats, and “pays tribute” to them all the time in his lyrics. But then, Cole switched sides, and I feel like something deeper is at play.

On Metro Boomin and Future’s new album “We Still Don’t Trust You”,  the follow-up to their previous record “We Don’t Trust You”, where this whole beef began, J. Cole makes an appearance on the final track. And this isn’t an old verse – far from it; he talks about dealing with the negative criticism brought to him by way of apologizing. So, what’s actually going on? I believe this beef is a whole stunt by Metro Boomin to get the whole Hip-Hop and R&B world against Drake. Put on your tin-foil hats ladies and gents, it’s theory time.

Metro is one of the most respected producers in the game. He has made classic joints with 21 Savage, Future, Migos, The Weeknd and more. But, while preparing to drop his 2022 album, “Heroes & Villains”, Drake leaked a song that he was given by Metro that was intended for the album. “Why would he do that?” you might ask. Well, the answer is very simple, Metro rejected a feature from him that was going to be on the album. The leak pissed Metro off, but the beef only happened on social media platforms, not on record. But, then, Metro’s master plan started when “Like That” came out, which I believe was made to nudge J. Cole to diss Kendick. Meanwhile, other rappers are starting to take their hate out on Drake, with the perspective of “K. Dot did it, so why can’t I”. Later, Cole comes out with “7 Minute Drill”, but Metro knows he isn’t cut out for rap beefs, and waits for him to apologize or collaborate with Kendrick as a sign of peace. Right after Cole’s apology, Metro gets him on board with collabing on the new album, and now, almost the entire industry hates Drake. 

BUT HEY, THAT’S JUST A THEORY… A MUSIC THEORY!!